Never Good Enough

An Avatar: The Last Airbender/Percy Jackson & The Olympians Crossover

Chapter One: What Choice Do I Have?

Blue fire raged into the sky as she shot attack after attack at Zuko. She had long since lost her finess in her attacks and she no longer cared about it either. Everything she made for herself from her friends to her bending to her fame, it was never enough. Her father had gone to win the war and kill the Avatar leaving her to protect the fire kingdom from attacks. She was to lead their people while her father ruled all the Nations, she would be what she was only meant to be but, it was never enough.

And here, Zuko stood in front of her challenging her for the throne to remind her of that fact. He was the reason this all happened - everyone always chose Zuko over her. From her own mother to the only friends she ever trusted and loved. They betrayed her when they were the only ones she let her guard down around. Where had she gone wrong?

Why was she never enough?

Everyone feared her, as she wanted them to, everyone but Zuko. People loved Zuko more than feared her and if he won this battle her people would say all the things they never did to her face before. She had everything and yet she had nothing she wanted.

All she wanted... was for someone to love her.

Throwing all her rage and sadness into her attacks she threw a spiral of fire at Zuko who broke through the fire like she'd never seen him move before. He sure had changed since he turned his back on his own kingdom but Azula wasn't surprised, she knew he would always leave like their mother had before.

She was a monster, she knew she was, but if her mother fell in love with her father why couldn't someone love a monster no worse than her father?

She laughed as she thought of all the times she questioned her methods for her friends, the same friends who betrayed her, but they were her friends since they were children. If Zuko never existed would her mother have loved her? Would her father have spent more time with her? Would her friends have never left her?

"What is wrong with that child?"

Her mother appeared beside Zuko, looking at her with-with that look and she panted before she screamed loathing fire from her lungs. The pain was terrible (Firebenders didn't breathe fire for a reason) but it was nothing in comparison to the way her heart felt like it had been punched out of her chest. It was like shattered pieces of glass embedded inside her own chest. She stomped forward, over the water from where that annoying water-bender intervened and blasted a wall of fire at Zuko once again who wisely kept his distance from her.

He thought he knew her so well!

She thought of the way her father told her she would rule with no pride in his eyes, the way her mother played with Zuko when they were children but looked with distaste at her, the way Ty Lee turned on her when she thought her back was safe to her, the way Mai left to her precious crush for her brother. The way Zuko abandoned his quest for honor and instead joined the very person he was meant to kill and even taught the brat firebending.

Azula was a monster and she knew it, and now she was done thinking she could be anything different.

She grew more and more enraged as Zuko took her legendary and feared attacks and turned them into ash. The way he demanded she shoots lightning at him so he could best that too - she'd like to see him try!

Redirected, he thinks he's so much better, she instead aims at his Waterbender friend to take what he has taken from her! He takes the bolt of lightning, she feels joy even as the Waterbender has caught her eyes now. She thinks she hates the Waterbender almost more than she despises Zuko who has the friends he stole from her and they stay loyal to him. Why is it always Zuko? Enraged she decides to show that bitch what lightning feels like in water - but then she's frozen - chained, time resumes, she can't move. She's chained to the floor like an animal!

She looks up as Zuko with her mark of lightning now on his torso and the Waterbender stand together as they look at her with pitying eyes. Pity! How dare they think they know her? She should've been Firelord but now Zuko has taken that from her too! She's lost everything! Her armor is soaked from the very water that defeated her. How has she fallen from being the best so easily? Why has she fallen?

Zuko wasn't even the one to defeat her and yet he will be the Firelord now! She stares at them, enraged, panting, and roars her agonized blue fire through her throat as she cries because she was never enough. She's a monster, she's an animal, she's never good enough!

And now they'll lock her up and continue to look at her as a monster but with pity instead of fear or love because that bitch had defeated her - her!

"Well, I'm not going to go out like this!" She mumbled to herself. Just because the bitch has kept her from being able to kill them doesn't mean she can't end this for herself. She focused on her chi, turning fire to lightning, disregarding all the warnings of using lightning she'd ever been taught and felt the electrical current shock within her and instead of keeping it from going to her heart she focused on her chi strongest there.

Lightning appeared on her skin and the sound must've caught Zuko's attention because he turned back and just as the lightning began to reach her heart, the rest went towards her feet where it would be forced to exit from her body. "Azula! Don't!" Zuko roared before sprinting towards her, only to suddenly be held back by the Waterbending bitch - smart girl.

"Goodbye, brother-mine." The lightning connected.

