[Thread] I went to the seashore (OPEN)

[waterfell]

Characters: OU!Mercury, OPEN
When: shortly after the Usagis arrive
Where: park near the pond
Summary: Playing with her water powers! Mercury needs to get her bearings again.
Warnings: who knows?

Comments

[waterfell]

How did you meet Zuko? With Azula. Azula was there when I met him for the first time. Azula wasn't there.

It made it disconcerting to see the fire princess. Since that time, Mercury had been unable to settle her mind about what had or hadn't happened between herself and...anyone. She searched her mind briefly for the memories she had of Azula: planning together, fighting together, facing some of the strange events in Econtra together, relaxing together. There had been arguments sometimes, but those had been solved.

They were good memories. Surely if she was wrong about all of that, she would have bad memories of Azula, too, shouldn't she? Mercury made the conscious decision to trust those recollections, tired somewhere in herself at the very fact such effort was necessary.

It was only the work of a few seconds. Somehow the draw of warmth was as welcome as the water she'd playing with, and Mercury stepped out of the pond towards her friend and the cheerful blaze. It brought a smile to her face.

"It's been awhile," she greeted the taller girl quietly.

[lady_azula]

Azula was going to reply sarcastically, but she paused. Something was amiss. She had no idea what that was, but there was something in mercury's eyes, as if she were trying to gaining recollection of things, and this bothered her. She recalled, with a lurch in her stomach, the conversation with the other Mercury, who seemed angry that she had allowed Dark Mercury to proceed with that ritual. Azula had said what she thought was obviously plain to see: she had no right to stop Mercury from doing what she intended. They had seemed right at the time: it was Mercury she was dealing with, and her first reaction to Azula would have been "stay out of this."

But was she wrong? Should she have gotten involved somehow. Azula was actively worried now. Why was there that look in Mercury's eyes. And it being awhile...they had seen each other during that attack, hadn't they? What was truly going on here?

"It has?" Azula said. "Maybe it has. What brings you out here, Mercury?"

[waterfell]

"Mm. The water." That came with a smile that did seem natural, and it was. "Besides, I have to keep in form with two princesses here now."

The second comment was spoken in a drier, wry tone. It wasn't hard to see why Econtra would want someone here who possessed as much power and energy as the princess. That had been the original primary reason for the Dark Kingdom seeking the ginzuishou before its danger had become obvious. But letting that destructive girl run free...

Mercury spread her hands as she reached towards the fire, warming herself still further. It felt nice, the heat wrapping around her.

[lady_azula]

Azula watched her. This was the Mercury she was sure that captivated Pharaun, even earned, she was certain, a few appreciative glances from Kunzite. A Mercury that stayed diligent, focused, and in that somewhat arrogant light, was made more beautiful than ever. It was a quiet observation, of course. Let Zuko have his Mai, and Hazuki whomever the stars allowed. She could stay and watch beauty at its peak, even if it meant never touching it. Still, Azula made it a merry fire, crackling and hot. She sighed and stretched her feet out on the grass.

"So I heard. Those girls should make life a little more interesting around here! Of course, to be truthful I haven't gotten over Econtra's last interesting thing. That was quite a disturbing situation, and we have yet to figure out why. Isn't it funny, that we were being called fools for something that was everyone's worst fears? Well, now they're taking this place seriously. The question I wonder is, what do we do now?"

[waterfell]

"Do?" Mercury echoed. "Survive. I don't care about doing more than that here any more. I want to survive here and go back to my world."

Realizing she was slightly fatigued anyway, Mercury sat down on the ground, still near the fire with her legs extended towards its flames.

"That's why I fight the princess here. She can destroy this world just as easily as her own, and I have something to do when I return. I won't let myself be destroyed before that."

