Disgraced [Princess Azula]

⚡9⚡

𝕋ℍ𝔼 𝔽𝕆𝔾 𝕋ℍ𝔸𝕋 ℍ𝔸𝔻 𝕊𝕌ℝℝ𝕆𝕌ℕ𝔻𝔼𝔻 Kyan's mind, while he was at the mental institution for the first time, didn't even come close to the fog that filled his mind now. It entered the cell and choked him out until he couldn't even move or think. All he could do was barely exist in this fragile state he called his mind.

When he got back to the mental institution, the nurses gave him a lot of medicine to keep him groggy and almost lethargic. Every few hours, they would come into his room to force-feed him the medicine to make him sleepy and confused. He would get new nurses every single time, ones that he didn't recognize from his time here before. Of course, they all would be different; this place probably stepped up its defenses to keep the prisoners in and keep everyone else out. 

Kyan didn't care about leaving now. He didn't have enough strength to care about anything, let alone try to get out again. That first time was enough for him; he didn't ever want to try it again. Even though it created some of the best memories in his life, it resulted in him coming back to this wretched place and being in a worse situation than when he was here before. Now, he wasn't even allowed to see the outside world. 

He was trapped in the windowless room that only the worst of the worst got. The only light he ever saw was when the nurses came in to give him his medicine. When the door closed, he was engulfed in the darkness that seemed to surround him like ghosts from the past. They circulated him, whispering to him, telling him that life had dealt him an unfair hand. 

Learning that he was the son of the Earth King had deeply hindered him, especially now that he had all the time in the world to think. Questions rose in him, and none of them could have been answered. He doubted that his father would ever see him again; it was clear to Kyan that his father didn't care for him like he thought he did. That was fine with Kyan. He didn't need his father. He didn't need anyone. Anyone besides Azula.

The only thing that was on his mind was Azula. He remembered seeing her tied up next to him, so where was she? Was she back in their old room? Or was she in a closed-off room, just like he was? What if she got away? If she did, Kyan was happy for her. She deserved to be free from this place, even if she was a little crazy. He didn't think she was that crazy, though. Not like the other people in this place. Yes, there was something about her that wasn't all there, but she was also very smart and cool, and calculated. That was more than most other people had.

It was more than he had, that was for sure.

Kyan shifted his position on the cushioned ground, his head lolling to the side. He wished he knew what kind of medicine they gave him, but they never told him what it was. Why should they? If he ever got out of there, he would be able to tell someone what they were doing to him and what medicine they used, if he knew. That would make the institute go out of business, which is something that the nurses didn't want. The people who put each of the prisoners in here probably did not want the institute to go out of business, either, because it hid people away from the real world, making them disappear forever.

That was exactly what his dad wanted, too, for Kyan. That was why he put Kyan in this place, so he wouldn't spill his secrets that he was the Earth King's illegitimate son. Kyan guessed that it would have put a huge stain on his reign, and it would probably make his people not trust him anymore if they found out that he kept a secret from them for almost seventeen years. That would hinder his credibility with his people.

But it wasn't like Kyan wanted to go back to his father. Putting him in this place burned that bridge a long time ago. He thought that his father cared for him, but he only cared for his image and his power. Kyan would never understand what type of person would put their son in a mental institution when he wasn't even mentally unstable. He just wanted to hide him away, and he did just that.

Kyan pressed his head against the frigid, metal wall, trying to hear anything other than the sound of his breathing and his heart beating. Nothing was louder than his heartbeat. It rattled against his empty ribcage, trying to get him to live again. But there was nothing for him to live for now. Not anymore. Not after they forced him back in here.

The smell of smoke slowly entered his nose, and he lifted his head slightly, sniffing the air around him. It grew and rose and swirled around him, touching his skin and hair, and eyelids. Azula must have been here, he knew it. 

"I'm so glad you're here," he whispered. His voice was gravelly and rough, but it was the first voice he had heard in such a long time. It warmed his racing heart to hear. "I didn't think I could be alone much longer."

The ghost of her voice filled his ears. Snippets of conversations from long past swelled and dwindled, rose, and fell. Kyan let it wash over him, his eyes fluttering shut. There were shouts and whispers, and for a second there, he could feel her fingers in his hair. And just as suddenly as they came, they left.

He was alone again. Of course, she wasn't there. Why did he believe those lies in the first place? He knew that this room was for solitary confinement. They only had one here because it usually killed whoever had been in it. This room drove people crazy, crazy enough to take their own life because they could not handle how quiet and how lonely it was in there. 

Kyan didn't think he could last that much longer, either.