A True Soul

“Walk with me child.” Jack said and mentioned with a large arm to follow him.

I took a few weary steps in his directions before he stopped me.

“No,” he chuckled, “No, not like that. As the animal you are.”

“Which animal would that be?”

“Why, whichever one you choose to be, that’s the beauty of what you are. Being a True Soul is both a curse and a gift. You know that’s true by now I’m sure,” Jack smiled at me.

Normally my phases were controlled somewhat by my emotions, but I couldn’t let anyone see me as a husky. No one needed to know how much I missed Dax, even with that foul temper of his. So I dropped to the ground on four reddish golden paws. My claws stuck out a bit, and my clothes were shredded on the ground.

“Well, in that form I’d almost confuse you for your mother.”

I smiled at him. “If you can change forms you have to be a True Soul as well, like the twins said?” My heart quickened a little.

“What else could I be my child? You and I are one and the same. We have the same light and darkness in each other. It’ll take time, but eventually you’ll come to accept it.” He turned and we continued at a slow pace into the forest as it began to rain ever so slightly.

“Why did you go into hiding? Why were so many people looking for you?” I asked the balding orangutan.

“I was hiding because I didn’t want to be found.” He smirked.

I shook my head. That wasn’t helpful.

“Out of anyone else on this planet you are entitled to answers. However, some answers some answers will be received in time. Not everything has to be explained right this minute,” Jack was very calm and polite as he said this; even though he wouldn’t answer me. “We’ll get to that story one day soon I’m afraid, but before that I need you to understand something child.”

I felt the moist dirt underneath my paws. There had been eyes gazing at us from the canopies. “There seems to be a lot of things that are still a mystery.”

“How right you are child…” He paused and stepped over a tree trunk taking his time. “I really shouldn’t even be calling you a child, even if you are to me. You left your childhood behind as soon as you stepped into this supernatural world.”

But it’s a world I’ve always been a part of. It was just hidden from me. “There are still a lot of things I don’t know about being a True Soul. I feel different from others sometimes,” I admitted, “But then again I always have a little bit.”

“Everyone feels different at times, that I can assure you. I still don’t know everything there is to being a True Soul either. It’s a never ending learning process.”

“So I’ve come to find out.”

He patted my head. “Embrace it my dear, don’t let what you are be only a curse.”

“It’s not. At least I don’t see it that way.”

“Aw, but why do you blame yourself for the death of so many others?” Jack asked me.

“Well…” How did he know that? I was the one who normally asked the question, not the one being asked them. “Well… I guess that’s because if I didn’t exists all of those people would still be alive.”

“People will die no matter what. We are part human after all; we’ll always find something to fight about. Never blame yourself. The people who died believed that True Souls hold something worth protecting with their lives. It’s horrible and sickening that they died, but that doesn’t mean you or I are to blame. Don’t feel bad child, I too once thought the same way.

“I know you’ll try to do the right thing. It won’t always happen, you’ll make mistakes, everyone always does, but that’s ok. There’s something in you that will make great things happens, I know that and your mother knew that. However, Angela, none of that matters if you don’t believe.”

“I know I’ve heard how I’ll do great things, how I’m my mother’s daughter and she’d be proud. But I haven’t done anything of these great things that people expect me to. It’s everyone else that has done great things. My father, Faux, Freddie, the twins, my mother, Dax, they are the ones who have truly made a difference in the lives of others,” I told Jack.

“You’re time will come, stay strong. There will be a time when you have to step up and carry an even bigger burden, taking on part of the fight that no one else can and you have to be ready,” he said.

“Is that what you wanted to tell me?” I asked. “You have my word I that don’t intend to concede. Never. My mother wanted me to become someone great, and somehow I have to honor her. Although it’s a legacy I don’t deserve to hold. I don’t know if I’m strong enough.”

