24) Moving out!
Jane felt giddy when she came home. She felt lighter than air and couldn't help but dance to her room. She didn't even pay the nightmares a passing glance. She wasn't scared after all.
She had few worldly possessions to pack, but tons of ideas for her new home.
This was something she'd been fantasizing about for several millennia now. And today was finally the day. She was moving out!
She couldn't wait to invite Jack over, or to finally have the chance to do her job properly.
As she gathered the few dresses, books and pieces of jewelry she owned her shadow rose and tugged on her arm excitedly.
Jane looked up from her packing and almost immediately sensed the stronger contact between her shadow and Jack's. She stifled an excited squeal. Jack was worried about her! That was a good sign right?
She decided to see it as a sign that things were bound to get better once she left this prison.

One last check to see if she had anything left to pack. Once she was certain she wouldn't have to come back for something she picked up her shadow staff that stood on a richly decorated stand in the middle of her room. The staff itself was a simple design. A mahogany shaft with waving engravings, that seemed to grow around an onyx orb at the top.
"Let's go everyone. I've allowed you to suffer here for far too long." She felt her heart sting as she realized how true those words were. She'd had to alternate resident shadows between the cave and more tranquil realms of darkness such as the ocean floor or the dark side of the moon every decade so they wouldn't become too corrupt. Even the shadows that passed through here just to get a new destination didn't have a truly safe home to rest. Yes, this day had been a long time coming.
She waved the staff and withdrew as many shadow's as she could from the room.
Only her father's own shadow and his darkness remained in the cave.
The darkness of her father was different from her shadows.
She was almost certain that it used to be part of her shadow realm, but got corrupted beyond repair by the fearlings that hadn't leached onto her father back when she was still Emily-Jane.
She sensed that she had some measure of control on it. Enough that she could keep him from using them for now. Hopefully, by the time he regained his strength, she'd have enough practice controlling it to keep him from using them against her friends in times of need.
And maybe, just maybe, she'd find a way to release those poor shadows from their torture.
She turned around and started walking to the exit. No use in casting a last glance to her own room. She had no fond memories to reminisce. When she got into the globe room on her way out though, she couldn't help but look up.

The nightmares were hovering around her father's globe, which probably meant that he was sulking there. He hadn't even noticed she was back.
For a moment she hesitated. Somehow it felt wrong to leave without saying goodbye. Then again if she gave him the chance, he would probably try to stop her.
Not that he was strong enough to do so now. All she needed to do was hold his shadow in its place for a few moments and she'd be gone.
He was so weak he wouldn't be able to fight that hold. And the thought of leaving him here like this… Deep down he was still her father. No matter what else he was, her father needed her help.
She filled herself with the most positive of thoughts she could manage and stretched her shadow so it touched one of the nightmares. She stretched it even further until most of the nightmares were standing on it. Then she released all her positive feelings and the nightmares were turned into dreams before they even knew what was happening. The room was covered in golden sand, forming what she imagined her new home would be like.
There were still a few nightmares left, and once they saw what had happened to their fellow creatures of fear they came charging at the culprit. A foolish decision really.
All it took was a twirl of her staff and the nightmares fell apart, forming her sister and the guardians, stopping by for a visit.
She fought the urge to hug her sister's image and ignored the fact that Jack's was offering to dance with her again. She bowed for the gathered images.
"Thank you, but I'll have to decline. Please return to Sandy. He'll be missing you," she told them gently. The dream images nodded and the room dissolved, making it's way outside, back to the sandman, back to the dreams of countless children.

She smiled and prepared herself to follow, a groan and a tug at her shadow from within the darkness stalled her.
"Stay." The pleading voice nearly broke her heart, but she had to be firm.
"I can't," she stated, turning away from the pitiful creature that was reaching for her from his spot under the globe of believe, the only source of light in the room.
"I'll only make myself miserable. I want to start living my own life. I'll always love you, but…
This isn't working, for either of us. Last eastern has taught me that." She took a deep breath to strengthen her resolve and pulled her shadow back from the darkness' hold.
"Take care of yourself." And with that she was gone, leaving behind a devastated Pitch Black.
He felt like he should've seen this coming, but he'd been so busy with his plans that he hadn't realized the change the frost child had made in his youngest daughter's heart.
He shook himself out of his depressing thoughts. This barely changed anything. She would be back.
And soon. He'd give her no other choice.

