The Sand Prince

Ch.27 A Good Girl

[Bit of a short chapter. Warning, graphic content.]

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The moon rose high into the sky over Omashu. A soft glow rested over the city as a peaceful quiet came over it. Oza sat in the tub in her room, the hot water caressing her skin.

Oza sat in the water quietly, slowly washing herself with a rag. After a few moments she stands up from the water and steps out of the tub. Walking to a full length mirror she reaches for a rob, but looked at herself in the mirror.

All along her body, from her chest to her arms and down to her legs, were horrid burn marks. Two of them were the most prominent, a large jagged scar that ran from her left shoulder down across her left breast and down her stomach. The other scar always made Oza sick to her stomach, a terrible burnt scar in the shape of a hand that rested directly above her womanhood.

Oza looked at the scar and hugged herself, she choked as tears began to fall from her eyes. She could hear her father in her head...

"I own you... you are mine to command as I see fit... you will show no weakness... you will show no mercy... you will be-"

"A good girl..." Oza cried, her breath hitching in her throat. She looked at herself in the mirror, holding her right hand out she ignited a small, green flame in the palm of her hand. The flame casting an eerie glow over her. "I'm a good girl... I'm daddy's little girl... I'll make... I'll make father proud..." Oza balled her eyes out as she slowly held the flame to her chest, just under her right breast. She held it there until the smell of burning flesh filled the room and she yanked the flame away.

She continued to cry even as the voice of her father echoed in her head.

"You will not be a failure like your siblings... you will make me proud... or suffer for it... let this be a reminder of your obligation to me... of your obedience..."

There was a flash in her head as she remembered the horrid, searing pain of her own father marking her body.

"I'll make father proud... I'm a good daughter..." Oza held the flame to her left bicep. "I... I'm a good girl..." Burning flesh filled her nose and she yanked the fire away, tears poured down her face. "I'm... I'm an obedient... daughter... I'll do everything I'm told..."

"You will never disobey me... I will always know-"

"If I'm a bad girl..." Oza held the flame against her right thigh. "He knows where I am... he knows what I do... I'm a good girl..." Oza yanked the flame away, dropping to her knees, the flame dissipating as she did. She curled into a ball on the floor and cried even harder, her eyes bloodshot.

A knock at the door went unnoticed by the princess as she was too absorbed in her own misery. A moment later, the door was opened and Ty Lee entered the room.

"Oza, are you alright? I thought I smelled- OZA!!" Ty Lee rushed to Oza and held her in her arms, pulling the princess into her lap. "Oza, what happened!?!"

"I'm a good girl... I'm a good girl... I'm a good girl..." Oza curled into Ty Lee's chest repeating the same four words over and over again. Ty Lee held the princess close and rocked her from side to side.

"You are a good girl, Oza. You are a good girl." Ty Lee and Oza sat there on the floor for what felt like hours until Oza had cried herself to sleep. Ty Lee carefully picked Oza up in her arms and carried her to the bed. Ty Lee dressed the princess in her night clothes and tucked her in.

Ty Lee turned to leave but as soon as she stepped away, Oza began to whimper and reach for something, or someone, only she could see. Ty Lee smiled sadly at the princess and climbed into the bed with her, almost immediately Oza latched onto Ty Lee. Holding her as if for dear life. Ty Lee cuddled into the princess, blew out the candle next to the bed, and got comfortable. She pressed her lips to Oza's forehead before drifting off to sleep with the princess in her arms.