The world turned to splotches of light and dark in Aaron's mind's eye as he sat atop a stone pillar on the highest point in King Bumi's palace.

His focus sharpened to a blade's point as he reached out for the world buried underneath, the plane where spirits roamed.

And he found it even faster than the dozens of times he'd meditated before. The spirit world opened to him with a flash of bright colours and abstract shapes, but he didn't linger.

He flipped his focus, mind turned towards the physical plane as he tried to impose his will on the material without crossing over. His mind stretched and buoyed, and his Chi evaporated, but he came no closer to astral projection.

The distance between the physical and spiritual world felt like infinity; his fragile mind was too small to overcome.

But he pushed and pushed until he felt bone-deep exhaustion creep into his physical body. He only let go when he felt his body was about to collapse.

His eyes sprang open with a start, and he gasped for air as the fatigue threatened to overwhelm him.

'Damn it,' Aaron scowled.

'This is impossible.'

It'd been over a week since they'd last heard from Uncle Wang. He'd updated them every step of the chase, but he'd gone silent since the night of the assault. Ren assured him it was nothing to worry about.

Sometimes, they had to go silent. It was not safe to meditate if they couldn't secure their environment. Without someone to watch you, somebody could move your body, or worse; you could die outside it.

But a week had passed, and Uncle Wang was no ordinary bender.

He could fly, and his skill on the battlefield was unmatched. It was hard to imagine something could've happened to him, but something was clearly wrong.

So, Aaron had taken to mastering one of the hardest air-bending skills to master—astral projection—in a bid to locate him and, hopefully, Misha.

Aaron's father had said that All masters got it eventually, but he didn't have the luxury of time.

Grandfather had sent ghosts from around the Fire Nation to look for him, and even the masters had joined in the search, scouring the spirit realm for him, but he was like he'd disappeared off the face of the earth.

Aaron would unlikely find him if even the masters couldn't, but his obsession with the skill went beyond that. The team could use someone with astral projection.

It would make his job ten times easier. He could think up dozens of tactical applications for a mobile espionage skill.

Plus, the Fire Nation was camped outside the city, with Ren in the spirit world all day; somebody had to watch them.

However improbable, he held a small hope that he'd be able to find her.

Plus, there was an off-chance he could find Samir himself.

What he wouldn't give to track down that asshole and bash his face in.

Aaron let out a long breath.

At least he could take comfort in the fact that he and his father had never been on better terms. During the day, they trained and worked with the Earth King to track down and interrogate Samir's agents to better understand how his technique worked.

His father constantly poked at his feather fist form and pushed him to learn a new technique. Air Stinger. It was Misha's favourite and one of the last foundational techniques he had to internalize before calling himself an Adept. Then advanced Chi techniques would be open to him, including Chi reinforcement, Iron fist, asphyxiation, pressure manipulation and all other destructive goodies.

Of course, most Master-level techniques were situational, but his lips spread into a grin at having all that power at his fingertips.

Before that, though, he'd have to master gathering air at his fingertips, sharpening it to a knife point and firing it off with trust, all in a split second.

Aaron groaned.

He wasn't looking forward to the months of toil, but it was the price of power.

He already looked forward to the look of begrudging respect when he finally managed to pull it off.

It'd become a commodity with his father these days.

He'd gotten one the previous week, after two days of feverish studies, when he managed to isolate the Chi that Samir had been using to puppeteer his spies.

Ren patted him on the back, an equivalent of a jig with his stoic father.

The news rocked the palace and the Phantom Masters and changed how King Bumi searched for traitors. Seemingly loyal guards and servants turned overnight. And dozens of merchants fled.

But none escaped.

Aaron and Mark made sure of it. Ren tasked them with hunting down every spy and turncoat, ensuring the stability of the city-state while also training Mark up.

Only last night, he chirped about how he was Lv 20 already.

Aaron's nose wrinkled.

Mark was coming closer and closer to edging out his first win, and he'd had to dig deep to maintain the lead, but with each level up, Aaron saw the writing on the wall, and he did not know how to feel about that.

On the one hand, the boy was his student and ward. On the other hand, he saw their entire world as a game.

What would he do when he realized he didn't have to follow their rules or do what they said?

What would they do if he decided killing civilians was a smarter way to level up and gain more power?

With Samir in the wind, they had no leverage over him. What would the Phantom do if the boy they trained turned against them?

Aaron knew his father shared his thought, but he never voiced them. A look was enough.

In preparation for that eventuality, Aaron had grilled Mark about his foreknowledge, learning about all of the big players of the era and the strange lines this alternate history of his towed on.

There was no mention of their cause, the greater Air Nation, or any other air bender.

It was like they were scrubbed from that version of history, or worse, never intended for it in the first place.

