I chickened out of posting this earlier, hence the late upload. Sorry. In parallel with the Zuko Alone episode from the series, this chapter portrays Chiyo's perspective and journey after she went back to the Salinja troupe quarters.
Again, I'd like to issue a warning for this chapter, same as the previous ones with the addition of abuse towards minors, racism, non-consensual voyeurism, and sexual coercion.
If you feel uncomfortable with these topics, please skip this chapter. As this is a crucial chapter, however, (some questions about to be answered), I'll type up a summary at the end.
-TheGreatestConWoman-
"Now I'm sure you know that your debut is looming around the corner." I watched as Lady Vira took a long hit from her pipe and parted her lips slightly, letting the smoke crawl out like a snake awakened from its den.
"Yes." I answered truthfully, vaguely aware of the intense look she gave me.
"And I'm sure you know that this is what your mentor has planned for you all along, ever since you were a little girl in our troupe... right?"
"Yes."
She chuckled and set her pipe down on the table, her eyes not leaving mine. "Then this means you have decided to become an entertainer, just like your Lady Suiren... right?"
I briefly wondered why she was asking me these questions. I wondered why she sounded as if she was prying something out of me. Nonetheless, I answered, this time warily. "Y-yes..."
"Good."
In mere seconds, I was held up by two women by both my arms and together, they struck the back of my shoulder blades.
Panic overwhelmed me as I lost the ability to move my body from the neck down. This panic rendered me speechless as one of the women loosened the ties that held my clothes. Unable to tear away from them, I watched as they removed every article of clothing from my body and threw it on the floor.
It wasn't until I was stripped bare of everything that I regained my bearings to speak. "W-what are you doing?!"
"It's just a simple routine check, Chiyo! Nothing to be scared of!" She smiled nonchalantly, but as I looked at her, it was the first time I realized how twisted and perverse her smile truly was.
She stood before me, eyeing my body with sharp, hawk-eyes. I could feel her gaze burning its way through my skin. It was as if she was looking for something on me that even I did not know. My frustration manifested itself into tears, as I silently plead her to stop.
Then suddenly, her hand reached out to touch the vulnerable spot between my numb legs. "W-wha—"
Lady Vira broke out into a sadistic smile before she answered my unspoken question. "Of course we have to see if your maidenhood is still intact! How else can we go through the coming-of-age ceremony if you have already...done the deed with the dear Fire Lord?"
"N-no!" I felt one of her slender fingers push inside me gently, but there was no mark of gentleness in her expression. It was sickening to the core as I was held up by my arms, legs numb and pried apart as she relentlessly inspected me.
I could only scrunch my eyes closed in pain and humiliation, praying that this would all be over soon.
"Hmm..." It seemed like she was satisfied as she retrieved her digits and had one of the ladies wipe it for her. "You must have the will and restraint of a brick wall not to jump on the Fire Lord's cock all those times you were together! I mean, don't get me wrong, sweetheart, he is gorgeous, but that scar of his—"
"Shut up!" I spat in her face. "You have no right to talk about Zuko—"
My head spun and my cheek stung as she backhanded me with surprising strength. I could taste blood in my mouth.
"Take her underground. Not a word to anyone else, got it?"
"Zuko..."
When I regained consciousness, I was so sure I had gone blind. Even as wide as I opened my eyes, all I saw was pitch-black void. I tried moving my limbs only to find that I was bound tightly with ropes; arms, hands, legs and feet.
"Where the hell am I?"
"Why do you have to be so difficult, Chiyo? You weren't like this when you were younger..." I heard her malicious voice somewhere in the darkness, but I could not pinpoint exactly where. "Back then you would listen to our every single instruction with no hesitation..."
I did not answer her. Instead, I thought of ways to free myself and escape. "A normal chi-block takes half an hour, then maybe I can twist—"
"Do you know why you have to do this?"
"I think I'm flexible enough to get out of these ropes—"
"Your Lady Suiren promised you to me, way before you were even born and abandoned in front of our troupe quarters."
My thoughts halted immediately. "What?"
"Let me tell you a little story about your dear teacher and her friends..." I felt the smoke blown in my face, a sickening fragrance that told me she was right in front of me.
