Aaron found Misha watching over her sleeping baby. She spun around as soon as he materialized.

“You cannot be here,” she whispered. “Uncle Menma told me what happened. You betrayed the cause and sided with a spirit?” Her mouth said one thing, but her face and voice said another.

“You don’t believe I would do that for no good reason.”

“So, you did betray the cause," she frowned. "What was so important that you turned your back on everything and everyone you've ever known?"

“What do you think? It's Grandfather. He's lost his damn mind!” Aaron furiously whispered. “He took over the avatar’s body, and we had to literarily rip him out of it.

"Wait, you fought him?" She said. "How are you still alive?"

"A great deal of luck, skill, and Uncle Wang bailing us out at the very last minute."

"We?"

"Yeah, the White Lotus were there with us."

Misha sighed. "I guess that makes some sense...Still, I can't believe he'd go that far."

"I didn't either," Aaron shook his head. "But then I got a glimpse into his mind, and I realized the kind of man our grandfather really is. It has never been about winning the war or saving the Air Nation. It has always been about power and control for the Old man. I think he wants to control everyone and everything, so he can never get hurt again. And that's why we think he'll be going after the Travelers next. When I fought him, he had his grand speech about setting the world right and ruling over everything he's struggled to build."

Misha's face lost some of its colors as she settled in a stool in the corner.

"I know it's a lot to dump on you at once, but it's up to us to reign him in. We're the only ones who can."

"Aaron, I-I'm not ready. I don't think I can do this," she stammered, holding the side of her head.

Aaron floated closer. "I know you can, and I am going to tell you exactly why. If I am right, and I know I am, then that means he could've meditated out of the spirit world at any time. He could've saved you from Samir at any point."

Something within Misha shattered. Aaron could hear it from the timber of her voice. "Spirits," she whispered. "He--he was connected to me the entire time. I called out to him over and over. He never responded."

Aaron's physical body swallowed. A pit formed in his stomach. He knew how fragile she was. He knew he shouldn't be pushing this hard. But they were out of time, and he needed her safe and on their side.

“Misha, please. You need to leave.”

With tears streaming down from the sides of her face, she furiously nodded.

“I’ll pack Peta’s things. Uncle Menma probably knows you’re here. He could already be on his way.”

“Let me worry about him,” Aaron said, a plan already coming together.

He rushed to the door and spared her a look before he floated through. “Take care of yourself and keep moving. And if you ever have the stupid urge to come back and save me, remember, I'm not really here.”

Aaron floated through the underground base, taking multiple floors at a time until he found who he was looking for. Xing.

The man was chatting up a female ghost who seemed content ignoring him. When Aaron spontaneously appeared in front of him, she jumped back.

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

“Sorry to interrupt, but it’s a matter of life or death,” Aaron said to a startled Xing. One look at Aaron sent the girl running down the hall, probably to call more ghosts or report to someone higher up. Aaron hoped to have finished their conversation long before then.

“What’s going on, Aaron? And why are you all blue.”

“I’m not really here, and neither should you be,” Aaron said. “Grandfather has gone insane and possessed the Avatar. We managed to get him out, but we're afraid he’ll try to do it again.”

“Grandfather, as in our Boss,” Xing asked.

“Who else?”

“Spirits,” he muttered.

“So, what do you need me for?”

Aaron was a bit taken aback that it took mere moments to convince him, but he really didn't have time to test allegiances.

“I need you to gather everyone who is loyal to me, my Uncle Wang and Ren, and go after my cousin, Misha. Help her reach Mojin. It’s an abandoned town west of here. You can’t miss it.”

“Mojin got it,” Xing nodded, then asked. “If I’m busy wrangling hundreds of phantoms, what will you be doing?”

“Keeping the most powerful bender in the building off your butt.”

“I don’t envy you, brother.”

“I don’t envy me either.”

With that, Xing disappeared, and Aaron waited for Menma to appear.

He met Aaron at the courtyard with a scroll in his hand and a conflicted look on his face.

“What they’re saying is absolutely true,” Aaron started with an easy smile as his uncle floated up. “We beat Grandfather.”

“He was in the body of a prepubescent child and was toying with you all. I’d say you survived him,” he said with his usual contemplative frown. Menma was not one for violence. His place was quoting philosophers and theorizing new chi techniques. He was exceptionally good at it but still hated it with a passion. He tilted his head curiously. “If anything, you annoyed him. Why? All because you lost faith?”

“Is it that much of a surprise that'd come to this,” Aaron asked “He’s kept too much from us. We are supposed to be protectors, agents, not his pawns. He crossed the line when he took over the avatar.”

Menma raised a brow. "As opposed to when he wiped out the Ancients and armies of Fire Nation soldiers twenty years ago? Your Grandfather has always done whatever it took to protect our family. The reason you're alive and as powerful as you are is that he was so good at the very thing you now despise him for, as are you if the current war is any indication. You've crossed the same lines he has. How many have you slaughtered in the name of gathering power for that little traveler? We Phantoms have always swam against the tide. It's how we've stayed alive. If your grandfather wants the Avatar's body or the travelers, then it has to be for a good reason.”

“And where has disrupting the natural order of things gotten us? We struggle to conceive Airbenders, and we've done far more damage than Sozin or any other tyrant before him has ever done. How far is far enough? The world is already hanging on by a thread, thanks to the travelers' scheme, which Grandfather could have stopped at any point, mind you. In fact, he could've ended this war at any point. What was the point in stealing all that power, if he never uses it?” Aaron snapped.

“It would’ve come at a great cost, one he readily pays now that the time is right,” Menma explained, but Aaron shook his head.

“Dopi was able to meditate into the physical world at will. You're making excuses for him.”

“Your friend was always a spirit. Her physical and spiritual bodies were one. It’s not quite the same for ascended humans."

Aaron scoffed. "Is that what you're calling Phantoms and bodysnatchers now?" Could they be any more conceited?

Menma’s frown intensified. “You’re so young, so naïve. He couldn’t have left us to fend for ourselves. No one knew the techniques and secrets he did. Your Grandfather has sacrificed so much, and he’s protecting us still.

His plan will help secure our future and make sure that something like Sozin’s comet or a spirit death never happens again. If we control everything, we will be forever safe.”

Aron stared at him incredulously.

“The world is not clay you can twist and mould as you see fit.” Although he saw some sense in this twisted logic, it did not change the facts.

“The Avatar’s spirit is not something you can control, nor can the champion of a god.”

Menma smiled. “You were always my favorite. Do you know why?”

Aaron did not answer.

“You always knew when to ask questions and when to listen,” he said, looking into the distance. “It was what made me recommend you to be promoted to Phantom.

Aaron blinked at the revelation. He’d been under the assumption that the Old man had come to that decision all by himself.

When next he spoke, Menma’s voice was ice-cold. “This is the time to listen. Your brief stint with the White Lotus will be forgiven if you bring the traveler here and return to the fold. These are the direct words of your Grandfather. If you refuse this lifeline, there will be no turning back, Aaron. I beg of you, do the smart thing.”

“I’ve made peace with my decision, Uncle,” Aaron said, slowly squaring up. He started gathering what little Chi his spiritual vessel could carry and layered it on top of spiritual essence. Every muscle in his material body tensed.

Uncle Menma let out a long sigh. “So be it.”