His version of history was manicured and less messy, and Aaron supposed the victors could've chosen to keep most of the violence out, but what war general shied away from the gore when it was time to boast?

There was something deeply wrong with the story Mark told him, and he was hellbent on finding out, and Aaron was sure he wouldn't get the answers by asking Mark.

If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

So, it circled back to astral projection. His only real path to staying ahead of the boy, at least until he mastered it too.

With a long sigh, Aaron shut his eyes and sank into the spirit world again- a kaleidoscope of shifting lights and indescribable shapes- and reached across the barrier for the land of the living.

He bumped and stumbled through the darkness as his mind stretched and bent, but he came farther along than last time. A voice called out in the vast expanse of darkness and abstract colours.

It was faint and cold and sent a ripple down Aaron's spine.

"Is anybody there?"

Aaron pulled back on instinct, knowing better than connecting with a random creature across the vast Ether. The voice didn't come from the human world, but that didn't make it less dangerous.

Spirits thousands of years old lingered with inscrutable goals and powers most couldn't comprehend.

"Wait, please. Don't go. You're the only person I've talked to in decades."

"Who are you?" Aaron found himself asking, despite his better instincts. The pain in the voice. It was what he imagined Misha's voice would sound like if he could hear her—the moan and ache of somebody close to giving up.

"My name is Dopi, and I am dying," she sighed her words.

"What's wrong, Dopi?" Aaron asked.

"He stole it from me!" Dopi shrieked and let out a nova of spiritual energy that rocked Aaron to his core. He cringed as she rattled on. "My spirit, my strength, my essence. He robbed me of it and left me to die."

Her voice lowered to a whisper again. "Please don't leave me as he did. I'll die if you do."

Dopi's words tugged at Aaron's heartstrings, but his pragmatic side came through, his mind working at possible answers. Who was powerful enough to hurt something so ancient and powerful? Another ancient spirit, perhaps.

"Who hurt you?" he whispered, half-afraid to hear the answer.

"A human," Dopi hissed.

Aaron swallowed. 'Or not.'

"A slimy, treacherous little thing," Dopi went on. "He begged for my secrets and promised he needed them to protect himself and his own. Like a fool, I trusted him, and he stabbed me in the heart and stole my everything. When I am restored… he will know what it feels like to suffer as I have, to wither and plead for death for an eternity."

"I am human," Aaron said in a small voice. He'd meant to ask for the man's name but feared what he'd hear. Only one human he knew of that fit the exact mould that Dopi spoke of– his Grandfather.

"Would you hurt me if I helped you?"

"Dopi would never…" she said in a raspy voice. "I would never bite the hand of my benefactor."

Aaron didn't need to look closely at her to know Dopi was fragile. She couldn't hide it if she tried.

She was not all there, but she oozed with power, making her all the more dangerous.

What would happen to him if she were ever to learn of his ancestry? Worst yet, what would she do when she grows powerful enough? How many would die in her quest for vengeance?

It would be better for everybody's sake if he walked away now…

But the things she said had stoked his greed.

Dopi was ancient and probably had knowledge and techniques lost to time. Who knew what he could gain from her? Something as simple as Astral projection should not be beyond her.

Would her secrets make him powerful enough to contend with Mark? Powerful enough to rescue Misha, find Wang, and destroy the Fire Nation?

What would be the cost?

And when did he stop trusting in his Grandfather?

It'd been after he'd given Mark blessings that children of their Nation bled and trained their entire life to gain, gifts that ghosts would never receive.

He'd even made Mark one of their own, an honour he refused orphans who never awoke their element.

He scowled. He was right to distrust him, but he would not potentially doom their nation because he was angry at his Grandfather. He would learn astral projection and whatever gifts Dopi could offer now and do some of her healing but never return.

Mark might be dangerous, but he was not on the same level as Dopi.

Turning to Dopi, he made up his mind.

"Assuming I wanted to help you, Dopi, how would I do it?"

The void shook, and Aaron felt an ethereal hand reach out and wrap around his consciousness. His entire being was seized, body and soul, as he was yanked into darkness faster and farther than he'd ever gone before.

All he could do as he was dragged was hope that he'd not made the biggest mistake of his life.

Aaron arrived at the feet of a silhouette cast against a darkness darker than void.

A single white orb peered down at him, floating in front of what he assumed was her body. Dopi must've been ancient before it was betrayed.

"I'm sorry if I scared you," Dopi said softly. "It's been a while since I've talked to anyone. My manners are not what they used to be."

"It's fine," Aaron said, trying not to shake like a leaf in the wind. "You didn't answer my question, though. What would I need to do to heal you?"

"To restore me, you must provide me with what has been taken," it said. "I need to spirit energy and lots of it to heal."

"Will Chi do? Spiritual energy is beyond me for now."