"I'm sure Suiren already told you that I adopted her and her friends after the fall of their little village... But did she ever tell you how much it takes to feed and clothe them? How much it costs to train and make them presentable to the world that is manipulated my power and beauty? A lot. But for every woman, there is a certain way to earn enough money to pay the troupe back. And that... is by using that thing between their legs."
My eyes had adjusted to the dark and I can see the vague outline of her silhouette. "If it's money you want, I have enough—"
"Tsk, tsk, tsk. Chiyo... If there's one thing I value more than my money, it's promises. Because promises give you power over a person far more than money can."
She reached out to me, brushing the hair away from my face and gently tucking it behind my ear. "And now the time is ripe. It is time to collect on Suiren's promise, principal and interest. You... You'll most likely fetch the highest price in history considering your fame and connections! Your teacher set the stage well for your bright future!"
I let her words sink in. She's going to... sell me?
"Didn't I tell you before, Chiyo? You belong to me and my troupe."
I thought that that was the worst of it.
Little did I know that my days in hell had only just begun.
"Zuko... where are you?"
My dark cell was illuminated by fire shot from a distance, towards torches that gave the room dim light and warm air. But I only felt dreaded coldness. A man and a woman walked in, all grin and waves. "Good morning, little one! Have you eaten yet? Thirsty? You're gonna need your nourishment to keep your strength up!"
I ignored her questions and gave her my own. "Where... Where am I? W-who are you?"
"Who else?!" The woman laughed shrilly as came closer. "I'm your new teacher!"
The man suddenly grabbed my arms and lifted me to sit on a proper chair instead of the floor. "W-what are you doing?! Let go of me! HELP!" I shouted as he got another set of ropes to tie me to the chair. "HELP!"
"Shout all you want, no one will come for you." He leaned in to whisper in my ear. His breath smelled heavily of alcohol and made my head spin. "Now be a good girl and watch."
Only then did I see my surroundings when they backed away from me. I was in a room with no windows, no natural light, no furnishings, except a single mattress on the floor.
And the man was slowly stripping the woman of her yukata.
I quickly turned my head away and closed my eyes tight as it dawned on me what they are about to do. Moments later, I heard her unabashed moans and flirtatious giggles as more and more clothes rustled and thrown carelessly away.
"You know, Chiyo, we're gonna finish sooner if you would watch... How else are you gonna—ahh! Aru, be gentle!"
"I thought you loved it when I played rough?" I heard a low growl from him, followed by her high-pitched laughter. "But it's useless if she won't watch..."
"You're right... What to do... What to do... Oh, I know! Why don't we get one of the younger apprentices to watch? I bet the kids are eager to learn my techniques as well—"
"You're fucking insane!" I shouted angrily, shaking at the thought of the younger kids, the apprentices of other entertainers, watching this horrific scene. "You disgusting animals!"
"That we are!" The man chuckled darkly, not the least bit fazed. "Aren't we, Iza?"
The woman called Iza breathlessly responded between moans. "Open your eyes, Chiyo, and learn. Or else, I'll bring them all down here to watch. Your choice."
I struggled and despaired inside as she went on and on. "My choice? Nothing has ever been my choice? How could I subject children in my place?! What kind of choice is that?!"
"All you have to do... Is open your eyes... and watch..." She called to me. I was startled as her voice sounded closer than it already was, until I realized she was in front of me, tilting my head forwards with a hand under my chin. "Come now, Chiyo..."
My lip trembled as I kept my sobs in. I didn't want to show them how much it affected me, but I'm quite sure they knew anyways. Slowly, I opened my bloodshot eyes, blurred with tears.
"There... that's better..." Iza smiled, almost affectionately at me. Then she turned around and returned to her lover. "Watch carefully, okay? We're only going to do this once..." She straddled the man's lap and kissed him passionately, tongues entwined as she moved her hips coaxingly, her eyes wide open as she stared at me to make sure I was watching her. "Or not."
I lost track of time in that dark room with Iza and Aru. They didn't leave at all. Meals were delivered in. In between their lustful acts and lovemaking, they rested and told me bizarre things of their encounters, making my ears burn and bile rise to my throat.