Agony tore through her as the lightning struck her heart and as white filled her vision she couldn't help for a sad yet sincere smile to grace her expression just before she fell back, embracing the water to shock her into oblivion, and she knew no more.

Thalia was training some of the newer, less experienced hunters how to track when lightning flashed in a clear sky followed by thunder seconds after the sight of lightning. Wondering if one of the huntresses had done something to offend her father, she quickly called her goddess through the mental link and barely hid her flinch when their Lady appeared beside them seconds later. Though Artemis's power was weaker during the day, the moon was still in the sky, visible or not, and not to mention she was a Goddess for a reason. Although Artemis was technically her half-sister she had more of an adoptive mother's role to Thalia now that she had joined the Hunt and was their Lieutenant.

Secretly, she tried to tell herself it wasn't as weird as she made it sound.

Although not all the veteran huntresses were happy about her abrupt promotion simply from her birthright and a single quest, she could tell they were slowly getting used to her presence, and her orders only happened when they were called for. Most backed off because of her relationship with Zoe before she died for Artemis but Thalia tried not to think of Zoe too often, mostly because the older girl had been right about Luke, and if she could go back in time she would've joined the Hunt and followed any order Zoe would've given as lieutenant.

But she couldn't go back in time and she was the Lieutenant now, so she would lead her sisters in Zoe and Artemis's honor while trying to avoid Hades' underhand tactics to get her killed in the process. Invoking his niece's wrath or not, she was still furious that the gods lashed out at their children and not the actual guilty parties. It's part of the reason she was happy to join the Hunt, though mostly to escape the prophecy because now she could hunt men who deserved to die. She hasn't been apart of the Hunt for long but the things she's seen... well, as she looks over at the newer members, she understands how every one of the girls here had been given a second chance by Artemis like herself, an escape from the fate they could've had. Doesn't mean she'll hate all men blindly but she does at least understand the discrimination the majority of the Hunt holds for all things male. She hopes she may be able to loosen things up a bit while she's here.

Don't get her wrong though, she was very grateful. But sometimes Thalia did wonder if she was really just here because she was the daughter of Zeus. Thalia wasn't going to fool herself; she knew family had no meaning to the Olympians. She may be partial immortal now, but she would never want to be as heavily flawed as the gods... thunder boomed overhead and Thalia rolled her eyes, knowing the gods couldn't hear her thoughts but still, the reminder of her father's pettiness was hard to forget.

Although, she did wonder what the appearance of lightning was all about in a clear sky.

"Phoebe, your group is with me. We'll surround the perimeter. Thalia, you lead the others with you to where the lightning is coming from. Engage only if necessary. We don't know what's going on but there is certainly something... off about this lightning storm." Artemis commanded, capturing all the huntresses' attention as they stood straight and proud in front of their lady. Thalia didn't have to look to see the girls in the trees had moved toward them to hear better.

Moving her fist over her heart, she bowed her head slightly and responded dutifully "yes, milady."

She then turned toward her group, sent a nod towards the girls in the trees, and with a single hand gesture, they were off in a sprint leaving silver flashes in their wake. Lady Artemis's gifts never got old, that was for sure.

A lot of things went through Thalia's head at what could be the source of the lightning but none of them surprised her more than the moment she got to the area with Artemis's group already surrounding the perimeter, the marked trees the only indication for those that knew what to look for, because in front of her the lightning was striking the same spot repeatedly.

Baffled, Thalia tried to attract and absorb the lightning bolt into herself before it drew too much attention, say, from monsters, only for the lightning to suddenly shoot towards her and she dodged away from the bolt reflexively. Quickly flipping back to her feet, she stared at the place the lightning was striking before motioning for the hunters to surround the point of interest to serve as an inner perimeter circle within Artemis's own.

Suddenly, a lightning bolt struck again so brightly that she and the others had to look away lest they blinded themselves, but when they opened their eyes and the spots cleared from their vision, they blinked their eyes in shock to confirm what they were seeing was real.

The lightning had all but vanished but in the place where the lightning was previously, a girl now kneeled with lightning wrapping around her body similar to Thalia's own while the girl's head was rolled back unconscious. She knew better than to approach the girl when the lightning was still there, immune or not, she didn't want to accidentally get want of her sisters hit with a stray lightning bolt.

