DISCALIMER; I do not own Avatar.
Author's note; All characters in the parallel universe are fictional. I made them up. They have strange names, I know.
+Year 2013+
Clivian Beckett, since the age of 12, had always found life an experiment, the biggest challenge that mankind faced. In his young mind he dreamed of mankind as the possessor, the ultimate controller of life. If life was to continue, he reasoned, mankind would need some sort of breakthrough, and fast.
After being suspended from his Ivy League university for talking out of terms with the professors, Clivian transferred to a college in the UK. By the time he returned to his hometown in the United States, changes had already been made. A bioengineering company called Microbe that had been little more than a renovated apartment complex to the west of Mississippi had suddenly become, seemingly overnight, one of the most influential and powerful companies ever to grace the headlines of Time magazine.
Some said it was luck. There had to be some involved for the head of BiLife, the leading bioengineering company since anyone could remember, to have died in a tragic plane crash. To add insult to injury, the son that inherited BiLife was revealed by the media to be the illegitimate offspring of the deceased BiLife President and some waitress he'd met at a hotel that had long since been turned into a high-flying restaurant (it went out of business after the scandal) and no one was surprised when the vice president step daughter jumped in at the first chance to grab the reins. It turned out that the VP, a power-hungry Harvard graduate named Ellen Copperfield, was a good friend of Microbe's head scientist George West and Ellen generously helped him out.
Ten years later, BiLife announced that they would be attempting to clone humans. With the public screaming their opinion while the media ran around having a field day, one of BiLife's hospitals was sued for frying a patient's brain during an MRI scan. BiLife might have made it out alive had it not been for the final blow. Ellen Copperfield's ex-husband went on Oprah. As millions watched, he broke down in tears and explained to America that the reason he had divorced BiLife's head was not because they had "grown apart" but because Ellen Copperfield had repeatedly forced him to "play rough" with her, continually threatening to sue him for sexual harassment so he'd never be able to see their son ever again. Not even BiLife's lawyers could go to war with Oprah and millions of Americans, not to mention secret recordings Ellen's ex had kept all that time.
Ellen fled the country right before the clips hit Youtube and BiLife followed suit.
But what was really shocking was the fact that Microbe, the company that had been nurtured in its early years by none other than BiLife, swallowed the whole thing. BiLife's researchers, workers, even the janitors were all sucked into Microbe which had been waiting to strike its competitor, silently growing stronger in a dimmer limelight.
And that was when Clivian, recently graduated and in need of a job, took up a post at Microbe's labs. In years he would become one of the most well-known biologists in America. A couple more and he would finally find the key to obtaining his real motive, the one true purpose which he had harbored in his heart all those years and which he had learned to hide after his suspension from his first university. He would time it well, never dreaming how he would affect the lives of those around him. And those whom he should never have been able to meet...
+Avatar World+
"Morning, Sokka."
Katara, a brunette waterbender, was setting the table with breakfast as her older brother, groggy with sleep, came into the room. His face immediately brightened at the sight of food.
"Stewed seal blubber! Aww, Katara, you shouldn't have." Sokka exclaimed as he reached for the bowl. Before he could reach it, Katara whipped it away.
"It's not for you. I only bought enough for Aang. I don't think he's feeling too well." Katara said in a reproachful voice as Sokka teared at the loss of his favorite meal.
"Here." Katara said to him as she pushed a bowl of porridge beneath his nose. Sokka stared glumly; he wanted meat.
As Sokka shoveled porridge into his mouth, Katara went to check on Aang. Just the night before he had complained about a headache and when she had offered to treat him, Aang had declined, saying that a good night's rest should have him cleared up in no time. Katara had held her tongue, not wanting to treat Aang like a child.
"Aang, it's time to get up. Are you okay? Aang?" When there was no answer, Katara gently pushed the door open. Aang was curled underneath his sheets with only the top of his bald head visible.
Katara walked over to his bed, smiling. Even though he was entrusted with the world's security, he still kept his childlike traits, sleeping in being one of them.