If only I could shut them out, but every time I do so, the threats would come again. It got to the point where they brought an actual child into the room. Though she was fast asleep, I hastily ordered that she be taken away, on the condition that I will be cooperative.
Eventually, I lost the will to fight.
"Men love it when you do this..." Iza gasped for breath as she released Aru's member from her mouth, a thin strand of her saliva connecting her lip and the swollen tip. "Just look at Aru's face!" She grasped it with one hand, slowly pumping it while running her tongue over the head. "I bet you a hundred gold pieces, he's dying to cum!"
The man moaned in frustration, bucking his hips up to try and create more pleasurable friction. "Fuck..."
I watched as Iza pulled away, standing over him and straddling his hips. Her hand roamed Aru's chest and neck, while the other reached behind to lead his member into her glistening wet folds.
I didn't dare close my eyes in fear that another child might be taken in, but I did my best to avert them as much as possible without being noticed.
Their slow motions became rough, wild. Iza soon screamed out her climax wantonly, clinging onto Aru's shoulders while he grabbed her hips, pounding relentlessly until he too followed her.
Only their ragged breaths could be heard in the room. They have done it countless times in front of me, yet I could never get used to this, and I don't think I'll ever be.
Will it always be like this? Will it always be rough and unforgiving? Will it always be a selfish seeking of release from the other?
My thoughts were interrupted as Aru had stood up and was now making his way towards me. Instantly, I shrank away and averted my eyes from his fully naked form. "W-what are you doing?! Go away!"
He merely chuckled as he bent down and grasped my chin to make me look at him. "I think watching isn't enough for you, babe. I heard from the others that experience is the best teacher..."
"Aru, love, Vira told us not to touch the girl—"
The man grunted and sent a stream of fire from his fist, dividing the room and keeping Iza on the other side. "I've had enough of your rules, woman!"
I panicked as he undid the ropes that tied me to the chair and those that bound my arms and wrists.
It must have been the adrenaline that kicked in. As soon as the ropes fell to the floor, I kicked the man where I know it would hurt most and jabbed my fingers into his neck to render him unconscious.
His heavy body fell with a thud on the floor and I stood up on my weakened legs, breathing heavily, seeking out my escape route.
I leapt through the flames, ignoring Iza's shouts and burst through the door. The air felt cool and I knew that my freedom was close.
"Wait for me, Zuko."
Trudging up the steps with bare feet, not heeding the pain of the sharp rocks stabbing onto my soles; soon, I found myself staring up into the night sky, the full moon was a welcome sight that I hadn't seen in so long.
I ran as fast as I could through the halls. I didn't care that I made so much noise against the wooden floors and that it woke almost everyone in the quarters.
From afar, I could see the large doors and outer walls that led outside. All I knew was that I had to get away. I had to get to Zuko and—
Intense pain wracked my entire being before it succumbed into numbness. I lost the feeling in my limbs and lost control of my movements.
Yet I was standing still and upright.
"Do you want to hear another story, little Chiyo?" Lady Vira came into view, walking slowly from her room towards me. "There was once a little girl from the Southern Water Tribe who lived a happy life with her happy family..."
The lights in the other rooms came on and the women peeked out of the sliding doors to see the commotion outside. Still, Lady Vira continued. "That little girl was taken away by the Fire Nation for the simple fact that she can play with water like the older members of her tribe. The others were imprisoned, others were slain. But she was spared because an admiral thought that she was beautiful and exotic."
Lady Vira had reached were I stood motionless, still clueless of what was happening to me and my body. "The girl thought that she was given mercy. Instead, she was given hell. They sent her to this cruel place where beauty and art was but a façade that men fancied and adored. The women made fun of her because her skin was dark unlike theirs that was fair and light."
She raised her hand and with a flick of her wrist, I was slammed against the wall by an unseen force that hauled my body recklessly. "She was molested, she was looked down upon, she was stripped of her freedom... but there was one thing they can't take away from her... ambition."
Standing in front of me, her dark, sharp eyes focused on mine as she lifted her hand. Suddenly, I felt a constricting force around my neck, threatening to cut off my breath. "She made it her life's mission to take revenge and claim everything that she was deprived of. She changed who she was so that, for the first time in her lifetime, she could stand as their equal. She changed the color of her skin, she changed her body, she even changed the name her mother had given her, to one that could hold power and fame in this foreign land."