"That can be easily remedied," Dopi said. "I will show you if you promise to heal me."

Aaron hesitated before begrudgingly nodding. Learning to wield spiritual energy what not what he came for, but he could always ask about Astral projection later.

Aaron felt Dopi's spiritual body reach out. It was a blinding mass of white and warmth, and it bathed Aaron with energy and knowledge.

"What do you know of Spiritual energy?"

"It is the source of consciousness and life in our world, and manipulating it allows us to control cosmic energy," Aaron spoke automatically.

Dopi nodded. "To me and spirits as old as I am, it's the energy of the universe, of existence, and within it lies the secrets of the cosmos. It cannot be created or destroyed but can be transferred, corrupted, altered, manipulated."

"For all except the Avatar and the most powerful water benders, spiritual energy is almost impossible to manipulate. It's an endless tide, an impossible force. Rather than focus on the energy itself, we give it an outlet to guide its flow."

Aaron felt a dam break and energy flow from the centre of his spiritual form. It flowed down rivers, etched by months and months of manipulating Chi, down his pathways, filling up his frame.

Aaron's eyes grew wide, and he swore Dopi grew lighter by several shades.

"That is spiritual energy you feel flowing through you. And you need it to astral project and bridge minds like I am doing right now."

Aaron perked up. Was that the bit he was missing? And the other comment about bridging the mind. It sounded like something his Grandfather could do.

That all but confirmed it. It was his Grandfather that hurt her.

"Don't look so disappointed. There's much more to spiritual energy," Dopi said, bringing Aaron back to the moment. "When next you visit, it should be as simple as thinking about me when you cross over to the spirit world. It'll ensure you don't run into any more fractured spirits like me." Dopi's aura seems to drop with those words.

"There's more of you?" Aaron shivered.

"Of course, there are," Dopi said, a bit taken aback by his ignorance. "Didn't your elders teach you? Didn't they tell you what happened to the ancients? It started decades ago; some of the oldest of us started to disappear, abandoning our perch and homes they've lived in for millennia. Some of us thought we were finally waning as all things must, but after I fell, the spirit realm learned of the truth. A human was behind it all."

The hate that steamed off Dopi was palpable.

It burned his spirit raw. He'd been stupid to think he could manipulate a spirit as powerful as her. In a shaky voice, Aaron asked, "Do you remember his name?"

Dopi seemed to drift into deep thought before he spoke softly. "I…do not."

Aaron's brows climbed up in surprise.

Dopi's light buoyed down, just within arm's reach of Aaron.

"Reach out and join my spirit with yours," it said. "It'll heal me."

Aaron did as told despite his reservations. A deal was a deal. Now he could meditate in the spirit world and find the people he cared about.

After he healed Dopi this time, Aaron was never coming back.

He'd gambled and had been lucky. Dopi would be more lucid next time. All it might take is a simple look from her to realize how his Grandfather was.

Aaron felt spiritual energy drained out of him, and his Chi levels dropped precipitously low as the patterns in his body were reforged and strengthened to accommodate the new power.

He was exhausted when he was done healing Dopi, and her spirit was noticeably brighter.

"I haven't felt this good…in years."

"What is your name, human?"

"Aaron," he supplied.

"Thank you…" Dopi whispered before adding. "I'm hoping I can see you again. I need more healing, and there is so much more that I could teach."

Aaron smiled and nodded, but he couldn't wait to leave. If she decided to change her mind and keep him, there would be nothing he could do.

"You're afraid, Aaron?" Dopi asked. "Don't be. Nobody can see you when I am with you. And if you come back, I can teach you to hide from everyone, like me."

Aaron blinked, not fully comprehending what the spirit was offering. Was it saying it could help him hide from Grandfather? His eyes shot up at the bright ball. Did it know?

"I'll look forward to our next meeting then." Aaron smiled.

Dopi bobbed up and down as if nodding and lit up.

"I can't wait. I have so much to tell you. It gets dreadfully boring talking to yourself for years on end."

"Until next time, then," Aaron bowed and turned around.

"Wait!" Dopi called out. "When is next time?"

Aaron slowly turned and looked at her, eager and confused, and quickly meditated to the land of the living, his heart thundering.

He felt around his entire body, surprised she'd not tried to keep or trap him.

As he sat there in quiet deliberation, Aaron wondered if he'd been too quick to judge her.

---

We're closing in on the war arc. After that comes the final arc, this world should be wrapped up in 20-30 more chapters.

After then, I'll take a poll to see if you guys want me to continue the story because I feel like you're not interested. Show me you care my leaving a review or something. Anything really to keep the creative juices flowing.

For those fearing I'll drop it, I won't. I'm too invested, and I have 10 advanced chapters, so you'll get to read those at the very least.