"Not ready," Draco towered over her. His voice low, gruff, and irate. "You're not ready yet."

Ivey didn't acknowledge.

Vision distorted; she was still trying to recover from the deluge of emotions inside her. On the ground, arched over, gulping for air, Ivey struggled to focus even as her body resumed its trembling. A constant ringing reverberated in her ear that she couldn't concentrate on anything else. Meanwhile, Ivey's right hand remained clenched against her chest, grappling to control it all and not let it all control her.

Love. Fear. Hopelessness.

Ivey felt hurt; she felt pain and madness.

And hate…

Who or what exactly is this person that holds so much power over me?

It took all her willpower to restrain herself so that he wouldn't—couldn't see how she shuddered. Even if her body refused to listen, her mind would not be taken so quickly! Like a fish out of water, she fought for oxygen—each gasp—hurting her lungs, her sides, her head—everywhere.

"Ivey, do you know who I am?" Draco inquired, his voice coming from everywhere and nowhere.

Enclosing...stifling her.

Ivey choked as his words hit home. If it weren't so painful, she'd probably be rolling around on the sand laughing at the famous last words Draco had just asked her. Instead, she struggled between choking and gasping while her mind played out the scene, including the famous legendary movie line: Draco, you are my father!

Her mind abruptly wondered if Seymour had been hanging around, would he get the joke? After all, wasn't he some sort of immortal, walking the earth for who knows how long? If so, he must have seen the movie.

A slight frown mirrored her lips. Ivey suddenly felt irritated for no apparent reason; however, the sensation instantly disappeared.

A shadow came over her, bringing her back.

"Good. Very good," Draco took another step towards her, "Have you grown so weak now as to coward in your Father's presence?"

"Does that mean..." Feeling a bit of strength returning just from thinking about Seymour, Ivey continued, "I get to kill you after discovering your real identity? I'm the heroine of this story, after all."

As expected, the humor was lost on Draco. He answered her frostily, "You're two hundred years too late. I always did say you'd be the death of me."

When you tell that to a child long enough, she's bound to believe it!

Ivey closed her eyes and took another deep breath. While not fully recovered, the drumming had stopped, allowing Ivey to use her brain once more. Her vision also returned, clearer, and more explicit, the colors vibrating with fervor. Taking it slow, Ivey straightened, positioning herself at the knees while lifting her head up to stare at Draco.

You no longer hold any power over me. I am not the same person.

"Yet, here you stand, part of the Spirit. Just like you said, I'll never be rid of you," she lifted her chin proudly, the words from her lips clear and concise: everything but a coward.

"Hmmm..." Draco eyed her interestingly. His hand came up to play with one of his long strands of beard, "All your Souls have returned to their proper place, but you still don't remember."

It was a statement much more than a question, one not meant for her or to her.

It doesn't matter. It's returned.

She's got her powers now. She needs to return.

Go back. Go back! This Realm's been without a King for too long!

Voices answered Draco. Starting from the air, carried by the wind, the tones of voices were never the same as they spoke in acknowledgment and in fear—males, females, young and old, all joined.

She must continue to reflect. Only then will she grow.

The Shaman King's back! She's finally returned!

Quiet! Do not be so insolent in front of the Shaman King!

Weeks ago, Ivey would have never made out the different inflections. She also would have never guessed the ages. Right now, though, she could hear them all, from a child's voice to an old man's voice, even an old granny. They spoke all at once, all the time.

Ignoring the floating voices, Ivey stood up slowly, brushing off the sand from her skin and clothes. Although it felt like she had done nothing, her entire body was sore. The kind of soreness that only happens after working out intensively the day before.

"It's going to take some getting used to," Draco noticed her movements and spoke up, ignoring the rest of the whispering voices. "You'll need to make sure that you continue to meditate when you get back. Your physical body's not strong enough to carry the amount of spiritual energy you've recovered from here. It will only continue to grow."

Ivey couldn't imagine what that would mean for her. Did that mean she'd be able to see dead people? Or summon spiritual...beings to come to her aid?

"What if—I should fail?" Ivey twisted her upper body to the right, stretching it out before turning it in the opposite direction. Surprisingly...despite the soreness, she felt terrific—well, her body did anyway. Ivey was still debating about her state of being.

Draco caught the meaning: what if I refuse?

"Should you fail, the balance of the other Realms will also start to crumble. Of all the Five Realms, the Physical and Divine Realm has gone the longest without its King. Your return means the Divine Realm is the only Realm left," Draco answered.

With a wave of his hand, five individual droplets rose from the sea. All of them were about the size of a basketball. The bubbles stood on the horizon, about three or four inches from one another.

"Each Realm has its own set of rules, and mutually with both Yin and Yang, they carry each other—keep one another functioning. When without a leader for too long, chaos ensues. Right now, the Divine Realm is in chaos, and it's been creeping towards all the other Realms."

Draco snapped his fingers, causing the fourth bubble on the left to start growing, distorting in shape and size, until it touched the others on its left and right. As soon as it did, the other two also started to slowly swell, but in the same manner, like the first—a domino effect—until all five were in the same condition.

"There's always going to be a cause and effect. Can you stand by and watch the people you care about die?" Draco turned towards Ivey, who was watching it all play out in front of her. "Eventually, the chaos in the Divine Realm will...," Draco clapped gently. Even so, the fourth bubble still exploded, unable to take the tension. And the rest followed, popping in the air like an overblown balloon until complete annihilation.

Ivey understood the remainder.

"It is our duty," Draco placed his hands behind his back to look up at the sky, "Our privilege to walk this path. Your deck of cards has been drawn, leading you down many paths. When and how it shall end is up to you."

"My deck of cards, huh?" This time it was Ivey who lifted her hands up in front of her. She examined the knuckles on the back before turning them around, staring at the lines etched across both her palms.

Not one single scar.

Ivey folded her hands into a fist. Such small hands, could they really carry all that weight? "Well, I am a police officer, after all. I became one to protect the weak and uphold justice. Guess there must've been a part of me that already knew."

"Was," Draco corrected her beside her. "You were a police officer. Now you're something much more."

Ivey tilted her face slightly in Draco's direction, mind made up. "What right do I have to call myself the Shaman King anyway? Who makes that decision? And just so you know, I will be known as the Shaman Queen. I will not be called a King."

Call it a hunch, but it seemed like all the Shaman Kings that came before were male. Ivey would follow suit, but she would not discard her gender and let everyone around her refer to the title as if the current owner were a male!

There was a ghost of a smile on Draco's eyes and lips as he answered, "Should you command it, it will be so. As for the right, you have already received it after completing your Vision Quest. We all have been waiting for your return…our Queen."

"Vision…Quest?"

"Take a look at your right leg."

Ivey glanced down and was shocked to see black swirls of lines a few inches thick. It started from her ankle and coiled around her leg like a snake to end below the knee.

She reached down to touch the line, the texture no different than her skin.

"You now possess the mark. It proves your title," Draco turned away from the sandy beach and blue waters, in the other direction, "Come. There is much to do. I shall guide you with what little time we have left."

"Draco?" she called after him, still studying the tattoo on her leg.

He stopped.

"The cards have been dealt, but from today onwards, I will choose my own deck."

@`--,--