“You will become strong enough, child. What you need to realize is no one is completely good or completely evil. I considered myself to be a good person but I have made decisions in the past that are despicable and would make your toes curl. I’m not proud of everything I’ve done, but the past is the past. That being said, those who seem the darkest still have some light to them. They may never show it, and never act on it, but it’s there somewhere.

“There are also those times where you can’t be a morally good person to do the right thing in the end. Sometimes you have to make decisions that aren’t down the path of light. But, that doesn’t define who you are. Clear as mud?” Jack asked. He reached for a vine and pulled himself off the ground a little before settling back on the jungle floor.

“That’s the human in us coming out I suppose,” I stated.

“That’s one way to put it, my child.” He gave a faint smile. “I know this is a lot to take in Angie. But as difficult as this road has already been for you, the darkest parts have yet to come. There are still more secrets, more skeletons, that you’ll have to be ready for. I’m not saying this to scare you. I’m telling you this because I wish there had been someone to explain this to me when I was a young True Soul.”

I tried not to show how nervous I was again. “The hardest part at the moment for me is probably missing my father. It would make things a whole lot easier if he were with me now.” I really did not want sympathy from Jack. I just wanted someone to understand.

“Oh how I know that empty feeling all too well. I’ve been missing my family for… almost 50 years now. That’s how long it’s been since they were taken from me… But now don’t you worry, you won’t have to wait that long to see your father again. I’ll see if I can talk Blair into bringing him over for Christmas? It isn’t celebrated here like it is in America, but we can put together something.”

My eyes got big, and I might’ve even jumped a little. In reality it hadn’t been that long since I’d seen my father, but it’d been longer than I’d ever gone without seeing him. “That would be so amazing, you have no idea!”

“I’ll let you know in a few days what I can do. I’m staying at the castle as one of the Blair’s advisor, but I’ll help you whenever you call. You have so many people on your side, utilize us, lean on us when you need to, we’ll help keep you strong.”

“I have to stand on my own two feet as well you know, or well in this case four, but you get the point.” I said.

“That I do. Another thing, you’ll have to take classes at the palace. It is time you get back to studying, yes you’ll be a little behind, but you’ll figure it out quickly enough.”

“It really isn’t so bad. I may have not had many friends at school in New York, but I really didn’t mind my classes too much,” I said.

“That’s good to know, because one of your classes will be with me. We’ll be going over our past, the wars, what it’s like to be a True Soul, and theories that are out there about us,” Jack explained to me.

“Really? You’re a professor?”

“Only to you. It should be easier to have another True Soul to teach you the things you’ll need to know about us. And as I’m the only True Soul besides you in this world, I’ll be passing on my knowledge to you.” Jack nudged my shoulders. “It’s about time we turn back. You’re classes will start the day after tomorrow if that’s alright with you.”

“That’s fine by me; did you already talk to Blair about this?” I asked him.

“Yes, we’ve been discussing different matters, including your schooling.” Jack answered.

“So if you don’t mind me asking, how long has Blair known you were here?”

“She knew two or three days before you got to the palace,” he explained.

“Was she shocked to see that you were still alive?”

“I’m sure she wasn’t surprised in the least. I believe she smiled as asked why it took me so long to reveal myself to her.”

“So she knew you were already alive?” I asked.

“I’ll teach you how to do this eventually if you want, but I can control my connection that the queen has over me. As soon as I felt the transfer of power shift away from Mubaka I allowed the new queen enough access to let her know I was alive.”

“What is the deal with Mubaka? I mean I get this weird vibe that I’m unsafe around her, but she was a queen. She shouldn’t hurt me.”

“You’re right she shouldn’t. Trust that instinct of yours. Until I can prove anything I’ll keep my mouth shut. Keep your distance, but keep an eye on her as well,” he informed me.

“I wasn’t planning on becoming her best friend.”

He slowly pushed himself over two large tree trunks that interwove tightly together. Jack seemed to struggle a bit, but regained compose and put both feet on the ground.

“Are you feeling ok?”

“Just fine Angie, I’m getting old is all.”

