Glimpses of a Different World

The air symbols on Aang's body were glowing as he was meditating in the Southern Air Temple, the place that was once his home. Along with fully letting go of his past, Aang needed to know what his next step as the Avatar was supposed to be.

During his quest of ending the war, he had learned that everything in the world and ultimately everything in the universe was connected to each other. Everything in the world had the very same origin. So by meditating and by becoming one with the universe, he should be able to see the state of the entire world and find out where he could be needed.

Aang cleared all his thoughts, allowing the pure cosmic energy to flow through his mind and body. He could feel himself leaving his body, just like when entering the Spirit World, and found himself on a familiar route within the universe that led to the giant spectral figure of his own.

Though it wasn't his own figure that caught his attention while he was there in the universe. His eyes fell on something else in the universe. Something that seemed like a planet, quite similar to his own for which he also mistook it for a while as he looked at it from a distance. As he focused on the planet, he felt himself getting closer to it. The planet grew bigger and bigger as the distance between him and the planet became smaller. The shape of the lands on this planet became more visible to him. This was definitely not his own planet.

Aang screamed as he felt that he was falling. Before he knew it, he was lying on the ground. Trying to get up, he coughed, as the air around him was dusty. It was a familiar feeling. He had felt it before when they fought the volcano to protect the village where Aunt Wu, the fortuneteller, lived. He looked up and wasn't surprised to see a giant volcano in front of him. There was a path that was going inside the volcano. A figure stood right there on the path. It was a very tall person in a huge black armor. He had his arm raised in triumph, or so it seemed. The scene was somewhat ill ominous and dark. Aang had a bad feeling about it. He then heard a voice in his head.

"Middle-Earth will be mine… I will be Lord of the Earth..."

That didn't sound good. Not good at all.

Aang's eyes widened in terror when he was brought closer to the creature where he could have a good look at him. Aang sighed in slight relief when he realized that the creature couldn't see him, though Aang could still sense the great amount of evil that the creature radiated. The creature was dark and completely clad in black, except for one thing; a golden ring with strange markings that he wore on his finger. It seemed almost too beautiful to be worn by a creature so dark and evil, but somehow it felt like the creature drew some of his strength from the ring. It made no sense to the young Avatar, but there was something evil about that ring.

He felt himself being teleported to another place. It was as if he needed to be in a different place to see something else. And when he got there, it became clear to Aang what it was that he had to see. He had gotten in something that seemed like a village. Only, it was dark and burning. People screamed in terror as they fled from horrible looking creatures that were lashing whips at them, killing at will and feasting on human flesh. The sight was terrifying and sickening.

He then saw several flashes of war in different places of the world, and great violence, ending badly for humans while the evil-looking creatures roared in victory. He saw glimpses of people, innocent people fleeing and getting killed when they weren't fast enough or if they resisted. Those who surrendered were taken as slaves and were treated horribly by the creatures.

Aang turned around, and suddenly found himself standing in a different place. There was a huge white tower. It reminded him of the palace from the Northern Water Tribe, as he knew it. It was beautiful, something very different than what he had seen earlier. But this place wasn't spared either. The sky grew darker, and like the other places Aang had seen, the white city was engulfed in flames.

He felt himself getting wrapped in a huge wave of heat as the flames in front of him grew bigger and bigger. As that happened, Aang started to feel different somehow. He felt smaller. Was that just because the flames around him were so big? He rubbed his head in confusion, only to find out that he had had hair; black, long, curly hair. Aang looked down at the rest of his body. He gasped when he saw that he was wearing different clothes and that his arrows were gone. And something had happened to his feet. They were bigger… and hairy! What was going on?!

When he looked back in front of him, he noticed that the flames had turned into a shape, a great eye on top of a huge black tower staring down at him. Aang heard the same voice again.

"You cannot hide! I… see… you…! There is no life in the void… only… Death!"

Aang yelled and snapped out from his vision in great shock. He gasped deeply for air. He looked around frantically to see where he was and inspected his body to see whether he had really changed. He felt relieved when he realized that he was back in the Southern Air Temple and into his own body.

Momo, who had been lying in front of Aang, got startled when Aang came back like this.

"Now there's a world that is seriously out of balance, Momo," Aang said, at which Momo looked somewhat puzzled since he had no clue what his human friend was talking about.

Momo went to sit in Aang's lap. The young Avatar patted the Lemur's back as he stared in front of him, recalling what he had just seen and trying to make any sense out of it.