"Wake up sleepy head." She whispered leaning over to stroke his head. She nearly jumped back. His whole face was burning up and he was sweating profusely.
"Aang!"
Katara quickly stripped the sheet from his sticky body. Aang curled into a tighter ball, shivering and sweating.
"This isn't good." Katara muttered to herself as she bended some water over his body. "This isn't good at all."
+Year 2066+
Board meetings were always so tedious for Clivian. In his honest opinion, board meetings were merely a lukewarm gesture to the era's misplaced fondness for human equality. Nowadays, you could be suspended from colleges or denied the possibility of a promotion for expressing the hope to one day live in a time where totalitarianism ruled. It was quite unfair.
Clivian, now a director of the board, could not say these things aloud even though he was quite aware that none of his fellow directors had much, if any, power over him. Though they were all part of the same board, they were seen in Clivian's calculating eye as nothing more than a cog in the company's enormous inner engines. In short, they were dispensable and easily replaced. Microbe was now being sought out as one of the top companies in New York and plenty were flocking in and out, trying desperately to snag a spot.
The meeting dragged on as usual and Clivian heard only about half. He didn't need to listen, really. Clivian already knew the stock incomes of the company, knew which departments were suffering, which competing companies could be relied upon to co-host this year's annual charity fund-raiser without realizing that a percentage was used for off-the-books company funding. In his mind, the company was little less than his very own. He was certain that some of those who worked closest to him had seen this through his actions or words (limited as they were) but they turned a blind eye to these things.
After the meeting was over, Clivian went down two floors below to his personal lab. Although Clivian was quite paranoid about the secrecy of his work, he had refused to update the basic security measures already installed. He first pressed his hand to flat scanner imbedded in the wall. Once a green light turned on, he proceeded to punch in a seven digit password into a small number pad and finally spoke his last name into the voice identifier. The light above the sliding door flashed once and the it slid open.
Once the door had shut behind him, Clivian faced a rather cramped office with a set of doors leading off the right.
Even though Clivian had larger office on the same floor, he preferred this one as he could work privately in his own personal lab. Clivian had hired a secretary a few years back but she rarely saw him. She asked no questions and calmly spent every day arranging and rearranging his desk in the larger office, which contained a few records of little importance and a large pile of old Nature magazines.
When he reached the set of doors, he pulled out a card key and swiped it. The door opened and he entered, the small feeling of excitement stirring within him. Today, he felt, would bring him one step closer to his ultimate dream.
+Avatar World+
Zuko, Fire Lord of the Fire Nation, was training at the edge of a cliff. His uncle, once a fine general and still one of the best firebenders in the land, was correcting his stance as he tried yet again to produce lightning.
"Feel the inner peace. Become void of emotion. You must feel-"
"-deadly calm." Zuko finished for him, knowing full well that he was feeling anything but.
Zuko breathed in and slowly let it out again before taking forefinger and middle to draw an arc from his middle upwards. Then, with swift intensity, he jabbed at the volcanoes in the distance. He knew he had failed before it happened. There was a loud explosion as he was propelled backward for perhaps the hundredth time that day, he could not remember. In midair, he performed a back flip and landed on his feet, sliding a little from the force of his failure. Frustration pumped through him like poison.
"That's enough for today, your majesty." Uncle Iroh said gently, placing a hand on his shoulder.
Zuko stood up and looked at his uncle.
"I asked you not to call me that." he said.
"You must get used to it, Zuko, it is the only way." Uncle Iroh said solemnly. "You are perhaps the youngest Fire Lord to ever take the throne. I understand it to be partly my fault. But understand that the nation is dependent on you now. You must become leader that our country needs for your sake as well as others."
Zuko nodded silently. He had heard it all before. It had been so easy at first. He had foolishly thought that he, a mere teenager and a former rogue prince, could be up to it. His father might have been a cruel ruler, but at least he had gotten the job done.
By the time he and his uncle had reached the palace, it was nearing lunchtime. Zuko was famished as he had started his training at daybreak and had not stopped for a meal. At the palace steps, he was pleased to see his girlfriend, Mai, waiting for him.