Jane, blissfully unaware of her father's scheming, had arrived at the edge of dawn.
This is where she would create her castle, which would forever follow the edge of day and night. A thought she found rather soothing. Never again in total darkness, but still part of it's soft embrace.
She closed her eyes and tapped her staff against the lengthening shadow of a nearby forest which send her message through all of the shadow realm.
Let it be known. From this day forth this is the heart of our world.
She took a deep breath and brought up the image of her dream house to the front of her mind. She twirled her staff around her head and at once underneath her feet rose a black and white checkered marble floor.
She moved her staff and body around in a intricate dance that called forth the physical manifestation of her castle of shadows.
She still had her eyes closed but she knew that all around her black and white pillars were rising, coming together to form a ceiling. A staircase of white and black steps with a matching balustrade. She also knew about every single piece of furniture in white wood and every pillow, curtain or blanket in black fabric that was being formed because she had imagined this place so often that she could probably draw it blindfolded.
When she was done she opened her eyes and to her delight she saw that it looked even better than she'd imagined it all these years.
Shadows were already flooding in, hiding in all the crooks and corners they could find, waiting for her to tell them what to do next.
They contrasted nicely against the white elements in the design, while the black kept the room from being painfully bright. If the room had been completely black or some other dark color she wouldn't have been able to see her shadows at all. And while she didn't need to see them to know that they were there, she preferred watching them slide across the floor and pillars over feeling them move through the darkness like she had all those millennia.

She turned to her shadow. "Let Emily and Jack know that I'm ready for them."
She got a nod and could feel the message going out.
Satisfied with the prospect of having her first guest soon, she picked up her staff and got to work.
"Alright, what are we going to do with you lot?" The shadows started moving about excitedly, trying to get her to notice them first. She inspected the shadows carefully to see if they had any trauma before sending them to a suitable next destination.
"Oh, dear." She said as she came across a shadow that had followed a young man with a troubled life that ended in a fire after only 27 years.
"Looks like you can use a break. You know what? There is a sapling in the Cloud forest with your name on it." She studied the shaken creature as it relaxed considerably at the prospect of some peace and quiet after the trauma of this active life. Satisfied with his reaction she sent him on his way. She was happy she could give him this peace.
New spots for moving solids opened much more often than for solids at rest. She couldn't always afford to look for a place to recover for the shadows that lived through hardships, which led to memories of the previous solid pouring over into the mind of the new one. And sometimes more trauma to add to the old one.
You were never sure how things would end when you assigned a shadow to moving and thinking being. Humans were especially unpredictable. No kind of start could make guarantees for a good life. That much she'd learned over the years. Upbringing, choices, friends and weird twists and turns of fate or chance could make or break a life at any point.
Speaking of Fate and Chance…

"I guess I shouldn't be surprised that you two are the first to visit me," she stated as she turned to an impatient shadow who was up for bonding with a moving solid after a century as a house that was recently demolished. It was clear that the comings and goings of so many families and memories had swayed this ones preference for her next assignment. Now to find one that would fit…
"Well we couldn't pass up the chance to chat," said a young man with gelled back hair and a crisp business suit as he took a seat on one of the couches.
"Not when you finally came out of hiding for the first time since… Ever." Added an identical young man with even the same hairstyle and dress choice, who also took a seat.
"Ever since you can remember you mean," she chuckled as she sent the shadow to a newborn girl in Luxembourg, hopping her life would be everything she dreamed it would be. Who knows? Maybe the shadows high hopes would be a good influence. Shaking her worries of she turned to the two with raised eyebrows.
"I don't recall asking you two to take a seat." She had not. But despite her isolation she hadn't expected anything else from the twins.
"But it was inevitable that you would," said fate, or was it chance?
"So we figured we'd skip formalities," added chance, or maybe fate.
"Of course you did," she sighed as she continued her work. A new shadow curled into her arms. A cat in its last life, and a lazy one at that. She stroked it and gently coaxed it out of it's current shape and send it on it's way to a baby bird. Perhaps a bit ironic, but the more active role would keep the shadow from becoming too used to a relaxed state of being.
"Any particular reason why you came here today? Without invitation might I ad? I'm kind of preparing for other guests later today." She hoped they'd take the hint and leave soon.
Not that she didn't like having guests. She felt kind of excited about it to be honest.
But she'd planned to show her sister around today and if he was up to it she'd ask Jack to show her some of the world she'd been missing out on for so long.
She knew for a fact that her sister was on her way. She could sense Emily's shadow and it was clear she was wrapping up her duties as fast as she could. She'd been looking forward to catching up on thousands of years of sister bonding time just as much as Jane had.
"We know," one of the twins smirked. Apparently enjoying that her plans were disturbed by their arrival. Could she take this approval of chaos as a sign that he was chance?