She readied her weapon and nodded with pride when the others followed suit wordlessly as they studied the girl. She was young, probably somewhere in her early or mid-teens, with black long hair that was cut haphazardly and yet despite the messy hair her face was sharp and aristocratic. Like she was a noble or a model. A Huntress motioned toward behind the girl and Thalia shifted slightly to get a better angle of what her sister was pointing at, and with her enhanced vision, she saw what had caught their interest.

The girl's hands were bound in chains, no cuffs to hold them in place but were instead tied in a loose knot, while her wrists appeared to be charred from where the lightning no doubt had scorched. Anger shot through her at what could've happened to this girl, at who could've caused her this pain, and more than anything she wanted to help this girl. But Thalia knew better than to make decisions about an unknown factor, regardless to what her heart was screaming at her to do.

And then, if she blinked she would have missed it, the girl's eyes snapped open and she tensed, eyes roaming the entire area in less than a second before a wicked grin swept across her features. Thalia herself was startled at the color of the girl's eyes; a vibrant yellow, which was narrowed with a madness she was unfamiliar with.

Naturally, she and her huntresses tensed as their sixth sense towards combat flared in recognition but they wouldn't draw their weapons against the girl until she made the first move. That was their law.

"Such disrespect," the girl said proudly, jutting her chin out in a way that would've looked arrogant on anyone else, but instead looked natural on her. Thalia clenched her jaw. "Standing before a Lord and you don't even bow? Has my dear brother taken the throne from me already?" The girl said but made no move so far to get out of her bounds.

"Who are you?" Thalia asked, respectfully she thought, but also with her commanding authority. Hey, she was second-in-command.

Yellow eyes pierced her own electric blue before the girl suddenly tilted her head back, and closed her eyes, her shoulders shaking betraying her concealed amusement before she cackled madly, tears leaking from her eyes, and Thalia could feel such powerful emotions that her heart couldn't help but ache at the sight.

"He made them forget me, did he? I told them. I told them. Fear is everything! So afraid of me they made them forget me!" Her laughter soon was rendered into chuckles but Thalia was simply reminded of all she has seen during her short time with the Hunt and how all of it together feels like nothing compared to this girl in front of her. She was broken; driven mad. That much was clear.

Suddenly fury seemed to rush through the girl as her eyes narrowed and that maddened smirk made a reappearance. "They know I'm a monster... I'll show them why they should fear my name!" Her eyes suddenly snapped to the girls in front of her and predatory look took over the look in her eyes. "And you'll be the first I make an example of!"

Thalia had no idea what the first attack was going to look like but seeing the girl flip backward where blue flames suddenly shot forward from the bottom of her feet at them was the furthest thing she expected and before she knew it, the Hunt were on the defensive as she and her sisters quickly dove out of the way as the electric blue flames flew over their heads and turned to ash before they hit the trees behind them.

Arrows launched into the air meant to incapacitate the girl, not kill, but to her astonishment, the girl evaded them with ease even with her hands bound. The girl continued to launch blue fire at them with her legs and Thalia knew they could learn a lot about their enemy in the way they fought but watching this girl was almost overwhelming. Her ability to use fire with such mastery and intensity that the fire burned so hot it was blue, made her think of how unrefined her own use of lightning was amateur in comparison. Thalia dove to the ground a second time as a wave of fire shot above her, and she could feel the scorching heat as it passed mere inches above her from making contact. Thalia swore as she lept back to her feet in fury. She was already sweating before the fight had even begun.

This girl was clearly athletic and acrobatic in the way she evaded all their attacks from arrows to swords to throwing knives easily. She dominated the battle even when she was clearly outnumbered. The crazed look in her eyes had disappeared into an iron focus while her attacks were refined with such finesse and intensity it became more and more difficult to land a hit than it was to dodge.

Just getting near the girl made them break out into a sweat, their limbs became sluggish as though they were in a heatwave, and the pain in their throats persisted as they thirsted for water after every minute.

And then there was the fact that the girl was clearly not holding back her punches; as more than one of her attacks had been meant to kill, and if not for their training she had a hunch her sisters would have died before a minute into this battle. Arrows continued to fly and as often as they tried to get in close, her flames would force them to back off, and even Thalia's shield did nothing to deter the girl.

It was clear that the girl was hardly Greek or Roman with the way she moved and fought. It was foreign and it was almost as though the girl was born and bred for war, as though she had been fighting since she had taken her first steps, the way she was untouchable. Only a few minutes into this battle and already more than three-quarters of her group was defeated. With every fallen sister another sister replaced her and yet the girl was not deterred, she hadn't even broken a sweat!

