Azula rolled her eyes as she saw an Earth Kingdom peasant on the road ahead, watching a gate. No doubt some kind of toll scam. She was about to simply burn the gate down to let herself, Mai, and Ty Lee keep riding past on their Mongoose Lizard mounts, but upon closer inspection, the signs on the gate seemed... intriguing.

They warned the road ahead was cursed or something. Well, this should be amusing after a few boring days of chasing scraps of fur off a flying Bison.

"I warn you, travellers, this route is not safe!" The Peasant shouted as they neared.

"Really? And I suppose you have some trinket to sell us to get past the curse?" Azula scoffed.

The Peasant was perplexed.

"Um.... No. I just warn people not to go down this road. And if they do, to go quickly. It travels by Lady Jiéshí's lands."

"Lady Jiéshí?" Ty Lee repeated.

"And what does she do to passers by exactly, throw rocks at them?" Azula cut in.

"No one really knows but it's said if those passing her lands are too loud, she silences them."

"So let's get this one straight. Some spooky lady who lives near here tries to get people to stay off her lawn or at least go quietly, and so she hires people like you and puts up signs like this to get them to go the other way?"

The Peasant again seemed baffled.

"Um... no, no one pays me, we all volunteer from the village about a mile that way," He said, pointing off in... the opposite direction from the other route.

Azula wondered what the scam actually was now, at least, until Mai got her attention. Visible a few dozen yards past the gate was telltale Bison fur snagged on a branch.

"Well, whatever your game is, we're not interested. We'll be heading down that road."

The Peasant shrugged.

"Well, good luck, and travel swiftly. Oh, and silently," he said as he raised the gate.

The trio moved on, a few moments of silence before Ty Lee spoke up.

"That was weird. Do you think this Lady Jiéshí is real?"

"Probably not. It's just some weird little game the dirt people play to mess with travellers. Besides, what's the worst she can do, at best she's just another Earthbender if she's real..."

***

An hour or so later...

The Bison had escaped, but these six Kyoshi Warriors that were now defeated and bound were a good consolation prize. As Azula surveyed the aftermath of the skirmish, the charred trees now extinguished, she smirked.

"Well, it appears we need to take a little detour... but these Kyoshi Warriors uniforms might come in handy," She noted, only for the ground to shake softly.

And then a patch of earth shifted, and flowed like sand, allowing a tall woman to emerge. An obvious Earthbender, but dressed and looking quite unlike most Earth Kingdom people Azula had seen. Her robes seemed a simple grey, but elements of it seemed to be snakeskin leather in a dark black-grey, such as her belt and wrappings around her wrists, as well as a choker on her neck. All that her clothing exposed of her was her neck, face, and hands. She had almost alabaster pale skin, yellow eyes, and strangely, dark green hair that writhed as she emerged. Her fingernails were finely manicured and painted a bright green, and the only ornamentation or jewellery apparent on her was a dark emerald set in the snakeskin choker.

Mai looked on impassively, as Ty Lee backed up a little. The Mongoose Lizards seemed on edge as well, as the woman began to speak.

"So, you are the ones who disturb my quiet, fighting so close to my lands?" She said, her voice sounding almost like a hiss.

"You would be Lady Jiéshí, I presume? Well, I am Azula, Crown Princess of the Fire Nation. And we'll fight the enemies of the Fire Nation wherever we please, thank you very much. So unless you want to be counted amongst them, I advise you go home and enjoy the fact that silence has fallen again now these six are pacified," Azula replied.

Jiéshí fixed her gaze on the Crown Princess, eyes seeming to glow for a second, before she smirked.

"If you know my name, then the villagers gave you a warning, I assume? And yet you fought your foes loudly, and burned part of my forest."

"A tree or two, that aren't even smouldering now. I am a Princess of the Fire Nation, extinguishing a stray flame here and there is nothing. Would you prefer I let the whole thing burn, or will you go home?"

"No, I don't think I will, little Princess. If I let those who ignored my warnings go, well... I have a reputation for a reason."

Azula sighed.

"Fine, have it your way. Mai, Ty Lee?"

