collision → atla, reader insert

chapter eleven

CHAPTER ELEVEN!

❝ SPIRIT WORLD ❞

BEHIND CLOSED EYES she was flying. Darkness was broken by specks of light until she was floating through the space. Her skin flared with goosebumps from the cold but her palms were coaxed in warmth. When she opened her eyes, tall grasses brazed her forearms.

     Looking up, [Y/N]'s eyes were set on the clearest night she'd ever seen. The deep blue of midnight was saturated by stars—both shining bright and dull as ever. Her cloak and belongings were gone. She stood in the middle of a large clearing with evergreen trees growing far in the distance.

     This looked nothing like the creek she fell asleep next to. As a matter of fact, her clothes were completely different than the ones she slept in. They were still red but were of a slightly finer and heavier fabric trimmed with gold patterns.

     She had to be dreaming, she thought as she plucked a blade of grass that was tickling her arm. Yet, as she twirled the blade between her fingertips, she realized that she felt more awake than ever.

     "Hey, you're awake!"

     [Y/N] whirled around to face the only other person she'd seen so far. A child—maybe Aang's age—with brown skin and neutral-colored robes. Wide-rimmed glasses framed sterling green eyes and a toothy grin greeted her.

     "Finally," said the kid, "don't trash the place, please." He gestured to her hand that held the broken blade.

     Quickly, she dropped it. "Sorry."

     He brushed her off. "I'll fix it later," he said, "took me long enough to get you here. Come with me."

     He turned on his heels and walked away. [Y/N] blinked before following, unsure of what else to do. This kid seemed to know more than he was putting on. But then again, he didn't seem to act like a kid, or even talk like one. 

     Their short walk was in silence. He led her to a small creek where the water was unnaturally clear. She could see every fish and mineral in the bottom of the water. Looking hard enough, she could see her reflection.

     The first time she saw herself since waking up with her memories gone. Only now, her hair was carefully done up and held together with a golden pin.

     "Here we are," the kid spoke.

     "Where exactly are we?" [Y/N] asked.

     The kid smiled joyously. "I was waiting for you to start asking questions," he said mischievously. "Let's get some tea first."

     The kid snapped his finger and suddenly, [Y/N] was no longer standing. Her back touched the back of a chair and in her left hand was a saucer and her right hand was the handle of a porcelain tea cup. Inside, the tea was steaming. She looked up to see the same for the kid, he was casually sipping an identical cup of tea.

     Mouth hanging open, [Y/N] stammered, "How? What? How did you do that?"

     He placed his cup on the saucer. "This is my realm. I can do what I want."

     "Your realm?"

     The kid placed his free palm on top of the tea and saucer which dissipated until his palms touched each other—another thing that confused [Y/N] that she didn't want to get into. He jumped up from his seat.

     "Heard of the Spirit World?"

     "The what?"

     The kid slapped his forehead. "Oh right. Your memories are gone." With a wave of his hand, a projector appeared in between them. "The Spirit World is basically another plane where all the spirits live," a red dot appeared in the center of the projection, "it coincides with the human world," a blue dot appeared to its right, "so it looks more like this," they combined to create a purple dot.

     "We are here," a much larger green dot overlapped the purple dot. The kid pointed the entire green part outside of the purple—which turned brown. "This is the Outer Spirit World—not as accessible, kind of an exclusive, invite-only type of deal."

     "You're a spirit?" [Y/N] asked, trying to wrap her head around anything.

     "Not exactly," the kid replied, waving his hand so the dots disappeared. He pushed the thick glasses further up his nose. "I'd say I'm more like a concept."

     "A concept," [Y/N] said, racking her brain. Then she decided to ask the question that's been eating her, "Who are you?"

     A grin broke out on the kid's face which startled her. "I'm so glad you asked!" He waved the projection away and stuck a hand out toward her. "It's a pleasure to meet you, [Y/N], I'm Universe."

     Her eyebrows shot up and she missed the way he knew her name. "The universe?"

     "Nope," the kid—Universe replied. "I'm sort of the concept of the universe, but you can call me Universe for short."

     "You're a kid."

     "This isn't my actual form, smartass," the kid's language made her flinch. "If I showed you my real form, you'd turn into ashes or something."

     "Refreshing," she said, but her tone was anything but. A weird dream this just had to be.

     "This is not a dream." Universe, the Kid said.

     "Can you read minds?" [Y/N] blurted.

     "No, you're just predictable," he said. "But it's time to get serious." He snapped his fingers and [Y/N] was standing again. Her tea was gone. "I watch over every single universe to make sure none of them crash and burn. If one is off kilter, it's only a matter of time before the others collapse, too."

     He pointed to the night sky. "The stars aren't even half of the universes I monitor. And this right here—" he pinched toward the sky and threw the air onto the ground. An orb appeared and floated upward, he caught it in his hands and placed it between them. "—is where you are."

     [Y/N] looked into it, but all she saw was a white light. Her eyebrows furrowed. "I can't see anything."

     "Only I can," he said, lifting the orb. Like a balloon, it floated into the night sky and joined the other universes. He turned to her with a look much more serious than he had been the entire night. "You have a destiny and that destiny involves the Avatar, but it's too soon."

     "Listen to your visions, trust your gut," he said. The more he spoke, the more lightheaded [Y/N] began to feel. Soon, she realized she wasn't feeling sick, she was feeling tired. Her eyes drooped though she fought to keep them open. And when she fell into the dark abyss again, she heard, "It's time to wake up."