[lady_azula]

Azula was a little bothered now. It had been one thing to survive: Azula had every intention of doing that. What she didn't realized, and certainly didn't remember, was Mercury caring only about that and the Princess. Of course, Azula couldn't blame her. Before this, they had tried to get these idiot residents interested in caring about the welfare of these other fools, but to no avail. Considering the events that followed, it was no wonder that Mercury felt less obligated to do so. Hell, she certainly had no warm feelings for this place when meeting with answers like that.

And yet Azula was unsettled. Despite being from the Dark kingdom, Mercury was a soldier. That, in her eyes, never changed. To have reverted to one of those that cared only about living and leaving, if such a thing happened, felt so hollow to her somehow. It made her hate the place even more, considering all Mercury had done when that Entropi had first invaded. She didn't care what weaklings were torn asunder by the machinations of Econtra, but she was adamant that Mercury be untouched.

"I don't like 'just surviving,'" Azula finally said. "Despite the fact that one of us has a better future when we leave, we are both soldiers in this horrible place. If we just survived, we'd be no better than those self serving fools here. Granted, it seemed a fine idea a year ago, but now...now, after everything that's happened, I want to kill those things. They had no right making us think they could mess with our heads. I want them punished."

A hollow curse, and not what she meant entirely. What she really wanted was the Mercury that was a leader...had this place taken that too?

[waterfell]

I don't like just surviving. Something about those words struck something within Mercury. It sounded like something she might have said herself, at another time. It sounded stronger than what she was saying now. Mercury was quietly looking across the fire, towards the pond.

Still, all she was, was power and a soldier for a war. That didn't seem to change no matter what reality or world she stepped into or encountered third-hand. It was an existence with little to recommend it. In her current circumstances, she was barely able to even be that.

I want them punished. The Keepers had, in a vivid way, taken something from her after all. The experience of that illusion or delusion couldn't be forgotten and denied. She had seen the world end around her once again, the very thing she was so determined to prevent for her own world. Still, that sounded more befitting, too.

"So what are you planning?" she asked softly.

[lady_azula]

Azula looked to Mercury. "Ar one time, I had to go to a firebending school for training. Now I may not be able to train these people in that art, but I can make them faster, quicker, more diligent. We can't have these haphazard people wandering around. I intend on training with Zuko to better deter the lightning. Before I was a novice, but I am sure I can be proficient in it now. I can avoid injury better now. As for that training, I'm certain we can get them even better than when you last commanded a unit. You may have seen it mostly as failure, but I am a military commander, and even in failure I can find success. We were one of the few organized units that actually obtained genuine information about the Entropi and were aided by people who wanted to help these others. In a way, when those fools came to us, I was more annoyed they had not done so sooner."

Azula watched the girl. "And you? Do you plan to only focus on that Princess? Surely your goals reach farther than that. What of your friends, or perhaps your affiliation with Kunzite?"

[waterfell]

She couldn't trust herself about any of that, not her mind nor her memories nor her heart. It was best to leave things in a way that wouldn't be needlessly complicated, wasn't it?

"For as long as we share common interests, we use each other for those goals."

Nothing else mattered as much as that towards the senshi she'd allied with in Econtra or even towards Kunzite. That was the right answer and one she would do well to remember, focusing on the fight in front of her. It hadn't helped that two versions of the princess had appeared suddenly, making anything about them more urgent than anything else for the time being.

Even Azula, even with only positive memories of Azula, Mercury certainly intended to act friendly, and it would be sincere. There was no reason to feel any other way much less act any other way. But it was all temporary. Someday they would be separated by the span of worlds, and nothing could undo that.

[lady_azula]

"Use each other...?" Azula's face, demeanor, changed. What had happened? What WAS this? This wasn't the mercury she knew! "What kind of nonsense is that?! What's happened to you? I have never known you to lack your ire! Do you mean to tell me your only goal is that dratted princess and leaving, nothing more? Use each other indeed! By that measure we may as well be Pharaun, simply lying to achieve our goals and living like savages! I am no drow, and neither are you! You cannot mean this...this..."