Normally she'd be able to check their shadows, but the thing was, neither of them was sure which one of them had been assigned fate or chance. So that wasn't much help.
They knew their human names had been James and Martin though. So she was probably better off calling them by those rather than guess.
"But we had a discussion about this drastic change in your life," Martin added to his brothers remark.
Did they have to talk like that? Was it part of their thing?
"You know from wallflower to talk of the party. Though talk of the party is perhaps a bit much. People had plenty to gossip about. Like the new guardian. And how you danced with him," James continued with a meaningful smirk Jane chose to ignore. It was absolutely none of his business.
"What was there to discuss about it? The guardian of fun, who's entire role in life is to ensure that everyone has a good time, made me reconnect with my sister and that's that." At least that was the most she wished to talk about the matter with them. Perhaps she'd go more into detail about it with Emily when she came by.
"I wouldn't say that," Martin objected with raised eyebrows, taking in her dress.
She glanced down and saw that she was still wearing her frosted ball gown, evidence that Jack had done more than just talk her into catching up with her sister.
She made a mental note to change into something less formal once the brothers left.
"After all we are now able to pay you a visit," James added, hanging back in the sofa and looking around her new home while a snake's shadow slithered across his chest towards her for it's turn.

"I suppose you both have a point. And I guess you two want to know which one I think is responsible for this enormous change in my life?" She queried as the snake dissolved between her feet. She send him to a boy's new bike that was being assembled in a factory.
The two brothers nodded with identical smiles on their faces.
She'd suspected something like this. The twins were strangely fascinated by how others thought they affected their lives. It was clear they'd decided it was fate, judging by how they'd chosen to dress.
If they had decided on chance they would've dressed more chaotic.
"I feel like it was only a matter of time before I'd leave that place. So in that sense it was fate. But the exact timing was up to chance. Maybe if Jack and I had locked eyes a hundred years ago or so and started talking I would've been motivated to be out more during the year. Or maybe if it had taken Pitch longer to track me down I would've been less inclined to accept my prison because I would've had more time with my sister and therefore more time to see him through her eyes. Who knows?"
She shrugged as she sent a few spirits from a cut down patch of forest to a litter of puppies on the other side of the world.
The brothers glanced at each other and nodded thoughtfully. As if this wasn't the millionth time they'd heard a similar opinion.
"Thanks for that," said Martin as they stood up and straightened their clothes.
"We'll see ourselves out," added James as they did just that.

And thus Jane was left to change and do her work. She was a little sad to see the frost patterns go but luckily she could keep the flower. She chose a simple, long sleeved, black dress that reached just underneath her knees and had a modest round neckline. She used the flower to collect a few strands of hair from either side of her face and pin them at the back of her head. Satisfied with how she looked she returned her full attention to the shadows that were still demanding her attention.
Until…

"So you've finally come out of the shadows?" Jane couldn't suppress the chill that went down her spine as she heard that whisper. She turned from the shadows of a stillborn and her mother, to face the hooded figure that had accompanied them in.
"Hello Grim. I'd appreciate it if you didn't associate my shadow's with the darkness of that place," she politely requested as she soothed some of the shadows that had heard what the spirit of death had said. Grim sighed. It was a tired sound, as of one who was at the last bit of a long day of work, but too far away from the weekend.
"You know why I'm here," Grim whispered while gliding towards the exit. Preparing to leave once the message was delivered.
Jane nodded. "There are many shadows who haven't been let go by the soul of one of their previous vessels. I'll be dealing with those as soon as I can," she promised while kneeling by a lion's shadow and stroking it's back. "You can use all the help you can get… most have no more living souls of loved ones that can help them let go… It will be most challenging to get them to move on," Jane nodded curtly to show that she knew what Grim was getting at.
Severing ties between souls and shadows who didn't want to let go of life wasn't the most pleasant job and up until now being a shut in had prevented her from doing it properly.
Most she could do was pull the shadows of the living left behind towards items or clues that would help the soul find peace. But there were those who had unfinished business she couldn't help resolve and said business wasn't always peaceful.
Humans weren't wrong to fear the revenge of the deceased. She wasn't always able to reason with shadows enough for them to let go of their anger over their life or death.

"Thank you," she added. She hadn't missed that Grim had implied she could always count on the assistance of the soul shepherd and the members of his court.
Grim nodded and left Jane's home. She made a note to drop in on the Grim when she had the chance. They might get a chance to talk for a bit more despite their demanding jobs.
But, first things first. She had a visit to prepare for and after that she had to invite a certain winter prince to hang out. Jane had considered all her options and she'd decided that she was done waiting on things to happen to her. She was going to take life in her own hands and do what she could to get the things she wanted. From new curtains to a boy's affections.
She smiled as she looked at her new home and how the shadows moved through it, content to be in between lives if they got to be here for a while.
Yes, the future looked brighter already.

Sounds like I made it up but it exists: Equador cloud forest is located in Pichincha, Quito.