dear_mun | god help me as I feebly voicetest

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canon: bartimaeus trilogy

god help me as I feebly voicetest

[ The girl crosses her arms frankly and practically. ]

I don't like the thought of leaving London. But - [ And this is a big but - ] I know that there are new people out there who might help us in our cause.

So here's what I want to know. If I'm sent out there, to another world, how many will be willing to come back with me to fight, and how do I get them home with me.

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[ With great interest: ]

How did you? Take him down.

The only one powerful enough to stop the Fire Lord was the Avatar, someone who can control all four elements. The last element he needed to master to be a fully realised Avatar was fire, so when I joined him, I became his firebending teacher.

Then, while he fought the Fire Lord, I fought my sister to decide who was the rightful heir to the throne. [Yeah, surprise, he's the Fire Lord's son. Not something he likes to mention, either.] She and my father were defeated, and I became Fire Lord in his place.

[ Well, that's -

Unexpected. Huh. ]

Sorry. Does that mean you were the...prince of your country, then?

Yeah. It's-- complicated.

Three years ago, my father banished me from the Fire Nation. That changed my perspective on a lot of things. I realised what the Fire Nation was doing to the rest of the world, and to its own people... So in order to set things right, I helped bring my father down.

[ She's impressed. Her head tilts to the side, and she gives a little smile, and she looks at him with respect. ]

There aren't many people who would let their perspectives be changed. It's a lot easier only to see the things you're expected to see.

For a long time, I wouldn't change my perspective. [He looks away from her, expression grim.] Even in exile, I thought just the same as everyone else. That the Fire Nation was right to rule over the rest of the world, and that the Avatar was my enemy... I did a lot of things I'm not proud of.

[He looks back to her, then, and there's more pride in his voice when he says:]

But I've tried to make amends for all that, and I still am. Now that the war is over, things can change for the better.

[ She thinks about the magicians she knows. Really, the only ones she's spent any time with were John Mandrake, and Mr Button...Mandrake would never say anything like that. The very thought was funny. Mr Button...probably wouldn't, either, because he's really more decent than most but he doesn't have concerns like that. And all the rest of them - No. You could send them out to fight with all the conscripted men out in America, and they'd still stubbornly insist their way was the best way and just spend their time plotting revenge instead of thinking about things.

Maybe. ]

What changed your mind?

[He hasn't talked this much about himself to a complete stranger in a long time. Still, he can look back on it now with a lot more perspective than before, now that he knows he's on the right path. And if it will help her discover what she needs to do in her struggles... it's worth sharing. So he continues:]

While I was banished, my goal was to capture the Avatar for my father, so I could regain my honour and be accepted back into the Fire Nation. But I messed up, and I had to go into hiding as a fugitive.

It wasn't an easy life. For the first time, I lived with ordinary people, and I saw all the suffering my country had put them through. And the more time I spent there, the more I realised I could be happy in ways besides chasing the Avatar. But then, when I had a chance to win back my father's love, I betrayed the trust of someone who had cared for me the most in all those years.

I earned Father's respect again, at the cost of respect for myself. I realised the person he wanted to me to be wasn't the real me at all. That was when I changed my mind, and figured out what my true destiny was.

[ It doesn't do her a whole lot of good, does it? It's all about his father, and magicians don't even have families. That was drilled into their heads - everything about the noble sacrifice of the families who give up their children to become the guardians of the country, and the noble sacrifices of the guardians who left their families behind to become part of the great family protecting Britain from chaos. No appealing to that there.

It is a nice thing to hear, though. She hardly knows Zuko, but it's nice to hear about him finding his purpose. Even if it did happen so painfully. ]

I don't know if we can count on any of them to have any epiphanies like that, unfortunately.

Well, I don't expect anyone else's situations to be identical to mine. But sometimes all it takes is seeing the other side of things to see people as human beings, not just subjects that need to be controlled.

[Maybe some of Aang's optimism towards others has rubbed off on him. A little. Maybe. If he can change, anyone can, right?]

[ Too bad magicians refuse to see the other side of things. Too busy with their riches and their power to look down at the commoners...But Zuko's being decent, and she's not going to keep telling him he's wrong. Honestly, he might be right, and she's just not seeing the way to put his thoughts into action.

Because there's got to be one out there, right? At least one who can learn compassion. They're not all the same. There has to be at least one who's not had the goodness stomped out of them... ]

So if I managed to...figure all of that out. Would you help me?

I don't know a lot about magic and demons and all that stuff. But... I'd be willing to try. No one should have to live in fear of their own leaders.

[And Kitty seems like a good, courageous person. He wouldn't want her struggles to go to waste, however badly the odds might be stacked against her.]

[ A smile. ]

And do you know anyone else? Who would help as well.

My friends would -- the Avatar and the others.

[ A pleased nod. And then, with a hesitation - ]

If it's to work, I'll most likely need your birth names. [ She guesses. Details and magician-type stuff are not her thing. ]

Uh... okay?

[He doesn't get it, but:] Their names are Aang, Katara, Sokka, Toph, and Suki.

And they would be okay with this, too? I'm not going to force anyone who wouldn't come willingly.

Saving the world from bad people is kind of the Avatar's thing, so... Yeah.

...Although Sokka probably wouldn't believe you about demons and magicians, at first. He doesn't like stuff that can't be explained by science.

[ A little smile. That sounds like skepticism she wishes she could have. ]

And you don't have anything like this in your home?

I guess spirits are the closest things we have... But demons are evil, right? Spirits aren't like that.

[Most of them, anyway.]

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