The gate opened by Seymour brought her to a tropical forest, brightly illuminated and lush. Not the sort she'd seen on TV where it would be dark and full of all kinds of creepy crawlers. This area was probably another extension of the earlier forest she'd come through, but much quieter. In fact, Ivey couldn’t hear a single cry from the birds and the bees.

After stepping through the ripple, heat and humidity greeted Ivey, followed by an odd sense of intimacy. She took a couple of steps into the vicinity, watching as the trees of the branches began to flourish. It started as a long, gentle sway before becoming more forceful and deliberate. Ivey couldn't help but notice the branches were the only things stirring while the grasses stood by. Quietly observing?

Come, come, deeper into the forest...

The King has returned!

Fools! Shut up! You'll scare her.

Ignoring the voices, Ivey's eyes followed the waves of sunlight leading to a beaten path now covered in leaves and moss. The freshly coated dirt seemed out of place when compared to the rest of the area.

"It's been a while since we've walked this path," her father's voice came from behind her.

"Well, what do you expect? Only a few people are allowed, and they've all been dead for decades—" her mother stopped, covering her mouth. She instantly glanced over at Ivey before shifting her gaze to Seymour, the last person to come through the gate.

Ivey was deep in thought and missed Marcelle’s comment. Seymour walked past without saying anything. 

"Stay close," Seymour paused briefly in front of Ivey before moving on. "This place becomes a maze if you don't know where you're going."

He took the lead with Ivey and her parents following closely behind. Ivey's parents settled quietly next to her, one on each side as they followed the beaten path. Eventually, the battered road curved, going east, but Seymour continued north where the grasses rose to their ankles.

"What is this place?" Ivey asked.

Seymour was several yards ahead, far enough to give them some privacy but close enough to call for help if needed.

"This is still part of the Forest of Life," her mother explained, "But it's known as the Place of Life and Death."

Ivey had been right. This was another extension of the already existing forest. Her ears perked as the sound of rushing waters became more transparent and precise in the distance. 

"This is the path taken by all Shaman Kings to clean and purify their Souls. It’s also the same place they would come to when going into seclusion," her mother finished.

"Clean and purify? Seclusion?" Ivey glanced at her mother. She really wanted to ask who or what is this Shaman King everyone keeps referring to, but she didn't. Patience is a virtue.

"How do you clean yourself?" Her father interjected.

"Can't you ever just answer my questions?" Ivey muttered.

Grinning, her father cupped his chin in self-admiration, "What have I always taught you?"

"Nothing comes easy in life, and if it does, there's a catch," Ivey sigh, giving up, "Fine, fine. I'll humor you. You purify and clean yourself by either praying or taking a bath."

"Therefore…"

"We're headed to a prayer site or temple of some sort?"

"Some sort," her father nodded in agreement before becoming somber.

There was a moment of silence before her mother gave a loud sigh. She began talking when she had Ivey's full undivided attention, "Ivey…I don't know where to start, so I'm going to start at the beginning. Some of it, well, all of it is going to sound crazy. It will not make any sense, but your father and I would never lie to you. Everything that we are going to say sounds unbelievable, but it's true."

Ivey opened her mouth, but her mother shook her head, "And don't interrupt until I'm done."

Ivey closed her mouth.

"Your original name was Ivey King, daughter of Draco King, also previously known as the Shaman King. You were born in 1761 to Ellyn Rosera King and Draco King, your original parents...my older brother."

Her mother paused as if suspecting Ivey would interrupt. At the same time, her hand at Ivey's elbow suddenly tightened for a few seconds before loosening.

Considering it was now 2017, 1761 was more than two hundred years ago.

Marcelle continued, "You were born into this world to take Draco's place as the Shaman King…or rather, Queen. Remember what your father said earlier? We belong to the Shaman Clan. Our duty was…is to serve and protect the Shaman King. Your father's duty…my duty… Seymour's duty…was to guard Draco, and to protect you, as the heir.

"We failed two hundred and fifty-six years ago when you died, and your Souls departed. When Draco learned of this, he bargained with the Lord of the Underworld. In exchange for returning your Souls, Draco would give up his.

“As a Shaman King, he understood the natural direction of balance. For every Yin, there's a Yang. Otherwise, this would break the order and cause chaos not only in this realm but also in all realms. At that time, your father and I had just undergone our oath to serve Draco, thus allowing us to become somewhat immortal."

"Our numbers have always been small," her father continued where her mother left off, "The Shaman Clan's existence is somewhat of a mystery…even we don't know how far back we go. The earliest textbooks have us going as far back as Mesopotamia. However, the Spirit seems to have knowledge of us dating even before then. It's hard to know when and for how long we've existed. What we do know is that our duty was to protect the Shaman King, and we failed. We also failed to protect his daughter, you."

Her parents paused, giving Ivey time to analyze what her parents have said thus far. But they knew she was a smart girl and would quickly grasp their words and meaning.

"It's hard for our Clan to give birth. Part of this stems from our blood. As you know, royalty often marries royalty to keep the blood within the family pure. Our Clan had a similar belief. It was just a thousand years ago that we've realized this very same belief has kept our Clan from growing. Since then, the Clan has removed its rule of forbidden marriages to the outside world. Unfortunately, that's brought in its own challenges.

“For one, the person marrying into the Shaman Clan must primarily give up contact with the outside world and live mainly secluded from everyone else. For another, the person can never speak the secrets of the Clan to anyone or risk their deaths. In short, it was easier to marry from within because you were already living in seclusion and taught to keep our secrets.

"When I married your father, we thought it would be a joyous occasion with many little ones to love. I didn't know that I was infertile until after our wedding ceremony. We kept trying with nothing to show," her mother's lips quivered, thinking back to those times. Hearing the doctor's words, crying herself to sleep because she had failed as a wife….

It had been hard, and she had almost given up. "Until the Spirit promised us a child."

@`--,--