Ren's spirit body appeared in his Father's groove, displacing the mist and threading a straight line to the center, where an ancient tree sat, gnarled and hunched over. Underneath, four more chi signatures waited for him.

All of his siblings had come.

Even Harlan.

Father was finally making his move.

"Took you long enough," Harlan snorted, a long twig hanging from the edge of his mouth. How he'd brought a blade of grass to the spirit world was anyone's guess. He looked healthy, all things considered. He hadn't lost his second eye or a limb and was still covered in strange tattoos.

"Took a break from your drinking and whoring to finally show yourself?" Ren asked.

"Eh, I was on serious business. You can ask Pop. He'll tell you," he snorted.

"You're late, Ren," A woman in sea-blue Kimono said in a smooth, sonorous voice, "the situation must've been dire. Or maybe you're just getting slow in your old age."

Ren spared her a nod but did not respond to the obvious rise. He knew better than to tangle himself in a verbal spar with Yara.

Looking at her, Ren couldn't help but wonder if it was a segue to fish for information. Did she know about her Grandson?

She raised an eyebrow when she noticed him watching, and he turned away, facing Menma, the sage.

"Any changes at the capital since I left?"

"All is as you left it," Menma said in a monotone voice. He was the youngest of them and the most talented by far. Mild-mannered and cultured. A true academic at heart. Ren always thought the talent was wasted on him.

"Although the Dai Li have become warier of our scouts," Menma added.

"I'm glad to hear the city hasn't fallen to complete chaos without me," a loud voice added. He wore Fire Nation traditional clothing, with smoothed hair and a smile that never reached his face. Wang looked more regal than he ever did as a General, but the emptiness in his eyes was telling. He had never really recovered from his failure at Ba Sing Se.

"We have not faced the same odds you have," Ren said.

"No, you might be facing far worse."

Falcon, who'd been quiet, finally spoke. His ancient blue eyes swept past all of his children.

"Things are far direr than we initially thought. It would seem we cannot delay action against Samir. I thought he was reasonable enough when he captured Misha unspoiled and refused to harm her, but he's as rotten as the rest of the Fire Nation."

Father closed his eyes, and strings of light flowed down his body, traveled through the roots of the ancient tree that provided shade, and deposited memories in all seated except Ren.

Their heads jerked back without warning, and their eyes turned white as their entire body shook.

Ren folded his arms and focused on something in the distance. He'd seen the impartation process a thousand times, but something about it still chilled him to the bone.

There was a dark undertone to it all.

It was one of the many techniques spiritual prodigies like Yara never managed to learn. Despite how potentially useful the ability was, there was something viscerally unsettling about seeing through people's eyes and stealing their memories.

'It was necessary, nonetheless.'

It was how they stayed ahead of the Fire Nation, how they coordinated attacks despite being continents apart.

Through Ren's eyes, they saw all he'd experienced in Omashu since arriving.

Harlan burst into laughter. "The balls on the kid. Getting others to do your conquering for you."

Yara frowned, her beautiful face twisting into an ugly thing as she smoothed out her clothing. "It would be most impressive if his strange powers were not pointed at us. We don't know where they come from or whether they're even spiritual. But from what we've seen, he has the potential to dominate powerful benders, even chi-users like Misha and Aaron."

Yara was the most spiritually attuned of them all, and if she thought Samir was trouble, he was. A small part of Ren had hoped he'd been overreacting as he meditated to the groove.

"That's a bit of a stretch, isn't it?" Wang interjected. "We are cut from a different cloth than those common benders."

Ren interjected. "What's more concerning is that we don't know if it's hypnosis at all."

"Young Mark was right," Menma murmured. "As unlikely as it sounds, it's likely some advanced type of hypnosis or mind control."

"Either way, he needs to disappear before he becomes a real problem," Harlan grunted. "It's hard enough to disguise my attacks on Fire nation vessels as Pirate raids."

"With your permission Father," Ren began, "I propose a swift assassination. We can track him reliably through your connection with Misha, and he's young enough that his power should not be beyond us. It would be one less thing we have to worry about."

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The sooner they handled Samir, the less damage he would wreak. Misha would be back with her child in no time, and his son wouldn't have to live with the guilt of having sent her to her death.

"I could have a team ready to go before midnight," Yara said. Her bias was obvious, given it was her child in danger, but she was always one for swift action.

"But what would it mean for the boy?" the Falcon asked. "We are dealing with beings powerful enough to use our world as playgrounds for their champions. They might not take well to us spoiling their game."

Ren's face turned ugly.

