Chapter 21

"Why isn't it working? It's sealed shut!"

Zuko could feel his temper boiling, already threatening to overspill. Objectively he knew that he was prone to making bad decisions when he was like this, but he just couldn't help himself. He'd had him! Had The Avatar literally right there in his hands! Only to be caught off guard by a simple trick and let him slip through his fingers!

One door was all that stood in the way of him rectifying his mistake. One door that should swing open when five firebenders working together bent fire through it.

But of course, in typical Zuko fashion, the spirits had decided that now was the perfect time for whatever mechanisms controlled the door to not work properly.

"It must have been the light. Avatar Roku doesn't want us inside." One of the sages supplied.

With a frustrated growl Zuko fired one last blast of flames at the door, more as a release for his anger than anything else, and turned around to storm over towards the captive sage. "Why did you help the Avatar?" He demanded.

The traitorous sage stared back at him; not with the defiance or anger he was expecting, but with a peculiar mix of melancholy and pride. "Because it was once the sages' duty." He replied. "It is still our duty."

Duty? How could this man talk of duty? His first and foremost duty was to The Firelord, like all children of the Fire Nation. Surely his duty towards his own people should come before all else? Yet before Zuko could respond he was cut off by the sound of clapping.

"What a moving and heartfelt performance. I'm certain the Fire Lord will understand, when you explain why you betrayed him."

A scowl flashed across Zuko's face as he looked over to the staircase. Zhao had finally arrived, and with a small guard of firebenders in tow. All around him the fire sages bowed low, showing a respect for the commander that they hadn't shown to him.

"And Prince Zuko." Zhao continued as his soldiers moved forwards to seize his arms. "It was a noble effort, but your little smokescreen didn't work. Tanya made sure of that." he looked around, an uncharacteristic look of concern adorning his face. "Where is she anyway?"

"You're too late Zhao! Both The Avatar and your pet demon are inside, and the doors are sealed shut!" Zuko spat defiantly.

Zhao eyes the doors for a second. Then, much to the surprise of everyone else, burst out into raucous laughter.

"So you're telling me that an untrained, inexperienced Avatar is locked in that room with the most monstrously powerful firebender of her generation; a girl who I've personally witnessed burn entire ships of people to ashes single-handedly, and I should be worried?" He asked, a grin that spoke of absolute confidence on his face.

"You know her better than most Zuko. Do you envy anyone being locked in a room with her? Sooner or later those doors will have to open again, and then The Avatar will be mine. Or whatever's left of him anyway."

...

Aang listened as intently as Roku explained about the coming of Sozin's Comet, how The Firelord planned to use it to bring an end to the war, and how it was his destiny to master all four elements and defeat him.

The pressure of having the fate of the world rest on his shoulders was terrifying. "What if I can't master all the elements in time? What if I fail?" He asked."

Roku smiled gently, his expression showing how familiar he was with what Aang was feeling. No matter when or where they were born it was a pressure that all Avatars were destined to bear eventually. "I know you can do it Aang, for you have done it before."

Those few words did wonders to soothe Aang's mind. Yes, he was the same soul as every previous Avatar, and they had all managed to rise to the challenges they faced and protect the world. If they could do it, so could he.

"The solstice is ending. Our time grows short." Roku declared. "But before you go, there is one more thing I need to share with you. Tell me Aang, what do you know of worlds?"

The question seemed like a fairly random one, and threw Aang for a moment. "Umm-... well there's the physical world, where humans and animals live, and the spirit world, where spirits live."

"True. The human world and spirit world are entwined tightly together in balance, like yin and yang. One cannot survive without the other, and under the right circumstances it is possible to travel between the two." Roku explained.

"Yet these are not the only worlds in existence. Creation is vast and unending, and life exists in many forms across an infinity of worlds bound by a variety of rules."

That was fascinating and all, but Aang didn't really see what that had to do with The Firelord's. His expression must have given away what he was thinking, for Roku sighed and continued.

"As these other worlds are not entwined like our two worlds are, traversing between them is incredibly difficult. Difficult, but not impossible. Sometimes exceptionally powerful beings are able to travel to other worlds, and not always for innocent reasons.

Fourteen years ago an incredibly powerful spirit from another world forced its way into the spirit world. We do not know who it was or why it came, but individually it was stronger than any spirit in our world.

However despite this it was not strong enough to face the combined might of all spirits together, and quickly retreated. At the time we thought it had gone forever, but then last year it reappeared once again, only making contact with a single mortal before fleeing.

It was then we realised that it had made a window into our world during its first visit, and has been watching the war unfold from behind the scenes for over a decade now.

"But why?" Aang asked. "What purpose would a spirit from another world have for watching this one?"

Roku's face grew grave. "As I said before Aang, the physical world and spirit world are closely entwined. As the war unbalanced the physical world, so too does it unbalance the spirit world.

Every forest burned down by an invading army, every river dammed to bring famine and drought, weakens the spirits associated with it. If this war continues and the world completely falls under the Fire Lord's sway, the spirit world will be weakened like never before.

It would be the perfect opportunity for this foreign spirit to invade and take control, establishing themselves as the one and only spirit that the Fire Nation need ever worship."

Aang's face furrowed in concern. "But we don't know for sure what that otherworldly spirit is intending, right? All it's ever done is speak with one person."

"That was the case, until mere seconds ago." Roku answered.

"The moment the solstice began the barriers between the physical and spirit worlds within this room weakened, allowing us to communicate. Yet at that very moment the foreign spirit appeared once again, and used the opportunity to contact a mortal of their own."

"Contact? But who…" Aang's eyes widened as he understood the implications. There had only been one other person in the room besides himself that the spirit could have communicated with. "The golden haired girl!"

"Yes." Roku confirmed. "That girl is a mystery, even to the spirits. No one has ever seen her soul before in any past incarnations, yet she fights like one who was born with a weapon in her hand.

I fear that she, as well as whoever was contacted last year, have been chosen as the agents of this otherworldly spirit in whatever scheme it has devised. Be careful around her Aang."

"But she's in the room with me now! The moment the solstice finishes, she could kill me!" Aang replied.

A small, confident smile curled up on the corner of Roku's mouth. "I can help you with that. But only if you are ready…"

...

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