The other two moved, Mai throwing her knives as Ty Lee leapt forward, Azula confident that this dirtbender would be a pushover. Except the next moments were a surprise. Blades sharp enough to slice into metal bounced off the woman, Azula almost sure one had slid off her skin, while Ty Lee's chi-strikes began landing.... And she yelped, leaping back while cradling a hand.

"Oww! What are you made of?!" She whined.

Azula readied a blast of flame.

"She's made of ashes, Ty Lee," The Princess smirked, unleashing a wave of blue flames that washed over the impetuous Earthbender.

And as the flames died down, Azula smirked and then... her eyes bulged in shock. Lady Jiéshí stood there, one hand raised and glowing white-hot, but otherwise completely unfazed. Not even a little soot was upon her.

"It's been some time since I've seen fire that powerful. Of course, as the Princess you'll be what, the great-granddaughter of Sozin? He somewhat ruined my old hobby with his war. Too risky to travel when you have a collection like mine..."

She waved the glowing hand, that quickly cooled down, and regarded the three Fire Nation females before her.

"But you realise, of course, even people of the Fire Nation have the other elements in them? There's water, of course, and you need air... and your bones, well... Calcium is a mineral."

Azula had almost recovered from her surprise and was about to give a retort, when she realised... she couldn't move. She felt an odd sensation deep in her bones, like every joint was... fusing. She could move her eyes, but that was virtually all. It was as if her skeleton had become one solid mass.

Because it had. She heard whimpers from Ty Lee, an unusual panicked sound from Mai, and noted also that the three Mongoose Lizards were just as statue-still as the Fire Nation humans. She tried to speak even through her locked jaw, but something in her larynx felt very off, like something was locking up her voice box. Seh could at best make some odd sounds but no more. Speech was not an option.

And then she felt herself moving, but not of her own accord, heading to help pick up the bound Kyoshi Warriors, and place them on the Lizard mounts, that also began moving soon after. Lady Jiéshí gave them a smirk, and then they began walking under her control...

***

After some time, they came across high walls surrounded by forest. There were no gates, but the walls themselves simply opened up to let the unwilling visitors in. The three found themselves forced to remove the Kyoshi Warriors from their Lizards, the three mounts moving in and followed by their former riders, hauling a pair of Warriors each.

Here, the home of Lady Jiéshí was now open to them. The grounds of an ornate mansion-slash-palace, covering more land than some small towns. It had a wide and open setting, a vast, flat space that seemed to be at least a square mile.

And it was snaked with many pathways, one leading to the main house itself, looming only just shorter than the walls, in a fairly typical Earth Kingdom architecture, a c-shaped structure around a central courtyard with a large fountain in the middle just in front of the main entrance.

But there was little in the way of plant life in these gardens. Flowerbeds and grass, yes, but few bushes, few hedges, and no trees within the walls. Instead, the gardens seemed to be filled with statues. Every shape and size. Male, female, young, old, human, animal. There seemed to be an entire squadron of Ostrich-Horse cavalrymen of the Earth Kingdom, and Azula knew enough of history to realise they dated back at least two hundred years based on their armour. And then there was a handful of Komodo Rhino riders, that seemed to be just as ancient. There seemed to be statues from every nation, though the Earth Kingdom did seem to have supplied most of the subjects.

And as Azula's body forced her to keep walking, she realised these statues were not just well kept, but extremely detailed. The three Lizards moved on ahead, walking into the waters of the fountain. It was a central pillar, water spraying from one middle spout. But as the Lizards climbed it, Azula saw the spout sputter and falter. The three Lizards stood in place, grasping the pillar, pointing their snouts off in different directions... and began to turn pale. Before Azula's eyes, the greenish-brown lizards shifted into alabaster stone. And then there was a faint rumble, before three new spouts of water emerged, spraying forth from the mouths of the lizards.

"I've been looking to spruce that fountain up for a long time, Princess. Those three little pets are quite an improvement. You must have lots of questions, but I don't intend to let you ask them. Though, that said... it's a long time since I had so distinguished a visitor. While your two friends and those Kyoshi Warriors go wait somewhere else, how about I give you a quick tour before I take you to your... new home?" Jiéshí said.

