Chapter 24: Southern Air Temple (2)

After reading the letter and seeing something more familiar than just the broken structures and statues, Aang had grown slightly calm. He wasn't cheerful as before but his tears had dried off, too. The person Aang wished to meet the most in this temple was behind the door with strange contraptions that Nik and Sokka had failed to understand at all.

Although Nik could simply devour the door, as he had felt previously, devouring relics and structures that may hold importance to his flight services may not be ideal. Besides, the fire nation is supposed to have many navy vessels. He could increase his AP then.

"A few days after I was revealed to be the Avatar, Monk Gyatso told me not to feel overwhelmed," Aang spoke up, allowing others beside him to know what was going in the first place, "According to him, the person who can guide me through this journey is behind the doors of this sanctuary. I doubt he will be alive, or even be here after so much time has passed... but a clue is all I can hope to attain."

"We tried it," Sokka complained, "The door won't budge." He then glanced at the lemur still sitting on Nik's shoulder and licked his lips.

"Please don't look at me like that," Nik narrowed his gaze and Katara chuckled, "Ah, I forgot that Sokka is of marriageable age, too."

"Hey!" Sokka hissed at his sister while seeing those around him smile, Aang's mood was roused somewhat, too.

"This door can only be opened by an Airbender. That's why I even have the confidence that the Fire Nation could not have entered the Sanctuary," Aang began moving his hands in a circling motion with the wind beginning to collect in between the space of his palms.

"Hmm, a man to guide the Avatar... maybe all your teachers are inside and we won't have to go to that cowardly Northern Water Tribe," Sokka mused, "As much as I hate the prospect of it, maybe there are water, fire, and earthbender inside who can be your teacher."

"Maybe mine, too," Katara added.

"Let's find out," Nik shrugged. Aang seemed confident in opening the door so all the speculations could be confirmed in a few moments.

Concentrating, Aang's arms shot out with the intense wind entering the tubes from the blowhole.

*Hmmmm*

A soft humming sound echoed and the trio saw the three air nomads insignia turn over one by one as the air seemed to pass through the gaps of their fitting. Once all the three insignias turned over, the other pipes behind the broader structure moved and twisted before letting out a pressurized wave of air and blowing away the collected ice and snow. The door finally moved with a heavy thudding noise, its panels opening inwards with the group's gaze greeted by darkness alone aside from the entrance which revealed a particularly clean and preserved situation.

"Oh, well, it's always nice to hope," Sokka shrugged.

*Krmm*

The furry lemur on Nik's shoulder jumped down and entered the sanctuary and Aang followed soon.

"I can sense something inside," the young boy muttered and everyone entered before Nik and the others stiffened. Barely visible, inside the sanctuary was a display of statues. Many statues.

"Uh, hello? My secret guide, are you here?" Aang inquired loudly, his voice echoing as he looked around with the lemur perching on his shoulder this time around. Katara, on the other hand, began observing the statue after recovering from her initial shock.

"It's a waste of time, Aang, let's go," Sokka grumbled when Nik elbowed him and signaled him to look at the statues.

"Isn't that water tribe clothing?" Nik inquired, pointing at the statues wearing animal skin, fur, and tooth with slightly longer but clearly adorned hair by some band made of small teeth.

"Well... it is," Sokka traced his chin, "And I'm pretty sure with that smug look on his face, he must be from the fire nation," he pointed at the statue of an old man wearing ceremonial robes with a flame-shaped token over his hair bun.

"And that guy is bald, with arrows, so that's an Airbender and then this leaves this guy to be an earthbender," Sokka pointed at the subsequent statues next to the firebender.

"Of course," Katara gasped, "It's the cycle of Avatar. Legends say that the Avatar would emerge from each bending nation one at a time. Air, water, earth, and fire."

"You're saying that this old man is an avatar?" Sokka looked at the statue dubiously.

"Was," Nik corrected, "Didn't you guys say that there can only be one Avatar?"