It was as incredible as it was frightening seeing the girl glide through the air and redirect her sisters' attacks to hit one another. The way she did it without mercy or hesitation and instead smirked when she hit her mark... it awed the Lieutenant as much as it enraged Thalia too.

Charging her spear with lightning she moved forward and shot the lightning at the girl in hopes to catch her off guard but to her surprise, the girl easily leaped out of the way without losing any of her momentum instead taking out two more of her sisters. She suddenly threw off the chains that previously took her hands out of the fight, and then lunged towards her for the first time on the offense - all while twirling her body evading any incoming arrows before throwing her legs forward and jumping off her spear as though it was a springboard, the lightning that should've fazed the girl was instead absorbed through her legs where the girl leaned down to smirk predatorily at her as her hand moved down her body and seemed to pick up the lightning. Thalia's eyes widened as the girl's hand suddenly shot to the side and Thalia's lightning flew through the air and hit her own sister, knocking her off her feet and out of the fight with a piercing cry.

Rage suddenly slammed into her and Thalia felt her body radiated electricity as her vision shook and bled red but the girl had already leaped away from her - and away from danger - spinning through the air with blue fire spiraling around her like a hurricane and more and more of her sisters fell. Letting out a roar she charged and watched as this weaponless girl simply pushed her spear out of the way, ignoring the electricity it was charged with, before she fell towards the ground with an upward kick - hitting Thalia in the stomach and throwing her through the air like she was nothing as that intense blue fire burned away her armored clothing like it was nothing.

Blood sprayed through the air as it left her mouth as she fell roughly to the ground. Agony was racing through her as the blue fire cauterized its own wound. She groaned in pain and went to stand, wondering how her pride of being one of the most powerful demi-gods could be felled so easily. What was this girl? A demi-titan?

Moonlight flashed through the air as Artemis appeared in front of her in a silver flash.

"Milady..." She gasped out, feeling so pathetic, trying to move but unable to.

"It's alright, Thalia. I won't let her take down another one of us," Artemis said firmly, her silver eyes locked on the girl who stood proudly in the middle of a massacre of their huntresses. To be defeated so easily...

She was only glad no one from the Camp was here to watch their failings.

"Tell me, who are you?" Artemis called out, genuine curiosity showing in her expression, as the fight took a pause for conversation. The girl relaxed, seemingly unbothered by the appearance of the goddess, and Thalia was angered by the girl's rudeness as much as was by her mere existence.

"Don't tell me you really don't know? Look, there's a really simple question you need to answer, then. What nation are you from?" The girl stated, her tone clearly feeling that she was wasting her time on people with lower knowledge than her. Thalia's expressions twisted with indignation but looking at Artemis, the goddess simply looked as elegant as usual, her expression unreadable.

"We're in the United States," Thalia managed to gasp out, trying to figure out how the girl didn't know where she was - but then again she did travel by lightning... Thalia couldn't wait till she could do that. A thought hit her then... was this girl perhaps her half-sister as well? But the fire? A demigod/titan? She gulped at the mere possibility.

"And I'm a 400-foot tall purple platypus bear with pink horns and silver wings. Come on, it's a real simple question even my brother could answer. Air? Water? Earth? I know you're definitely not Fire. If you were, I'd banish you right here and now."

"The hell you talking about?" Thalia coughed out annoyed at both the girl and her easy defeat reminded by her own blood still pouring out her mouth.

"Enough, Thalia. Clearly, there is some confusion here. Tell me, what do you know of the gods?" Artemis asked.

"Tsk, gods? The only God is my father, or at least he likes to think so," she added at their serious expressions. She shrugged. "Some people like to think the Avatar is a God but that's just because their reincarnation cycle never ends."

"Hmm, I see," Artemis replied, her expression only telling that she was speculative. Did the goddess not know what was going on, either? "Then we're back to our original question. Who are you?"

The girl chuckled at them, clearly amused. "Well, I was just about to be coronated Firelord before my pathetic brother crashed the party and challenged me. He lost obviously but complications of his worthless friends caused me to come here," though the words were spoken with nonchalance the light in her eyes dimmed and her smile turned twisted. There was more to the story there but Thalia doubted they would be getting more out of this girl.

"And your name?" Artemis pushed, probably hoping she could figure out who she was a descendant of. Not many things used blue fire and then there was her unique use of lightning. Or at least, how she didn't react to her lightning, a clear sign that she was the daughter of Zeus. If she had any Greek in the way she had fought Thalia would've pegged her for an Ares' descendent but her fighting style reminded her more of martial art forms she saw on TV as a child than anything else. She wondered where this girl was from.