My mind, deprived of oxygen, struggled to think clearly, still trying to understand what was happening. "S-stop... P-please..."
Lady Vira leaned in and whispered viciously. "I stand where I am today because I held on to my ambition, I used whatever means I could to survive this world and claim what I deserve. I will not let a pitiful girl such as yourself destroy everything I have worked for."
"Y-you..." She relaxed her hand and I slumped onto the floor weakly. "You won't get away with this..."
Her cruel smile grew even wider. "I already have."
The sharp cries of children snapped my attention back to the halls as they were forcefully taken from their senior's arms and held captive by the same force that I was held with mere moments ago.
The senior entertainers all pleaded and begged Lady Vira to let their apprentices go. The children cried ceaselessly and desperately for their teachers. "Lady Vira, please! Stop this madness—"
"SILENCE!"
The tension was so thick that it suffocated everyone inside the quarters. No one dared speak, no one dared move, in fear that their actions will trigger Lady Vira's temper any further.
"I let an entertainer walk away once, and it almost cost me everything. I will not let it happen ever again." Her outstretched fingers slowly curled to her palm, and the children's cries intensified.
"Please.... Stop!" These girls were innocent, yet they suffered because of me. Because I wanted to run away back to where it is safe, back to where Zuko is, I'm putting these children's lives in danger. I sobbed and crawled to Lady Vira's feet, kneeling, clutching the hem of her kimono. "Let them go..."
"You know what to do, Chiyo."
I cried for everything that my future held and was taken harshly away from me. I cried for this helplessness that I felt. I cried because the future that Lady Vira envisioned for me was far from where Zuko is.
My heart was breaking so much that I longed to rip it out of my chest and cast it away.
The ladies looked at me both with pitiful and pleading eyes. Why must I be given this choice that I cannot refuse?
"You win, Lady Vira... I... I'll become an entertainer... and pay back all our debts..."
Her ringing laughter was loud enough to overcome the small cries and sniffles of the young apprentices. It was a sound that will forever be etched into my memory, along with the fear of her unknown abilities that gripped us with overwhelming terror.
"The choice was never yours to begin with." Lady Vira chuckled and watched as I was dragged back into the underground room. "It will always, always be mine."
Not-so-short Summary (with explanations) A.K.A I suck at writing huhuhelp
Chiyo was hidden by Lady Vira in a secret underground room after being checked for her "purity" (virginity).
In her incarceration, Lady Vira explains that her coming-of-age ceremony (bidding for her first night) is actually a means to pay her debts and homage to the troupe that raised her; and that in her case, she would also be paying for Lady Suiren's debts to the troupe.
Author's Note: Remember that Lady Suiren and her friends (Lady Lee and Lady Anita from earlier chapters) was adopted by the Salinja Troupe after she lost her child and husband during the siege of the Fire Nation in her village. The troupe was not able to "profit" from their purity then, so she struck a deal with Lady Vira to have their debt passed on to a future apprentice, to which, Lady Suiren agreed. Despite being hailed as a Royal Noble Concubine, Suiren was not able to pay off their debt to the troupe because Lady Vira saw Chiyo's potential in surpassing Suiren, therefore, she refused payment and held Suiren to her initial promise.
In the weeks she was detained, Chiyo was taught by a new teacher how to "please" her first client. Bound and chi-blocked, she was forced to watch her teacher and a man doing the deed and so on.
One particular evening, the man suggested that Chiyo should have "first-hand experience" with these lessons. In his carelessness, he untied Chiyo and she managed to escape the underground room...
Only to be stopped by Lady Vira who reveals her true nature and origins. With the use of bloodbending, Lady Vira held three child-apprentices hostage, threatening to kill them if Chiyo does not submit to her demands. Held back by guilt and fear for the children's safety, along with Lady Vira's manipulative words, she gives up and accepts her fate.
"The choice was never yours to begin with." Lady Vira chuckled and watched as I was dragged back into the underground room. "It will always, always be mine."