"These are..." Aang looked around with an amazed expression. The statues were arranged in a spiral formation and as Aang jumped, he found that placed on the platform all around the sanctuary that also happened to be the tallest structure of the temple was completely arranged with similar statues.

The lemur on his shoulder had already flown away due to the sudden movement. Its furry body glided through the air and clearly intended to make Nik its ride once again. However, for a moment's curiosity, Nik sidestepped, willing to see if the Lemur would react quick enough.

It did.

Twisting its body, the lemur cartwheeled and landed on top of Nik's head on its four.

Perfection.

"These are supposed to be my past life..." Aang stated as he landed once again and grew curious, "How am I supposed to help myself?"

"Maybe look in a mirror?" Sokka questioned, "I hear that the spirit-boogy-woogy stuff can be triggered from the strangest of actions."

"He's not wrong," Nik smiled, a little humored, "Maybe you need to look yourself in the mirror and say a few encouraging things. Like— You can do it! And then there you go, all your problems might be solved."

Aang's lips twitched.

"I don't know, guys," Katara frowned, "If it's just a reflection, wouldn't water work, too?"

"Oh, I didn't think of that," Sokka clicked his tongue.

"Let's just go," Aang groaned, "If I knew what to do, the world wouldn't be in such a mess."

He turned around, leaving towards the exit.

As others followed, Nik suddenly felt a shiver rush down his spine.

*Scchhhhh*

The Lemur screeched, jumping off of Nik's head and scurrying out the hall without looking back while Nik hurriedly turned around only to find everything perfectly normal... aside from a large collection of statues.

'What the hell was that?' Nik frowned as he recalled the chilling sensation... as if someone touched his shoulder but in ways inherently terrifying.

"Did you find something?" Katara stopped, waiting for Nik to catch up as he shook his head and replied with an uncertain expression.

"I don't know. I suddenly felt a little too cold... maybe taking off the coat wasn't a great decision after all."

"You'll get used to it. Sokka and I are used to cold, too," Katara smiled.

'Then why'd that rodent run away, and with that screech, too?' Nik pondered, clearly not believing his own excuse.

---

*Ghhnnaaghhhh*

Appa growled with absolute command, or so it would seem to those who couldn't really understand the sky bison speech while 'Momo'— the new companion, Winged-Lemur, that Aang named as such due to his furry looks let out soft screech with his fur standing to its end and his body curved like an inverse 'U.'

"Stop fighting you guys," Aang sighed as he picked Momo up, "We're the last of our kind."

"Hey," Sokka whispered, pulling Nik, "Isn't it a sign of misfortune... you know, keeping the last of their kinds with us, and three of them, in fact?"

Katara's ears twitched slightly while Nik mumbled, "Isn't it a sign of misfortune to try and oppose the Ruler of the world like you all plan to do?"

"You all? Aren't you with us?" Sokka snickered as Nik frowned, "Don't bring me into this craziness. I'm here till we find land... and people."

"What was wrong with my village then?"

"It was ice," Nik mumbled as they climbed on top of Appa. Their visit to the Southern Air Temple had come to its end. Light was shed on many facts previously unknown.

For instance, the Airbenders might have their own philosophies to blame for their downfall since their disappearance from the air temples seemed purely voluntary.

Not to mention the fact that Aang could see his past incarnations in the form of statues. Katara seemed pretty confident about the legends that these were exactly Aang's previous life and even Aang seemed a little believing of this fact but Nik and Sokka largely believed that instead of a real incarnation, the Avatars were different individuals with a similar skillset, i.e., bending the four elements.

Unlike Sokka, however, Nik did plan to keep an open mind. Supernatural entities and myths were a large part of the culture of the world he originated from. He didn't have much time to spend in his current homeworld so Nik didn't know too much about it. Still, in the situation where he is proven wrong regarding this matter, he wouldn't feel too surprised. After all, he survived the ordeal that is death itself.

He wouldn't be shocked if someone else evaded death, too.