“I guess so. You must be like 116, right?” I asked.

He chuckled, “Well, something like that.”

“So does any place here get reception at all? I still would really like to talk to my father.”

“There are a couple of places you might have luck.” He looked towards the castle and pointed, “That tower there. I believe you get to it by ascending two flights of stairs and taking a left on the third floor, it’s the floor where most of your indoor classrooms will be. The tower room will be the fourth door on the left.”

“How… How do you even remember that? How long has it been since you’ve even been in the castle?”

“I’ve spent the majority of my years at this very place, not all of them willingly. So I’ve memorized every inch, every brick, and every stone. I know about the shrine for your mother and Eve, but I have never seen it personally. That’s what I’ll go do when you make the phone call to your dad tonight.” He smiled at me. ‘Not all of them willingly?’ Why was he kept here against his will?

“Glad someone has things figured out here.”

“Oh, not at all my dear child,” he said. “Sometimes you just have to take things one day at a time. “

When we got to the castle I went to hold the door from him, but he was gone. “Where did you go?” I looked around, but he was nowhere to be seen. I walked to my room in lion form, I needed clothes before I could switch back to a human. Once in my room I threw on a pair of shorts. I reached for my cell phone; I could feel it in my pocket. I pulled it out. No reception. Damn. But that was what I expected.

I walked at a fast pace past Blair’s room and sprinted once I’d reached the door that led to the stairs. By the time I had reached the top floor I was out of breath and had to stop for a few moments before going on. It was really apparent that I needed to be in better running shape. Maybe I should do some hard core training with Spencer and Sadie.

I walked through the hall and opened the door that went into the tower. I climbed the stairs and opened the latched door that led inside of the tower. After pulling myself inside I shut the latch and pulled out my phone again. All of this for a phone call? They must really want to keep people out. This is crazy.

My phone buzzed immediately before I typed any numbers in.

‘It’s Jack. Sorry I wasn’t exactly telling the truth, there are a few spots in the gardens and training centers that should work as well. The tower was just more private.’ I smiled; he was over a hundred and just sent a text? Wow.

It was cool in here, surprisingly. I thought it’d be overwhelmingly hot. I was fine with being wrong about that though. I pushed the reply button. ‘Thanks Jack. I owe U’

I typed D.A.D. into the phone and hit call. It rang twice before he answered . “Hello? Angie? Is that you?”

“Dad? Dad! I missed you so much!” I was shaking I was so happy.

“Oh my god Angie! I’ve been trying to get ahold of you, but I couldn’t get your phone to ring for me.”

“I know dad, I know. I don’t get reception here. Well, not in very many places anyways. How’re you holding together?”

“As well as I can I suppose. What about you Ang? I miss you so much.”

“I don’t even know where to begin. Blair, Eve’s daughter, is the Queen. Faux had a hysterectomy when she was twelve. And there’s another True Soul out there, his name is Jack. He was in hiding, but now he’s back.” My voice was racing as I was trying to get all my new information out again.

“Whoa, whoa, slow down. Um, I knew about Faux. Blair’s the Queen? Are you serious? She was so tiny the last time I saw her. That’s unbelievable… But I thought Jack was dead,” he responded.

“Wait, you knew about Jack? Everyone thought he was dead. But no, he’s alive, and he’s going to be teaching me about True Souls!” I yelped excitedly. I felt like a little kid, all happy just talking with my father.

“Oh, honey if I had known he was still alive…”

“You had no way of knowing. Jack made sure no one knew he was alive. He said he wanted to reveal himself when he felt it was right. But I’ll be fine dad; everything’s going to work itself out somehow.”

“That’s awesome, honey. I’m really glad to hear that you’re ok. How’s Freddie, and everyone doing?”

“Freddie’s seems a little kept in and uncomfortable. Faux is slowly healing, but the twins really seem to be in their element. It’s like this is the place they’re supposed to be at.”