"Azula."

Azula. Definitely a foreign name. Nothing Greek or Roman about it. She didn't even know if there was an origin for that name. It sounded entirely unique.

"What do you know of your parents?" And like a switch, Azula's expression completely snapped from ease to fury, the madness she witnessed early taking a return. "Enough chit-chat. I'm afraid if you were looking for a sob story you're not going to get it. I could stand here and tell you all about how my mother loved my brother more than me. That my father cared nothing more about conquering the world no matter how perfect his daughter was. Heh, my own mother thought I was a monster. She was right of course, and I'll show you just why I'm a monster they all feared me to be!"

Thalia flinched as the girl, Azula, suddenly roared fire out of her mouth and the battle was back on as Artemis evaded it in a flash of light, appearing behind Azula releasing multiple arrows in a single shot which were evaded skillfully but the speed in which the fight had picked up too left Thalia seeing blurs. Determined not to be rendered completely useless considering she was conscious, she charged another lightning bolt on her spear and got ready to fire it at Azula in the hopes that she would be too distracted by the goddess to evade. And if she missed, too occupied by the goddess to burn her alive.

For a moment, as though Artemis knew her plan (of course she did), she slowed down just enough for Thalia to throw the lightning bolt but Azula already a hand out and did the same trick she did before where the lightning entered her fingers and watched as Azula moved the finger on her body while her other hand seemed to pick up where it left off before stopped for just a moment for Thalia to see the lightning circling at the tips of her fingers, fully charged, before releasing it at Artemis with such precision and speed it would've hit if Artemis wasn't a goddess.

Yet as it was, the speed of the battle picked up once more, and although Thalia and Artemis learned what they needed to it would be almost as possible to pull the same stunt again on Azula.

Thalia also knew that her Lady could end this battle in a heartbeat. Azula was her the goddess's domain after all - so why didn't she? Was she evaluating the clearly unstable girl?

But as soon as she thought it, suddenly, the fight was over as the trees suddenly bent their branches to Artemis's will and restrained the suddenly furious girl who was breathing fire in her face with unyielding rage. Or so she thought before the very fire she breathed burnt the branches to ash and next thing Thalia witnessed was Azula using her fire to launch herself into the sky and above the forest similar to that of a rocket. Thalia got a bad feeling and to her horror, Azula unleashed a huge inferno unto the forests where she and her immobile sisters lay. Clearly, she was merciless, using such a tactic against an enemy by using her defeated enemies as a distraction. Quickly, in the speed of moonlight Artemis was suddenly by her sisters and her and the next they were placed down far outside the forestry they were previously in and Artemis flashed away, no doubt to finish fighting the girl and restrain her before she burned the forest to the ground.

Thalia groaned at the thought of the media catching wind of this because not even the mist could hide this level of damage at the rate this battle was going.

Thalia had no doubt her goddess would win but she was worried Artemis would want to adopt the girl into the Hunt. Sure, she always gave a second chance to any girl who needed it, which that girl sincerely needed but at the same time the mental instability of that girl seemed irreversible.

She worried for her sisters if Azula became apart of their Hunt, even as a guest.

She knew her Artemis would only do what she thought best though and despite knowing she shouldn't worry, she couldn't help but feel like her heart was once more at a crossroad.

Well, she decided, if Azula was going to be a guest then Thalia would probably be able to learn a thing or two from the girl. When she wasn't the one fighting Azula she was truly incredible to watch.

But just who was Azula? Where is she from? What does she want?

And just what happened to the girl to break her this badly?

Azula is such a tradgic villain to me. She became what she was because she was unloved by her mother and father alike. Her father gave her attention for being a prodigy and so she shaped herself after him and distanced herself as far as she could from her own mother who looked at her in distaste. I love Zuko's character but I also relate to Azula and feel great sadness for her. After all, you could see she tried to change her ways when around Mei and Ty Lee. You could see her put her guard down and be herself, tell her thoughts, but in the end she was betrayed by them for her brother.

Can you imagine how that would've felt for her? She's just fourteen too, you know. And the burden that's been placed on her since birth. The things she was conditioned for and trained to do. She was respected but she had to be feared in order to get it.

So, this is just a little something I came up with to keep Azula from being brought to an aslym, which really did more damage than good if you read the comics, and thought of The Hunt mythology to help Azula out. The origin of the lightning that brought Azula to the PJ universe will be revealed with time, don't worry this story does have structure, and I hope you guys enjoy what this story holds.

~GR