The descent, as promised by Aang, was slow and even instead of a steep fall that would guarantee the passengers' demise.

The group finally settled down on the foot of the mountain where things actually grew and allowed them to forage.

The vegetation was sparse but enough for the night as evening sun had already begun to set and give way to a cold dusk.

"Alright! Aang, Nik, you two find some nuts and berries. Follow Momo. If he eats is, pick as much of them as possible. I will find dry leaves and set up the fire. Katara, you set up the tents!"

"Hey, why do I get the worst of all jobs?" Katara frowned and Sokka looked confused, "Didn't you say you wanted as much responsibility as me? Originally, you and I were supposed to set tents, but I'm giving you my share of work, too."

He smiled, feeling gracious while Katara scowled.

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"No way. Come, the three of us will find stuff in the shrubs like savages and you can lead a civilized responsibility," she pushed the bundled-up tent as Sokka huffed deeply.

The rest in the Southern Air Temple was something Appa barely registered and the feed wasn't great either. So, now surrounded by quite a bit of vegetation, the large sky bison began eating with Sokka left completely alone.

"Fine! I'm better than you anyway!" Sokka scoffed, turning to his task.

"I'll look here," Aang smiled and pointed in a particular direction.

"Alright, I and Nik will look—" Katara began with a smile when Nik cut her off.

"Actually, I want some time alone," Nik sighed, pointing to his right, "So, I will look in that direction. I'll try and look for fruits on the trees instead."

Katara looked at him and nodded though Nik did find her a bit reluctant. At this moment, he didn't particularly care. He was almost starving and his packed lunch was also about to go bad. He needed to act quickly and decisively.

As the group separated, Nik entered the deeper section of the thicket. The surroundings were inhabited by a few birds alone with nothing else to view. Observing his surroundings, Nik poked a shrubbery with the bone spear, and once satisfied that there was nothing hidden within, he himself hid within the shrubbery.

However, once again, the red scar on his left arm flashed. But instead of anything on Nik disappearing, it was Nik himself who vanished.

---

"It's overwhelming to actually enter this world," Nik exhaled deeply.

He was not on the foot of Patola Mountain Range anymore. Instead, he was... within 'him.'

From the very beginning, Infinity had shown itself to be gracious enough. There might be a reason for all of it but Nik did not know it yet. What he did know was that based on his previous occupation and teachings, he was blessed with a bloodline— a heritage, in layman's terms that made him look even more attractive to women whether they showed it or not. Nik knew the legend of Adonis in his birthplace. A man who conquered goddesses only to be smite upon by angry gods. His death was not quite tragic since he laughed, claiming that humans can overthrow the desires of gods as easily as the gods could do the same with the humans.

Aside from this heritage, Nik was granted the specific ability to devour things without any consciousness with the purpose of accumulating AP. This handy ability also acted as a method of self-defense if used properly. Especially in a world such as this where cold weapons still remained the mainstream choice of arms.

Finally, Infinity also granted Nik a connection with 'the' infinite space itself— in the form of a red scar on his left arm.

This could also be considered the greatest grace of Infinity.

One's own land.

Nik was not resistant to this temptation. He often wondered in his previous life what it would feel to have a personal piece of property, of course, well furnished and decorated.

Still, somehow, a piece of 'world' was fitted on him in the form of a scar.

Why 'world' and not land?

Nik looked around.

Genuinely amazed.

Under a blue sky was a piece of restricted land.

No, to be precise, he was standing in the middle of an empty forest with no fauna in sight, and instead of a piece of land, it was an entire world in this red scar of his, however, the large circular perimeter of strange, translucent light right behind him that made him unable to move out of the restriction revealed that within this world, he was only granted a smaller portion of land.

This was the truth of the red scar and one of the benefits known about AP.

As his Authority Rank grows, the restriction around the land would widen and give Nik a larger area to develop personally.

This was also the purpose of the red scar.

Development.