“Freddie will find his way; don’t worry about him too much. Victor has been stopping by the house almost every night since you’ve left.” My dad yawned.

“Dad, what time is it over there? I don’t even know! I’m sorry…”

“Oh, don’t worry about it at all. I’m just glad I get to hear your voice,” he told me.

“So dad… have you heard anything from him, at all?”

He sighed, “You mean from Dax? Well, I’m really pissed he left like that. But about five days after you left, he knocked on the door, which I promptly slammed in his face. But it was pouring down sleet so I let him in. He apologized, which I wasn’t ready to accept but did anyways. I gave him some hot tea. We didn’t talk much. Dax did asked if I had heard from Faux and when I said I hadn’t heard from anyone he left. I haven’t seen him since. But it really hasn’t been that long; a week and a half of not hearing from him isn’t a big deal. He can go months without talking to people.”

I groaned at this.

“I’m sorry Angie. Look everything will be ok like you said.”

“I know dad. Thank you for everything you’ve done. I really don’t tell you that enough.”

“It’s ok, you don’t have to thank me. It’s what dads are for.”

“I love you dad. Go get some sleep.”

“Love you too Angie, call me whenever you get a chance. Ok?”

“Ok Dad I will.” We both hung up at the same time and I climbed out of the tower and made my way back towards my bedroom for the night. I would do my best to take Dax off my mind, at least for a while anyways. I also forgot to ask my dad about Christmas, oh well...

The next week rank in top most bewildering moments of my school days. I took ‘normal’ classes, of trigonometry, chemistry, an English class, a world history class, and an interesting gym class that consisted of activities in animal form. On top of that I also took a training class recommended by Spencer and Sadie, and by my choice, I added a literature class. In the evenings three days a week I had a ‘class’ with Jack, which so far only consisted of how I was feeling about what had happen since the car accident.

It felt strange in the academy sometimes. Some of my classmates whispered about me being a True Soul, others plain asked me if I was the real thing, which they quickly found out during the gym and training classes. I wasn’t as far behind as I thought I would be. Some of the classes I was actually ahead in but there were others that were challenging to keep afloat in.

My core classes were held inside on the third floor. The literature class took place outside by the lake, normally under the shade of the trees. The gym class and most of the training classes were located outside in different parts of the palace grounds. The exception to this was the salt water animal class, in which case the basement of the palace had been turned into the largest salt water tank I had ever seen.

The most abnormal class for me was probably the training class. These classes were divided based on animal type and size. These categories consisted of: mammal, reptile, aquatic, aerial, and insects. These groupings were then divided into large, medium, and small. The first week I rotated between the classes and attended one day at each of them. Many of the students wore one of the gray jumpsuit like the one Sadie let me use when she trained me. But, there were also those who were comfortable changing in front of everyone. There were also students like me who chose to come to class already in animal form. Every obstacle, every procedure was directly related to the animal type and it’s capabilities. Many times the rain forest was incorporated into our training as well.

My favorite training days were the ones when the twins led the classes. I felt comfortable with them around and it was easier to involve myself without hesitating. I also enjoyed the aquatics class. I had to change forms in the water itself for this one and opted to use the jumpsuit. This change also took slightly more concentration the first time because I’d never tried to transform into any type of water animal. In this class we worked on agility and evasion.

I had one freak out moment shortly after my first change into a dolphin, when a shark swam right out at me. I shot to the top of the water, shivering a little. The teacher, who was a manatee, told him to knock it off. The boy apologized and we were actually both laughing about it by the end of the day.

The gym class was designed as more of a team building exercise to help the Natural Borns work together. This class was also held by the lake, or in the basement to try to involve as much as the student body as possible. We learned the importance of teamwork. This was the first gym classes that I had enjoyed. No one person could take all the glory or stand out too much. Everyone was forced to work together to accomplish the goal.