"Zuko." she said, moving forward to embrace him. She had turned much softer towards him after the events following the war.
"Hi." Zuko said, hugging her back.
When they had parted Mai said in her impassive tone, "You have another visitor."
Zuko entered a chamber normally used for formal meetings. As Zuko had had nothing but post-war reconstruction meetings with Earth Kingdom officials all week, he was wary of seeing another aged man with a long prepared speech. However, he was greeted by none other than Katara. Although Katara's family had decided to stay in some time in the Fire Nation, he had not seen her
in weeks, being busy what with becoming the new king and whatnot. Katara greeted him as a friend but something in her face told him she had come for official business.
"What's up?" he asked her, sitting across from her at the meeting table.
Katara, not being the cowardly type, got straight to the point. "I need a royal pardon to go to Mt. Fudiyu."
Zuko did not speak for some time. He did not think Katara as the foolish type but this request suggested otherwise.
"Katara," he began, thinking that maybe she was mistaken. "Mt. Fudiyu is a restricted area. It's a volcano." When she did not respond he added, "An active one."
Katara sighed. "Zuko, I know this might sound crazy but I need to get there. I need to get there now."
"But why-"
"I can't explain right now. I've already wasted a lot of time with the officials trying to explain to them but they just wouldn't listen." Her eyes, just as blue as the endless ocean, met his golden ones. "Please. It's urgent."
Zuko was silent for a moment before answering, "Okay." and then he added, "But I'm coming too."
Katara was so grateful that Zuko had accepted her request that she hadn't thought twice about him coming as well. Unfortunately, she hadn't counted on Toph and Sokka turning up on Appa at the last minute of departure.
Their argument was short-lived as Katara was positively desperate to get going and so, like old times, the group of friends flew off toward toward the island Mt. Fudiyu was located.
"So," Zuko said, glancing at everyone else's tense faces. "Mind telling me what's going on?" There hadn't been any time for details. As if by some prior arrangement, they had all gathered at the same spot and had
headed off to a dangerous volcano before Zuko had made sense of the limited verbal exchanges between the others. Whatever it was, it sounded like an Avatar emergency. Zuko glanced at Katara who was driving Appa in Aang's absence.
Sokka was the one to answer his question. "Aang kinda got sick the other day and we thought it was just a headache." Sokka began and Zuko was momentarily taken aback at how serious he sounded. "But we were wrong. This morning he was really ill. Katara couldn't heal him and he just seemed to get worse. A few hours ago, a messenger came and gave us this."
Sokka withdrew a scroll from the depths of his pack. Zuko took it and unfurled the scroll.
Young Avatar,
I hope you are well. I do not wish to alarm you but certain instincts and signs are not meant to be ignored. I have, for many days now, had visions. They are visions concerning you. As I might be in mortal danger, I send this message to you through a trusted messenger. I only hope it reaches you in time.
The art of deciphering dreams has long been thought symbolic though its vagueness often robs it of its credibility. I, however, believe that my understanding of its meaning is not to be taken lightly. Please read carefully.
In my dreams, there stands a man dressed in white holding a lit candle. He seems to be standing in the middle of a dark pool and he is looking up at the black sky where there is but one bright star. After a moment, he blows at the flame which flickers but does not die. He blows again and again and each time the flame grows a little fainter. At the same time, the star above mimics the flame and grows duller as the man blows. At that moment, a white cat appears at the waters edge, staring with yellow eyes at the stranger. The stranger looks up and the pool of water freezes over, allowing the cat to cross to the man. This is where I usually awaken but sometimes, when I hold onto the dream a second longer, I can see the stars bright flash and a mountain illuminated in the distance.