"If these so-called gods were so powerful, they should've accounted for something as obvious at the hands of the thousands of blood-thirsty soldiers and bandits this war created. Doesn't their entire game hinge on their champions slaughtering us?"

Ren thought the assassination was a forgone conclusion. Instead, Father was suggesting they coddled the enemy. How very unlike him.

"Everything Mark has told us could be lies. We have no way of confirming he and his second are champions of beings beyond us."

"That might've been in doubt before Samir showed us what he was capable of," Falcon countered. "But after seeing his Chi techniques in action after watching through Misha's eyes, I can confirm it. It is nothing like I've ever seen, and believe me, Son, I've seen it all."

"His origins notwithstanding, it's still too dangerous to keep Samir alive. He's a threat to everything we've been trying to build. And let's not forget that he had the gall to kidnap your granddaughter."

"I have not forgotten nor forgiven that transgression," Father said in an eerily calm voice. "But certain matters take priority over retribution. Samir will sail off to the North pole to conquer the water tribe before turning his sights on Omashu."

"What?" Ren's eyes went wide.

Harlan started, "How did you," but caught himself before finishing the sentence. "He told her, didn't he? The cheeky shit couldn't help but gloat."

"Or he could've been carelessly enough to let his plans slip," Yara murmured. "But why attack the Northern Water tribe?"

"I do not know," Father shook his head. "The boy is certainly bold, and given his backer, he has every right to be. Whether the fire Nation or the mystical deity at the source of his power, we cannot afford to make mistakes confronting him. The longer he is left to scheme and plot, the more dangerous he will grow."

Father paused, but it was clear he wasn't done speaking.

"But killing him is not the answer. He might be reincarnated in another location we don't control, like the Avatar, or the entire world might suffer untold consequences for disrupting the 'game' laid out by his Patrons. Either way, Mark had a point, which is why capture and isolation is the only real alternative."

Ren grunted, but he begrudgingly agreed. Left to him, he'd kill both of them and wash his hands of the tournament. None of this sat right with him. They were so close to putting an end to all of it. The Avatar had finally returned, they had thousands of ghosts trained, and the eclipse was only a few months away.

Outside forces like Mark and Samir could ruin things.

Harlan shrugged. "Nobody wants a crazy puppeteer running around, but locking him up sounds like a decent compromise to me. We keep the kid from getting stronger, and I get to go back to blowing up ships."

"It'll also keep Mark happy," Ren added begrudgingly. Drawing a deep breath, he said, "I would like to handle this personally. I would hate leaving the children so soon, but I want to personally make sure things don't spin out of control."

"Don't let your emotions cloud your judgment, Ren," Paku said, his words hard as granite. "Mark is a priority. He must be trained and challenged, and your son is not up to the task. You're needed at their side."

Paku's words cut deep, and Ren set his jaw. "Aaron has done fine so far. They'd be Safe within the Walls of Omashu after I give the King a stern talking to. Besides, no one else can afford to leave their post."

Harlan oversaw the fleet, Yara kept the North at bay, and Menma replaced him in Ba Sing. While he was not the man he used to be, Wang headed their most important spy network. He was their eyes and ears in the Fire Nation.

"The Avatar cannot wait for you to travel across the world and capture the boy, then return, and neither can Mark.," Grandfather said. "Every second Mark wastes not learning robs him of his potential and cheats us out of our opportunities to earn from the boy. He must be watched after, and so must the Avatar. Traveling with them while you impart the foundation of Chi-bending is a better use of your time."

"But I am clearly the only choice," Mark argued.

"I have a bigger team, and I am Misha's mother," Yara chipped in. "I will be in and out before the Fire Nation even knows I was there. We all know that Ren has the subtlety of a hammer."

Harlan laughed. "I'd offer to go, but I hate the heat, and I have boats to sink."

Wang said nothing.

Paku's eyes scanned four of them before he quirked a rare smile.

"Wang will oversee the extraction instead."

"What!" Ren spat out.

"You're sending Wang?" Yara said with a biting voice. "But it's my daughter!" She gave her brother a sidelong glance, which Wang barely noticed. He seemed more preoccupied with gathering himself. "He's a formidable warrior, of that there's no argument, but it's been years since he handled anything outside of espionage," Yara said. "And his troupes are dancers and entertainers. They hardly match the caliber of ghosts each of us has personally trained. Let me spearhead the operation instead. I wouldn't even have to leave my post. My ghosts can find and retrieve her."

"You'd trust trained help from the other Nations than your brother?" Falcon's raised his voice. "Over your flesh and blood?"