Azula, her jaw locked and voicebox still feeling like it was filled with rocks, had no reply, even as her controlled body walked behind Jiéshí, dropping the two Kyoshi Warriors she had been carrying, as Ty Lee and Mai did the same and stood still. The doors opened, and Azula was led into the house.

Inside, a vast glowing stone hung from the ceiling in the main hall. Doorways led off into other wings, a vast staircase led to the upper two floors... and statues were in abundance here. Except unlike those outside, many of these ones looked like what they truly were thanks to their colourful clothing over their pale stone bodies. They were once people, transformed to join Jiéshí's collection.

"Those inside are the ones I'm proudest of. I leave their clothes as they are since they won't rot and wear away as quickly indoors.... But moths are always a pest," Jiéshí sighed, pulling the blue robes of a Water Tribe statue and surveying the holes nibbled into the cloth.

But most surprising to Azula, was that there were a few statues wearing the orange of Airbenders. Her eyes were locked on those until she felt an odd sensation within the muscles of her eyes, like something solid was snaking through them, and forcing her to gaze at the Lady of the House.

"Now, before we begin, perhaps I should explain where I got my collection. Before Sozin started his world conquest plan, I travelled the world. Things were calm and peaceful. People weren't as suspicious of me. People would stay away from my lands even when I was not at home. But as they say, everything changed when the Fire Nation attacked..."

Jiéshí led Azula to a door, leading into a hallway and down into one of the annexes of the C-shaped structure. Here, a few statues held aloft glowing orbs, heads bowed and their clothing simple brown rags, as they neared large doors that opened into a large library.

Here, Azula would have gasped if she could. Holding a glowing globe aloft, was the statue of a dragon. The room was lined with bookshelves, but also held a number of large display cases. Statues stood holding books beside the cases, others stood as lantern-posts. Some of the display cases held stone animals. Others held what looked like miniature scenes.

"I could once go anywhere. Claim anything for my collection. But in war, people become paranoid. A few missing people here and there over the years wasn't anything people connected but some strange looking woman from far away visiting? Why, she must be some sort of threat!"

Jiéshí chuckled.

"I suppose they were somewhat correct. But even I have my limits, and it grew tiresome to risk an entire village trying to fight you. And if they saw you trying to walk off with someone, they almost always did. And that got messy."

She gestured to a statue holding open a book beside one display case. The stone woman seemed to be a Fire Nation woman, likely a noble based on how ornate her dress was. A smile on her face seemed natural enough, but Azula had figured out it had clearly been locked in place. The empty grey globes of her eyes didn't look fearful - but decades ago when they had been flesh, they almost certainly would have.

"This girl was one of the last I took from travelling. From your colonies, in fact. A noblewoman in a library, should have been easy enough, but trying to take her through the Earth Kingdom proved risky. One hamlet was ready to lynch us both, but it was small, and I could carry them all..."

Azula realised what was in the case beside the book-holder. It was a replica village, filled with tiny statues in stone clothing. Around thirty total. The statues were a few inches high, but extremely detailed....

"Of course my powers can't compress cloth, so I had to petrify their clothes too, and they are rather heavy for their size. Observe."

The case opened up and let Azula's controlled hands reach in, picking up the statue of what seemed to be a young woman. It weighed considerably more than expected. Like she was picking up a full sized statue, to place on the floor.

And a moment later, the small statue became full sized, and the stone clothes reverted into the green-yellow robes of an Earth Kingdom peasant woman.

"They made a nice display though, so I kept most of them the size they were after the fight. A few of the more handsome men and beautiful women wound up elsewhere in the collection, but that's most of the village in the case."

Jiéshí began moving out, forcing Azula to follow.

"Of course this is just the library, the other wing of the mansion is the real gallery. Dozens of rooms and themes. And that's where you'll be staying. It's been a long time since I had a new Princess in the collection. Your two friends will have to go elsewhere of course. And those Kyoshi Warriors can go join my older ones."

Azula couldn't protest or scream in the rage and fear she felt, as she was marched back into the hallway, as Ty Lee and Mai walked in, along with the now-awake but just as trapped Kyoshi Warriors. The leader gave Azula an angry look like this was her fault, which Jiéshí did nothing to halt. All nine of the new additions moved, taken into the main galleries.