This dream is most disturbing to me for what the objects symbolize. A man dressed in white usually means death. He is holding a lit candle that symbolizes life. Curiously, the star above, which has nothing to do with the candle below, is also being affected. It is this part that disturbs me most. A star of that particular brightness would mean a certain beacon of light, a sign of hope. That sign, I am sure, points to the Avatar. Death, who is surrounded by water, which perhaps suggests that it is unable to move, tries to eliminate the star indirectly by the use of the flame. The white cat that appears next seems to be trying to reach Death but for what purpose I am uncertain. However, the freezing of the pool, suggests that Death is now capable of moving freely without the obstacle of water in his path. The cat reaches Death and at that precise moment, the star flashes and a mountain is visible in the distance. I think that this means that someone might try to help you by reaching the source of death but will ultimately fail as killer is free to escape.
I do not know if I will be safe myself but if my message is too late, if something happens, I urge you not to waste time on me but to go straight away to Mt. Fudiyu which is located on Lone Island. I might be completely wrong with my interpretations in which case you will be safe but I believe that the mountain I see is the deadliest volcano in the fire nation. You might think me mad for advising you to go there but as that last light illuminated it even for a second, I'm sure that that might be your one last hope.
For both our sakes, I do hope I am hopelessly mistaken or even insane. Stay safe, Aang, and best of wishes.
Aunt Wu
Zuko looked up from the scroll. Everyone else had their heads hung in thought or else staring ahead.
"Uh... who's Aunt Wu?" He finally asked. This time, is was Katara who answered.
"It's a fortune teller we met on our way before we got to the Northern Water Tribe." she explained.
Zuko reluctantly thought back to barely a year ago when he had been hell bent on capturing Aang. He remembered using Katara's necklace to track them with a shirshu and could vaguely recall passing a woman offering to read Uncle Iroh's fortune.
"I already asked Dad to get as quickly as possible to Aunt Wu and see if she's okay," Katara continued. "but our priority is to get to that volcano."
Zuko leaned to the side in order to see how far they'd come. He could clearly see the volcano now with its chimney of smoke billowing out at the top. They were almost there.
"Do you... do you think this'll work?"
It had been a question that Zuko had kept silent ever the second he had read the message. He did not want to appear as though to doubt their sanity or intelligence but it all felt so farfetched. Fly to the most hazardous site in the Fire Nation to save Aang who was miles away suffering from an unknown ailment? But all this dropped like a stone to the sea below when Katara spoke next.
"I...I didn't know what else to do." her voice was shaking and Zuko was sure he had never heard her sound this uncertain before. "I..."
"It was our best lead and we needed to do something, okay?" Toph snapped at him. The two boys stared at her and Toph glared back as though challenging them. She had never been like this to Zuko even when he had (accidentally) burned her feet. Now she was glaring in the direction of Zuko as though he had disgusted her.
"I'm sorry." he said quickly. "I didn't mean to-"
"It's okay, Zuko." Katara said, still not turning around. "I wasn't sure about leaving Aang but Aunt Wu isn't a fraud. This is our best bet."
After that, there was no more talk until they landed on the island ten minutes later. Toph jumped out at once, relieved to be back on the ground and the others followed, each looking warily up at the volcano puffing out smoke in the distance. They had avoided landing too near the volcano itself in case Appa got injured but with the prospect of trekking through a jungle to get there, no one seemed too excited.
"Okay." Sokka said, once again the plan executioner of the group. "We'll tie Appa to a tree so he doesn't wander off and become fried bison wings."
"If Appa hadwings." Toph snickered.
"I was referring to chicken." Sokka retorted. "You know like chicken wings and-"
"Just get on with it, Sokka." Zuko said exasperatedly.
"Okay, fine. We tie Appa up and Toph can make one of those rock platforms we can all stand on while we fly to the volcano. Katara can bend some ocean water to give us some cover and Zuko can firebend the lava if it gets out of hand." Sokka finished.
"Okay, what about you?" Zuko asked.
"Hey, it's my plan. Job well done." Sokka returned in a matter-of-fact tone.
The plan was as simple as it was said. Toph neatly stomped a slab of rock from the earth right below them and Katara made flowing circular motions above her head to create a rotating water shield. Zuko and Sokka sat rather uselessly while the two girls worked fiercely, Toph repeating a series of earthbending moves to sail the platform across the sky.