So far I had had lunch every day with either Faux or Blair. By the end of week I was settled by the lake, scarfing down a sandwich with Faux. She was sprawled on in the sun in her cat form. There was still fur missing on her side, but the stab wound was completely closed and it didn’t seem to be bothering her today. When she lied on her back I could see her mark traced on her stomach under the white fur. I grabbed another sandwich out of the bag that I was carrying.

“So how has school been?” Faux asked and flipped over on her side.

“Ok, for the most part. I didn’t enjoy the insect class, at all. Everything felt disproportionate at first. I felt so small compared to everything else. And the other students are convinced that Mr. Straub has a size complex problem, besides he’s can be prick.”

“I’m sure the students perceive him that way, but he’s a good teacher. Blair wouldn’t have put him in the position if she didn’t have faith in his abilities.”

“I don’t doubt Blair’s decisions making, but I’m still not found of him.” I continued to take bites off of my sandwich.

“Well, just like at any other school you’re not going to like all of your teachers,” she said.

“Yeah, that’s for sure.”

“So, I’m going to help teach the students in the small mammal training course. I’m a qualified guardian after all, I can more than handle teaching.” She winked at me with her cat eyes.

“You’d make a great teacher Faux! You taught me just as much as Spencer and Sadie did.”

She laughed. “Well, they’ve taught at different schools before and have been guardians to more kids. Actually to be honest, I became a guardian, but I never took on an actual case. Yes, I’m registered as one, but for one reason or another I’ve haven’t been called on. It doesn’t bother me too much, but it’d be nice to put my training to use.”

“You like working with students my age, don’t you? It explains why you stick around with me so much.” I finished my lunch.

“I do, but that’s not the only reason I ‘stick around you so much’.” She smiled at me. “As young as you still are, you’ve grown so much.” Faux purred and sprawled out again. “And, I’m proud to consider you a friend.”

At the end of the week Blair caught me after my classes ended for the day. Some of the students bowed, other’s nodded at her, but all showed respect towards her.

She was wearing translucent light sliver silk robes with golden trim, and had on a golden head piece today.

“This is a bit like Deja vu,” I said.

“How so?”

“Oh, both Faux and Dax had a habit of meeting with me after school. They said they were keeping an eye out for my protection,” I explained.

“Well, you’re here for your protection; I just thought you might like to chat before meeting with Jack tonight for your next lesson.”

“You know a normal conversation sounds really nice for a chance.” She walked me to my room where we dropped of my school books. “Lead the way,” I said.

She led us towards the garden again. I looked at her, “You’re only a few years older than me aren’t you?”

“I’m two years and almost three months older. My birthday’s January 15th.”

“So how long have you been the queen?” I asked her.

“For two years now actually, and before you ask I’ll tell you why I’ve became queen at the age of 16. That was your next question, wasn’t it?”

“Am I really that easy to read?”

“It’s my job to be able to read people.” She smiled at a couple students as we passed by. “Chloe shut herself in more and more as the years went on after her husband and her oldest son died. She would snap for no reason. Some people felt that she was neglecting her duties, others were happy with a less involved queen. The search for Cain, and other Natural Borns who were trying to find you was, in my opinion, less than satisfactory.” She paused, “I can say that her ways didn’t always work the best. I know I’ve only been queen for two years, but I’ve come to appreciate the job and my people more and more.” Blair explained to me.

“All the Natural Borns seem to really like you.”

“Some do, but others don’t. I’m young and not everyone likes the changes I’ve been making, or the fact that I’m not married yet.”

“But you’re only 18? Why do they want you to get married?”

“It’s tradition to get married within a year of becoming King or Queen. And like I said I’ve been queen for two years. Chloe and some of my advisor have been getting pushy.” She lifted her robe a little to step over branch that had grown into the path. “Naeem was first in line for the crown, but Mubaka knows he wouldn’t be a fit ruler. He’s not like Hasani. Even though he’s 24 now, Naeem is still too childish to even take care of himself, much less take care of kingdom.”

“Mubaka made a good decision not to let him rule. From what I’ve seen of him he doesn’t seem the brightest.”