Not everybody comes under the employment of Transmigration Paradise that allows the members to appear in different worlds and devour various things to quickly increase their lands. Nik assumed that if he was under a different Rank 10 Paradise, then he might have to develop and research better things to devour and increase his AP.

In front of him was none other than the outfits he stole when Mitsuko took him out for shopping and a small bag filled with delicious treats especially cooked by Mitsuko for the journey.

Seeing it, a grateful smile appeared on Nik's face as he sat down and began eating everything heartily.

"I miss their cooking already..." Nik mumbled while eating. There were only three people who had cooked for him in his homeworld. Mitsuko, Yuuko, and her daughter Megumi.

Mitsuko also happened to be the best of the three when it came to cooking a variety of things in a short period of time. And now Nik also knew why Mitsuko placed such importance on a delicious and nutritious diet. To keep those around him healthy and satisfied so that they could have more fun.

It was honestly a win-win situation and Mitsuko was quite different from Esta even if the two shared similarly intense libido.

Once finished, Nik was left a bit unsatisfied. The meal was surely delicious but left for a time greater than intended, a few bits had gotten soggy and the low temperature of the food itself wasn't too pleasing.

However, his stomach was indeed full.

Closing the backpack, Nik lied down on the ground.

'Living beings can enter this world after I have their permission... but they cannot leave without my permission. What a strange rule... almost like a trap,' Nik mused, 'But how awesome it would be to have a personal home... and baths. Definitely some luxury bath... maybe a bath with a side tray of snacks...'

Nik gulped, almost salivating on the prospect.

There were still a few things unclear about this space. If he brought someone inside and smuggled them to his homeworld, could they come out? In fact, in the bits of knowledge, this particular piece of information was missing, and seeing how clearly his tasks and intended services were described, Nik felt that if some things aren't explained then they might not be possible itself, at least, not presently.

There was only one thing that could constantly bring change to his situation and benefits and it was none other than Authority Rank.

Standing up, Nik climbed up a nearby tree and plucked a few mangoes. They were a little short of being completely ripe but it worked well. Nik liked slightly sour mangoes than a completely sweet one.

Yes, he was a heretic.

---

The time spent in the world hidden in the scar and the outside world that he was currently within would be in sync based on his own existence within a certain time range.

But the existence of a 'world' was still a bit of mystery to Nik.

Is it a planet? A plane? Or an actual existence was hidden within his scar?

These questions weren't as important as the ones Aang and Sokka posed.

"Hey! Where did you find these? Looks like plum-mangoes but... a little sour!" Sokka bit into the fruit as an apple and Nik cringed. He didn't even have the time to actually tell that he preferred cutting the fruit around the large kernel and then just it eat it above the peel.

"Mgh, I like it," Katara had peeled the skin with her teeth as she ate the fruit.

Nik had only brought a dozen of it out. Ordinarily, he could bring out the things he had stuffed inside the red scar but since the fruits were attached to trees, he had to pluck them and then set them aside to actually bring them out with a thought.

"I didn't know fruits like these grew here," Aang mumbled, taking a large bite as his shoulders shuddered with his teeth suddenly impacting against the tough kernel. With juices splattered around the corner of his lips, Aang stuck his tongue out, "Maybe they grew in these hundred years."

He reasoned.

"Alright, what about the sleeping arrangements?" Nik inquired.

"I call Appa!" Aang smiled. He would rather sleep with his buddy.

*Krrmm*

*Krrk*

Slowly biting into the mango, Momo looked up, chattering.

"Of course, you can sleep with me," Aang grinned, poking his index against the lemur's cheek.

"I'll have a tent, too," Katara shrugged.

Sokka and Nik looked at each other before the sarcastic chieftain remarked, "I hope you don't mind the smell of my socks."

"Ugh," Katara groaned while Nik blinked, not liking what he had just heard.

"Give me that," Nik snorted and instantly made the half-eaten mango disappear from Sokka's hand as he touched it.

"Oh, come on!"

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