As they neared, more and more ash and hot rock spewed over them but Katara's shield was unyielding. Unfortunately, it only went as far as the actual plan meaning once they had landed at midway up the volcano, they were left with no clue as to what they should do next.
Toph, on landing, had slammed the platform at an angle into the volcano above them so they could be shielded from the small trickles of flowing lava and debris. They all sat, backs to the rock wall, so that they could think.
"We should split up and look for clues." Katara said once Sokka had admitted to having no further plans ("Oh, great" Toph had muttered). They all looked at her, surprised.
"Look for what?" Zuko asked bemused. Katara looked both determined and agitated.
"I don't know but Aang needs us and we can't turn back now with looking." Katara glanced around as though hoping the answer would roll down the volcano.
"Katara, be reasonable." Sokka said, trying to calm Katara down who had just stood up. "We can't just wander around the volcano looking for anything. We might get killed."
"If we don't make up our minds soon, we won't get another chance. Whatever we're looking for will be toast by tomorrow." Toph said, her hand pressed flat against the volcano's surface. She frowned. "It might be sooner though. It's really shaking."
Zuko could feel it too. It looked as though Mt. Fudiyu was working up an eruption and time was of the essence. If what Aang really needed was on this volcano then they would have to find it fast, whatever it was. It might have already perished in the streams of lava.
Zuko pulled out the scroll Sokka had given him on their ride on Appa. Thinking that perhaps reading it for the tenth time might yield something, he unfurled it but at that precise moment, a gust of wind blew from his left and whipped it clean out his hand.
"Damn!" Zuko cursed and he went after it.
"Zuko, STOP!" Toph screamed but it was too late. With a tremendous BOOM! the volcano erupted. Lava and ash exploded from the mouth of the volcano flying towards Zuko who had lost his footing was on all fours.
Instinctively, Katara ran forward, riding over the newly created stream of lava by riding on a bridge of water. Toph raised herself on one foot with arms stretched above her with her hands bent forward and a wall of earth rose around the group. It was clearly not enough. Lava flowed at rapid speed, swallowing the far end of the wall. Katara's water shield had already turned sooty with ash. Zuko was sucking smoke from the nearest river of lava and redirecting it toward the already darkening sky.
"Don't breathe in the ash, Toph." Sokka said, quickly handing her a handkerchief and tying one around his own face. "Zuko! Katara!" He shouted, his voice muffled by the cloth and explosions.
"Look out!" Toph shrieked. The platform wall was now cracking under the pressure of accumulating rocks and lava. Lava would engulf them any second.
"RUN!" Sokka shouted, grabbing Toph's hand. They sprinted down, avoiding lava and earthbending where possible. Too soon, they were trapped, standing on tiptoes on a patch of rock and lava flowed around them.
Suddenly, a gigantic roaring sound came from the sky. Fur blackened with soot, Appa was hovering above them, swerving to the dodge the flying rocks. Toph reacted instantly, stomping down once so that the ground beneath them rocketed upward, growing into one towering pillar. They quickly piled onto Appa's back, trying to discern where the other two might be throught the smoke.
Toph smashed flying boulder after boulder while Sokka let down the ladder beside the bison, hollering to the scene of hell below.
"KATARA! ZUKO! WE'RE UP HERE!"
It was said that Mt. Fudiyu had a mind of its own. In Fire Nation history, it was recorded that the volcano was first named after the eruption that had wiped out an entire fishing village located at its base. The majority of the villagers had perished in the rivers of lava because on that day, all the boats had either been in repair or being used for fishing. Those who tried to save their families were either too late or unsuccessful at making it back out alive. Most thought that the volcano was possessed, always striking hard and fast when people were least expecting it. That was why the people had dubbed it 'Fu diyu' meaning 'angry hell'.
Sokka, who did not know this piece of Fire Nation history, also believed that it indeed had a mind. In that moment of desperation, the volcano with lava gushing down its sides like glowing blood was a living, howling terror. He could only watch as one final BOOM threw an injured Appa into the depths of the sea. Toph tasted salt on her lips but knew it wasn't saltwater. Sokka just stared.
Appa cried into the moonless dark.