“No, but he is her baby that’s for sure. I love him like brother, but in the same breath it would be nice for him to treat me like a sister.”

“Naeem seems to be very into about himself.”

“He’s a pretty boy, yes.” We both laughed at this.

“So you have to get married uh? That sounds just so exciting!” I said laying the sarcasm on a bit too thick, but she still laughed.

“Well I’d like to change that, but Mubaka is insisting that I take on courters soon. I’ve postponed it once again for a few more months. I try not to abuse my authority by changing too many of traditional customs, but I’m just not ready to get married yet. I don’t feel like it’s the right time,” Blair said. “I shouldn’t be saying these things though.”

“That’s a lot of pressure you have on you… I thought I had stress, but I don’t have to worry about a whole kingdom.”

“Thank you for letting me simply… talk.” She shook her head. “I really shouldn’t complain about traditions…”

“You have every right to vent. It’s completely unfair that they force people to marry before their ready and it would seem, sometimes, not even for love.”

“The only time marrying isn’t for love is when it comes to the royal family. But it’s not always that way, many do marrying for love, some are married by the time they take the crown. It just happens that I’m not so lucky when it comes to the relationship part of being queen.”

“How long do you have before you have to get married?” I asked her.

“Well, I have until the end of May before Chloe and the advisors demand the courtships begin. Before then I have to choose twelve men, lions of course, whom I will spend one months a piece with, going on dates and such. I will also have the guards by my side at all times while on my outings.”

“How can you possibly go on a date with people following you around? That sounds like a horrible arraignment.” I’m sure I had a baffled look on my face.

“The guards are there to make sure that nothing happens that I don’t want to happen. Even if the guy tries to hold my hand, and I reject it, the guards will be there to intervene. It’s a little over the top I know, and I have more than enough training to take care of myself. However precautions are necessary.” Blair sighed.

I stretched and pulled on her rob a little bit. “Were these outfits always part of your wardrobe or is this new since you’ve become queen?” I asked changing the subject.

“Well, being Mubaka’s adopted daughter, I did wear this type of attire more often than not. These robes just increased as when I became queen. I actually do really like them, but I do wear ‘normal’ clothes when I travel outside the castle.”

“Oh yeah? How often does that happen?” I asked her.

“I’ve only been outside of Africa once since I’ve been queen.” She laughed. “I could really use a vacation uh?”

“You know, we could both go for a relaxing vacation.” I smiled.

I jumped. It took me a few moments to remember that I had taken a quick nap before class with Jack. There was a pounding at my door. That must have been what jolted me awake. I shot out of bed and opened the door.

“I’m sorry Miss. I told him you were sleeping but he insisted,” one of the guards said with a glare on his face.

Jack was there, or who I assumed was Jack. This was the first time I had seen him in human form, he hadn’t been to meals or in any part of the castle that I had seen yet. His eyes were the same though, that was the giveaway. He had darker skin that had gotten ashier with age; his hair was frizzy and white, and there was a faint trace of darker freckles a crossed the bridge of his nose. I was also forced to look upwards, because Jack was a good five or six inches taller than me if not more. He was standing there with his arms crossed and eyebrows cocked.

“About time. Class was supposed to start a half hour ago Angela.”

“Oh, crap… I guess I over slept.” I bent and grabbed a pair of sandals before daring to meet his gaze. “Do I need these today?”

“Yes, you’ll need those today. We have an interesting history lesson planned for this evening,” he told me.

I hobbled trying to put my sandals on and walk at the same time. “What’s the plan for tonight?”

“Every castle has its secrets, my child, tonight I’m taking you to one of them. Blair knows it exists, but she has never seen it. Chloe spent the majority of her ruling looking for it but never found it.”

“That is so helpful, let me tell you.” I said with sarcasm and quickened a little trying to match his stride. “So where exactly is it? What exactly is it?”

“Where? Why, it’s here on the palace grounds. What? They’re relics from past True Souls.”