She didn't even know what to call it, but this wasn't the Mercury she knew! All of the harmony had been drawn right out of her, and despite the warmth of the fire, which was steadily getting hotter, Azula felt a very cold chill inside.

[waterfell]

I don't want to fight at all anymore. If I said that, what would you do? What would your purpose be then? Wouldn't that just be a normal life? I suppose it would. I'm planning to fight to the end. It's just...

It was just that she didn't want there to be a question of what her purpose was if it wasn't fighting.

It was surprising to hear Azula so passionate suddenly. Mercury glanced at her and shook her head.

"I'm still planning to fight."

[lady_azula]

Azula stared at the girl now, the dark soldier of water. She was starting to understand something had changed, within the both of them. It was a quiet change, one that even she hadn't been able to detect. If Mercury hadn't been like this, even then, what would change? She was expected to fight for a cause, whether it be fighting the senshi or fighting the Entropi. More and more, Azula realized how unfair it was for Mercury to not know a life outside of a fight. The soldier of water and knowledge...what did she want for her?

Azula turned away then. Perhaps, then, there was that selfish desire on her part to see Mercury again, as the lone tiger, strong and unyielding. But what if Mercury was driven to madness,, like she knew was one of her fates, for fight upon fight? When did her friend get to relax? When did someone get to have fun with her, tell jokes, and laugh? When did Mercury...get to be Ami again?

Azula seized the girl's hand a moment, and the look of passion couldn't be hidden: Azula saw the reflection of a young girl, driven to fight, made to have goals that didn't need to be her own. Was it selfish Azula saw her reflection in Mercury, albeit skewed? NO...not skewed, but definitely warped. Kunzite would come, the princesses would come, the Entropi would come, and Mercury would not rest. She couldn't. She was a soldier.

And that bleakness, for that moment, filled Azula with such pain for her friend that for only a moment, her eyes watered. Was she wrong?

Azula cleared her throat. The water was gone, the look disappeared. "I apologize," Azula said, turning her attention to the flame. "I was thinking of something foolish."

[waterfell]

Somehow it was the exact right thing to do. Mercury could have been rightfully accused of holding on to that hand a brief second longer than strictly necessary. The contact was comforting, and someone reaching out to her was soothing. Besides, wasn't her own head full of foolishness?

"I don't have any intention of ridiculing you for that," she told her friend. There was a small smile now where a more serious expression had been earlier.

"The fire feels nice, too," she offered.

[lady_azula]

Azula saw the smile. It irritated to know there may have been something to what that Usagi said before, about Mercury. She hadn't liked Usagi, or ANY of the Usagi's, and that was a bitter pill to swallow. Still, she had no intention of trying to "save" Mercury, as if the girl was some invalid incapable of protecting herself.

But that didn't mean she wouldn't be watching from now on. She would watch that Pharaun, and Kunzite too if need be. She had remained respectful of their odd relationship, but that would have to be amended. Azula always put Mercury first.

"Thank you," Azula said finally, both for the previous comment and the fire. "I thought you might need to be warmed up. But I would like to train with you in the water afterward, if that's all right."

[waterfell]

A pause, then a nod. Then, more characteristically, a sly look.

"Azula," Mercury suggested, "Won't it be more fun on ice instead?" A grin. It would take very excellent footwork and balance indeed to be able to keep one's footing on ice, especially if one was unused to it. Even for Mercury, it was extremely rare for her to do it, and it required a very different type of movement.

There was no sense making things easy on themselves. Besides, this, this Mercury was sure she could still do and do well.

[lady_azula]

"On ice?" There was an interesting concept. She had started to get better with ice, but she hadn't yet practiced on it yet. It was a good idea of course: it would require balance from her, and a formidable amount of skill. Even if she failed at it, she could still continue to try, and it would force her into a different kind of training still.

"A grand idea! Would you do the honors?"