The Kyoshi Warriors were taken care of first. Led past more lantern-statues the group reached a room that opened to reveal a large room full of displays of warriors. Fire Nation soldiers stood in a row, a dozen statues, a dozen eras of uniform, up to the modern day. There were even some Yuyan Archers and Imperial Firebenders with them. Across the way, there were Water Tribe warriors of various eras and from both North and South. Earth Kingdom soldiers also lined the room, though the historic pacifism of the Air Nomads likely ensured there were none of them here. But almost out of place amongst them all were three other Kyoshi Warriors. Apart from the blank stone globes of their eyes and the alabaster pale of their petrified hair,they looked almost alive thanks to their face paint.

And as the six others stood beside the older three, they moved into the same stance, and after a moment, their hair paled, their eyes blanked. The one Azula assumed was the leader kept glaring at her the whole time until her gaze became empty stone, now leading a group of nine including three warriors born generations before her - and petrified generations before her too.

And then the last three not-yet statues were made to move. Jiéshí took them to another room, this one now full of more ornately dressed statues. Many wore fine jewellery, some even wore diadems, tiaras, and crowns. High nobility, even royalty. Azula realised that here, there was blue, green, but no red. The lack of Air Nomads again made sense here, since they had no royals.

"I have kings, queens, princes and princesses, and a few retainers standing with them for eternity. Mostly from the Earth Kingdoms as you can see, but I snagged a few Water Tribe rulers once or twice. But you are quite a first as you can see. Never before have I added any of the Fire Nation's royalty to my collection."

Jiéshí smirked.

"I think this is fair payment, given your great grandfather so hindered my work over the last century, no?"

Azula felt the tightness of her neck begin to lessen, and realised she could talk again as her jaw loosened too

"When I get free of this..." she snarled, causing Jiéshí to laugh, and her voice to be taken away again.

"Oh, so fiery, how predictable. But honestly, given the way your nation works I doubt there's a single person who cares where you are, is there? Any siblings you have will probably be happy to get a clear run at the throne. The Fire Lord can just replace you later. And you can't do much yourself. Even if you could... you can't harm me, little one. Now, would you like to ask a question instead of being so pointlessly defiant?"

Azula felt the change again, and realised there was only one good query.

"...What are you?"

The Lady of the house clapped. Her hands hitting together sounded more like rocks striking each other than fleshy applause.

"Once, I was just a human, mortal, weak, with flesh that needed water, needed to breathe air, needed fire to keep warm. Flesh that would decay, and it disgusted me. But stone, it was strong, and it could survive the weathering for centuries or millennia. I began to replace myself over time, until I transfigured or transplanted every part of my body. I was all but immortal."

Lady Jiéshí grinned.

"And I needed a hobby. For a few decades my hobby was expanding my mansion a little, building my walls, but that got boring. So I decided to try making a collection. I pretended for a little while I was just passing on a gift of immortality as I learned how to turn weak flesh to strong stone, but I prefer to be honest now. I just like the collection.  Oh, and as for that getting free thing from before, it'd take a powerful bender to undo my work. An earth bender, of course. You, little Fire Princess? You stand no chance. It's either me, a powerful earth bender, or the Avatar. And I can assure you I don't plan to let you free anytime this century..."

Azula felt herself forced into silence again, as the floor shifted. A pedestal grew, and she felt herself move. Two shorter ones grew beside it, and Mai and Ty Lee began moving. At the front of the pedestal she neared, she saw the rock shifting, to proclaim what was about to stand on it.

'Crown Princess Azula of the Fire Nation, and Retainers.'

She was made to climb up. The others too, but they shifted to kneel, as she took a faux-bending stance. Jiéshí locked eyes with her as Azula glared in rage and fear, as she felt coldness spread up her limbs. Beside her, Mai and Ty Lee were as silent as she was, and she couldn't see them anyway - but likely they too were petrifying. Her hand before her was turning grey, and the chill was rising up her chest, her neck, face....

"Have fun as statues!" Jiéshí said.

That was the last thing Azula heard as she became a statue. Unique in being the only Fire Nation royal perhaps, but in the end, one of hundreds, thousands, with just as much hope of ever again being anything other than just part of Lady Jiéshí's collection....