“Relics? Like things past True Souls have left behind?” I asked him.

“In a way, yes. You’ll see what I mean momentarily,” Jack said. He led me outside by the lake. “Just a little warning, as weird as things may seem already, what I’m about to tell will make everything a little stranger.”

“I’m used to weird by now. Lay it on me…”

“You’ve heard of mythical creatures, like fairies, mermaids, and centaurs, correct?”

“Yeah, but who hasn’t heard of them?”

“I’m sure there are people out there who haven’t, after all there are so many mythical creatures…” He trailed off at the end of the sentence.

“What do you mean there are so many?” The tone of voiced his used sounded off.

“The term, ‘were’, would have been a better word choice. There were so many mythical creatures, but now they’re gone,” he explained.

“Whoa, ok. You’re going to have to clarify better than that. I’m really not quite sure where this is going.”

“Come on now, Angie, bear with me.” He kept a good pace, compared to his normally slow and steady movements.

“Ok, I’m listening…”

“True Souls, like you and I have, have the ability to change into whatever animal we want. Well, animals which are in existence at least. That’s where our magic dies. Ever try to change into a dinosaur?” He stared at me. I blinked. “No? Well I have. It’s never worked.” Jack smirked and crouched by the lake.

“Um, Jack, what are you doing?” I asked. “And you can bet a dinosaur would look more than a little out of place.”

“I’m getting a key.” He tapped the water three times. “We’ll need a key to get into where we want to be.” A large turtles head popped out of the water.

“Aw…. Jack. I knew you weren’t dead.” The gigantic turtle hurled itself out of the water.

“Nope, I’m still very much alive.” He bent towards the turtle.

“She must be the new True Soul.” His voice was nonjudgmental, with no even a hint of surprise. It was almost like he expected me.

“That’d be me.”

“Well, here you are. You’ll be needing this.” The turtle popped his head in his shell, wiggled his necked a bit, and a gold chain with a small key fell from his neck. “There you go. No one else has had it since the last time you asked for it.”

“Thank you, sir.” Jack said as he retrieved the chain from the ground.

“Call when you need me again, Jack. Always a pleasure to be of service.” The turtle said and he slipped back into the water. He just disappeared, like he was never there.

“Now, where were we? This way, child.” He led me towards the side of the castle.

We stood facing the marble. There was a small crack in the marble wall that looped around and closed in on itself. I would have never noticed if Jack hadn’t trace the outline with his fingers. Jack pushed on the marble and it fell off the wall. He caught the small piece of stone before it hit the ground. In the empty piece was a small key hole. Jack placed the key inside and twisted.

There was a loud snap and the marble shifted sideways. A small vertical crack appeared which ran from the ground to about eight feet upwards, and four feet across.

“Help an old man out, child?” He tapped on the marble door. “Push here.”

I pushed against the marble and the door revolved, we stepped in and the door closed behind us. Darkness consumed us. A musty smell filled my nose. My eyes slowly adjusted to the dark, but not enough to make out key details.

“Just a moment.” He said as pulled out a flash light. “This passageway may be almost 700 years old, but that doesn’t mean we have to result to using fire as a means of light. Actually I installed electricity in here about…. 50 years ago? Something like that, anyways. I got tired doing my studies in the dark.” He used the flashlight to find a switch on the wall, and there was light. In front of us there was a small spiral staircase. “Lead the way.” He pointed to the staircase.

It was semi dark and dusty. Extremely dusty. I followed the stairway into a little room. There was a string hanging in front of me, I pulled it and light illuminated around us. Pushed against a wall was a small twin size bed, at the foot of the bed as a trunk. On the other side of the room there was a desk, a chair, and a small couch. The two remaining walls were covered in books and papers that were stacked in built-in shelves.

“This is my study, shown to me by the previous True Soul, just before he died. We, meaning past True Souls and now you, have been trying to put together our past. We know why we were killed almost to extinction, but we still need to remember our history.”