The Chi in the air roiled in response to his voice.

Yara paled, but she did not back down. "No…the men I'm sending, they've known her since she was a baby. They are practically family."

"It's barely the same thing, and you know it," Paku waved, the pressure evaporating as quickly as it came. "Wang is out of practice, but he's the best of us, and our dance with the Nations ends. I need the General who beat back the Dragon of the West, who delivered no matter the cost. I need you back in the fold."

Paku fixed his eyes on Wang, and Wang slowly straightened up.

He gave a strained smile with a distant, glassy look in his eyes.

"I will return if it's what is asked of me. We have been fighting this war all of our lives. It's time we put it to rest."

Everyone seated gave small nods, though Ren couldn't help but notice Wang's eyes.

"It is settled then," Grandfather nodded. "One more change moving forward. Yara, you'll be traveling to receive the young Avatar and lead him to the North Pole for his training. If they fly by Bison, they should arrive at the temple in a few weeks."

"It will be done, Grandfather," she nodded.

The conversation turned less severe after that, Paku asking about how each of them was faring in their regions. It was a habit he'd maintained since they were children. Paku pretended he didn't know everything about his children, mostly for their benefit, but Ren sometimes thought it was for his too.

Meditating for as long as he did must affect the mind. And even though he watched every moment of their lives, Ren sensed he didn't truly understand how they felt.

And that gave him hope that some heart was underneath the layers of stone.

"What of Peta?" Ren asked, drawing the attention of all seated.

"What's a Peta?" Harlan asked.

"It's Misha's child," Ren said, staring directly at his Father. "And he's an Airbender."

Ren couldn't understand his Father's indifference. He'd heard everything Aaron had told him and watched as Misha raised the boy. He was as close to this as anybody could get.

"Misha has a son!" Yara sat up, eyes shifting from Ren to Paku. "How long have you known about this?"

"I learned minutes before I came," Ren said quickly.

"You said he was a born Airbender?" Menma asked, "That hasn't happened since we were born."

Paku had said that the Air Nation was dying out because the Fire Nation weakened their connection to the element when they attacked the temple. But Ren always thought his Father was the problem.

"Amazing, isn't it?" Grandfather smiled. "The child is clearly a sign that we are on the right path, and that's why he must be raised better than we were. He's the first of a new generation and a sign of hope."

Yara nodded in agreement. "He'll be skilled before he's old enough to remember. The North pole is our strongest stronghold. He'll be safest with his Grandma. I can--"

Paku cut her off with a wave of his hand. "Even if Samir is captured, the North pole will remain a target for the Fire Nation. It's the last bastion of the water tribe. It makes far more sense for him to study under Menma."

"Near the outer gate of Ba Sing Se, where bandits roam, and vagrants rule?" Yara's face turned ashen.

"None of them have dared to intrude on our peace, and the Earth temple has remained a secret for 50 years. Hundreds of ghosts roam its halls, and his cousins will be glad to see him."

"You've seen her memories," Ren interjected, "you know Misha did not want her child to be brought up the way she was. It's obvious he's why she chose to be a diplomat."

"But it's the only way to keep the Child truly safe," Paku argued. "You, of all people, should understand why we cannot coddle our children. It will make them weak and put them at the mercy of their enemies. Coddling our young is why we were so unprepared for the attack over 100 years ago. Only a dozen of us are left, and I refuse to lose a single more. None of my KIN is permitted to be weak."

Paku's voice shook the entire groove. His robes had started to flow as he talked, and his ocean-blue eyes burned red.

Though it was a brief glimpse, Ren saw the man who'd laid waste of legions of Fire benders and cast hurricanes from the heavens to destroy his opponents.

He caught a glimpse of the rage that drove him.

Aaron and Yara would be disappointed, but there was no changing his mind.

There was also the small matter that he was right.

"Forgive me, Father. You are right," Ren bowed, and none of the others spoke up. He held his breath as he awaited his Father's pronouncement.

"I understand not wanting to disappoint your child, Ren," Paku said with a heavy sigh, "but we are not permitted to live as we wish. I allowed Misha to stay away for as long as she did because Peta was so young. I may be hard, but I am never cruel. Now that she's returned to the fold, so must her child. In time, they will see that this was the only way. The war is coming to a close, but our struggles are far from over. We all have our parts to play."

"Yes, Father," Ren said, raising his head. Paku's face had reverted to its natural state. He wore his signature smile, and his eyes twinkled with light.

"Now, you must all go," Paku said. "The children need you."