"I don't get it," Aang then said. He used his Airbending to get on his feet, causing Momo to jump out of his lap. "So there is a war going on in this Middle-Earth place… But what am I supposed to do about it? It's not my world, and I don't even know how to get there… or if it's even real," Aang rambled, walking nervously around in circles. "But if I can't do anything, why did I see all that? And who was that person I had turned into?!"

The young Avatar rubbed his head in confusion. He let out a deep sigh, not knowing what to do. "Maybe it was just my imagination… like a bad dream," he guessed. "Yeah, just a bad dream like I had before the invasion at the Fire Nation."

Appa had come closer to Aang in the meantime and rubbed his nose against Aang's head, consoling his friend.

"Hey there, buddy," Aang said. "I still owe you some hay. I'll be right back."

As Aang went to collect hay for Appa, he couldn't stop thinking about what he had seen. It was horrifying, far worse than anything he had ever seen in any war. Even the Fire Nation soldiers hadn't been that cruel. What if it wasn't a dream? What if it was all real, and he could do something about it to stop it all?

"But how?" Aang thought out loud as he put the hay in front of Appa.

Aang's face lit up as he thought of something. He sat down and closed his eyes as he concentrated.

"Avatar Roku, I've seen a war, a huge war in another world. I think it's called Middle-Earth. What does my vision mean? What am I supposed to do? And how will I be able to get there?" Aang asked. "Please Avatar Roku, I need your guidance."

Just then, Avatar Roku appeared in front of Aang.

"As I am a part of you, I have seen your vision too, Aang," Roku said.

Aang opened his eyes to look at Roku. "You have? So what does it mean? Is there really a world out there that needs me?"

"I am not sure what it means exactly, Aang. But you had this vision for a reason."

"It does feel like I'm supposed to do something about that war. But I don't know anything about that place... Does it even exist? I don't understand how there can even be another Earth out there!" Aang said in total confusion.

"When I was young and still learning to master Air, there was a monk who had an interesting theory. He believed in the existence of different dimensions of the Earth. Each dimension has its own history and is full of life just like our world," Roku explained. "No one really believed it at that time, but seeing your vision, it might actually be true. If this dimension does exist then, as the Avatar, you are connected to it just like you are to this world. For life is not tied to this world only, but to the entire universe. If there is really a war going on in that world, then it is your duty to help ending it and restore balance, Aang."

"Okay," Aang said with a tone of uncertainty as he tried to digest the information. "Why did I turn into another person in my vision?" he then asked.

"I do not have the answer to that," Roku replied. "But it is up to you to solve this mystery."

"Right," Aang said to himself. "So, how do I find out more about that world? How can I get there?" Aang asked.

"I'm not entirely sure, but you might be able to enter that dimension just the way you enter the Spirit World. The Spirit World is, after all, a different dimension than you are in right now. Though that will be very difficult, as it will take a lot more power and energy to transport you to that dimension both mentally and physically," Roku said. "There is a secret library in the Air Temple Sanctuary where some records of the monks are kept. If the monk has written anything at all about his theory, then you should be able to find it there. Good luck, Aang."

With that, Avatar Roku disappeared.

"It seems like we got ourselves a new mission," he said to himself while looking at both Appa and Momo.

Aang jumped on top of Appa's head and into the saddle, looking for something. As he found himself paper and ink, he wrote a few letters that he addressed to his friends – or in Toph's case, her parents. He attached the letters to Appa's horns. Then he went to find extra hay and some fruit, and put it in Appa's saddle.

"Appa, Momo, I need you two to do something for me."

Appa made some noise, indicating that he was ready to do anything for Aang. Momo jumped on Appa's head and chirped in agreement.

"You need to get to Suki on Kyoshi Island, Toph in the Earth Kingdom and Zuko in the Fire Nation. Give them these letters and bring them to the South Pole as soon as possible, while I try to find more information about this Middle-Earth. I will get there myself when I'm done. We'll meet again there," Aang said. He placed his hand on Appa's forehead and gave him the message visually to make sure he got it right.

Appa growled. He was ready to leave.

"There is some food for the both of you in Appa's saddle. Take care of each other," Aang said. He hugged Appa one last time. "Now go, buddy. Fly fast."

Aang watched Appa and Momo leave before turning around and making his way to the Air Temple Sanctuary. There was work to be done, and he needed to have a meeting with his friends soon about leaving for Middle-Earth.

ooooo