“This is room has all the information about True Souls?” I spun around astonished.

“Yes and so much more, but not everything about our past is pretty. Our ancestors have done some dark things.” He informed me. “We abused our power and were whipped out. But I’m determined to redeem the past True Souls, but I’ll need your help.”

“Of course Jack. I’ll help in whatever way I can.”

“Good, that’s the spirit! There’s a lot to learn, more than I can begin to teach you. But for tonight, there is something I would like to show you.” He turned to the trunk, and using the same key, he unlocked it. He pulled out what appeared to be a small silver horn, a green-blue piece of metal, a black curved looking claw, and a container that held a gray feather.

“What are those?” I asked Jack.

“As inquisitive as ever, aren’t you?” He smiled. “I was hoping you’d asked.” He lifted the silver object and turned it over in his hands a couple of times. “Remember I brought up the subject of mythical creatures? Well, this is a unicorns horn.”

“A un… a unicorn’s horn? You’re joking right?”

Jack chuckled. “No, Angie, it’s real. All of it.” He handed me the horn. It felt like a bone, it was starting to come unraveled from its twist and there was small hairs sticking out of the bottom.

“But True Souls are part human, if they died why do we still have these?” I asked him. “How do we still have these things?”

“When True Souls die, like Natural Born s, we take the form in which our souls truly belong to. For some us it’s our animal side, for others it’s our human side. We have these remains now because the True Souls who died did so in their animal form,” Jack explained.

“But I still don’t get the unicorn part? Unicorns are a fictional creature, they don’t exist.”

“They don’t exist anymore. The True Souls that are born every hundred years now have a slightly different genetic blood line that stops us from being able to transform into these creatures like our ancestors could. But here is the evidence that we could transform into these wonderful beings! Dragons, griffins, faeries, unicorns they all existed! We are where the legends and stories come from.” Jack was ecstatic. I assumed he had never told anyone this. He’d kept all this information trapped inside of him, and now he was finally able to spill it all out.

“But this Angie, this really proves it.” He opens the clear case the gray feather was in. “You can pick it up.”

I reached in and grabbed the feather. The horn glowed! I jumped and dropped the feather back into its case. “What?! What the hell just happened?!” I yelped.

“This is the feather of a phoenix. When a True Soul touches it, it’ll glow.” He grabbed the feather and twirled it around as it glowed. Gently Jack placed the feather back in its case. He seemed to be lost in thought for a minute. “You know how there’s one animal that fits our souls better than other animal forms?”

“Yes, I do.” I remembered my first changed, a lion form like my mother, but when I changed into a husky something clicked… For some reason remembering this hurt.

Jack waved his hand in front of my face. “Angie, have I lost you?”

“No, no I’m still here.” I wouldn’t let memories unravel me. Not right now.

He smiled at me. “Well True Souls used to be able to transform into a magical creature that fit their soul. The creature they were able to transform into depended on their souls themselves. I’m not exactly sure how it worked.”

“This... This is a lot to take in.” I sat the unicorn horn back on the desk… “You’re right, this did get a whole lot weirder.”

“I told you it would.”

“But why do some Natural Borns still want us dead? It’s not like I want to go around killing them!” I sighed and close my eyes.

“I know you don’t, but some Natural Borns are scarred of what they don’t understand. They’re scared of the unknown, of the powers that we have.”

“Powers? You see, there’s that word again. We can change into different animals, but we don’t have any powers that would make us dangerous.”

“There’s a lot even I can’t comprehend. But from the research I’ve done, before we were almost killed to extinction our powers were similar to that of the Queen or King, only stronger.”

My face scrunched. “We abused that power, didn’t we? The old True Souls hurt people?”

“I’ve hurt people too. But I believe, and so did your mother, that you’re the key. You can fix this. You’re our legacy, Angela.”

“I’m only 16… How can I change anything?”

“It doesn’t matter if you’re 16 or 114, it’s never too late to change the world,” Jack informed me.