The Human and the Shadow Part 2

The human stared for a few seconds at the old man waiting for him to begin his tale. These seconds felt like eternity; his throat had gone dry and his palms were sweaty as he waited anxiously for the story that explained everything, who he was and why was he here. The room was silent and his breathing rapid. Finally he spoke to the old man.

"So… what's the… my story? Who am I?" he asked.

The old Man's face suddenly fell into a frown and full of guilt, he couldn't look the human in the eye. After a moment of dwelling over where to start he began to go into his story of Royalty, Deceit and of the human's past.

"You see… We are what you would call Shade people, we live in the Shade kingdom and either are a person of Shadows or a person of the Light. I, myself, am I being of Shadows or darkness which is why my hair is black and my skin darkened. My white eyes contrast this as a way of taking in the light in the dark. You may have seen yourself that the houses seem to glow with light or have a dark aura about them well that's exactly how it is. We were recently under the command of a just and kind ruler named the Shade King. However, he passed away of old age leaving us… leader less. This posed a massive problem for our whole kingdom and ..."

"Why couldn't you just elect a new leader or isn't there someone who could take over?" interrupted the impatient human. He was expecting to hear something about him so was getting rather bored of the history lesson.

The old man continued ignoring the interruption much to the annoyance of the human.

"And… with no heir we had no one to take over. I told you just now that everyone was with either light or dark, well there was one exception and that was those of royal blood. They had always been both, born with the powers and traits of both shadows and light. This is what gave them the power and authority over the Shade Kingdom. No one questioned it as our royalty had always led us well and given their all for the Kingdom in time of both peace and war. With no new blood given by the king the royal line has died out and now as I said we find ourselves in a difficult situ…"

"But what has that got to do with me?"

"Let me talk young one, I told you this would be difficult and it won't be long till you know of your origin but you must be patient"

"Okay… Sorry please continue… Mr? I never actually got your name?"

"My name is Leaden; I am second in command of the royal court and right hand of the throne. Now as I was saying we had to find a way out of the predicament and we only knew one way. Find someone whose blood was pure to become a shade being. That's easier said than done being that the only blood that is pure enough is that of a Human and there is only one human left in these lands. He is a Hero to all of Ooo and a symbol of hope and as much as he would have made a great king we could not rob him of his destiny. We were left without an option so sought the royal mage. She told us of a spell that could rip a being from time and space. We were weary at first but we were running out of options and rioting had begun. We cast the spell and watched as time and space unfolded itself and a being fell through it and landed on the floor before us… That was you… however when you arrived you were… damaged… by your trip and we had to act quickly to save you. We used the magic we had to turn you into a shade being and watched as your features changed to that of a being of light and dark. We treated your wounds and then put you in a room to rest. The royal mage enchanted the room to meet your needs and we waited for you to rise from your slumber." Leaden put his head into his hands and began to sob; clearly recounting this story was taking a lot of out of him emotionally. He paused for a few moments to find his place then continued with his story.

"It was only then we began to question whether we had done the right thing. We hadn't just ripped you from your own time but from a different dimension entirely. We looked into the magic we had cast and found that… sadly… it was irreversible. We had selfishly trapped you in our world without a thought for you. I did my best to look up your details and your past for you but I couldn't find out too much. I found out that when we took you from your home you were 15. Your name was Ivel and that was it really."

"What do you mean? I was 15? And my name was Ivel?"

"I don't quite know how to say this… but your slumber lasted 2 whole years and well you're no longer fully human. You're a hybrid… a shade human so to say so we figured that you may wish to choose your own name to reflect this as well as it to go with your title. Shade Prince."

The shade human stared at the man in disbelief. He had expected something… anything even but not that. Not to be told he was nothing but a pawn in some plan. A replacement for a fallen king and that he was as far from home as he could be. He was almost an adult now too… he had turned 17. He finally found out his name and then all of a sudden was told that it wasn't his name anymore. What does that even mean? The boy suddenly thought of a question for Leaden.

"Do you have a mirror?" The boy watched as the Old man left the room to meet his request. It had dawned on him that he didn't even know what he looked like. How can someone name themselves if they do not even know who they are? He had plenty of questions rushing through his mind but he had time to answer those for now he thought he'd find solace in just having a name and a face he could relate to. He also decided that although the man named Leaden had told him he was some sort of hybrid he'd still consider himself human. It was all that he had and he wasn't going to let it go just for nothing.

Leaden returned a few minutes later and planted in the room a large rectangular mirror. The human was fearful at first… what if he looked like some sort of monster? The human took in a deep breath and decided that it was time. He rose out of his chair, stood in front of the mirror and closed his eyes. He needed just a little longer to prepare for this moment. He could hear the old man's rapids breaths and realized that this moment was as important to Leaden as it was to him. He had gone to great lengths to 'acquire' this human and it dawned on the human that this old man had put himself under great stress worrying for him.

Finally opening his eyes the human stared at himself for the first time. He had shoulder length black hair with a single streak of white running down the right side of his hair, his skin was like that of the old mans with a slightly brighter hue to it. He was quite tall and muscular to his surprise and was dressed in a black over coat that looked worth its weight in gold and could only be described as ebony. Underneath he was dressed in a white shirt, black jeans and a black pair of shoes. He hadn't paid much attention to his clothing before this moment and felt foolish for not doing so. He stared deeply at his facial features and wasn't displeased with what he saw. Being rather muscular his face was toned well and shaped in a way that must have given off an aura that this was a man who could protect himself. He's eyes darted towards the one part of him that wasn't a shade… his own eyes… these were piercing baby blue and stood out in his contrast attire. He smiled for the first time taking note of the dimple appearing at the side of his smile. He thought for a moment before turning to the old man.

"Thank you Leaden… can we sit again?" The old man was startled by his sudden cool, having being expecting an outburst from the youth; anger even just anything that showed his discomfort at being ripped from his life. Leaden quickly took a seat as the human took his own once they were facing each other the human spoke once more.

"Leaden, honestly I understand your situation I am not happy about it but I am not unhappy about it. That may be due to my lack of memories of my past life but what's done is done. I was brought here for a reason and since that's all I've got then I'll be prepared to take up the role. I still have a lot of questions for you and it will take time but till then… call me Lumen the Shade Prince".

The old man just smiled to himself as he greeted his new ruler, smiling at the boy's choice of name given that his features resembled more dark than light. Leaden could not have hoped for a better individual to fall through their portal and hoped that he would continue to surprise him. In the meanwhile, Leaden lead the new prince from the room into the rest of the palace to greet his royal court and his subjects. It was the start of something and all the people within the Shade Kingdom knew it.

Sitting within her lab Princess Bonnibel Bubblegum watched, through one of her many spy cameras, the interaction that had taken place between the elderly Leaden and the new 'prince' Lumen. She had been monitoring the situation within the Shade Kingdom for a while and was preparing her own 'solution' to their problem but smiled when she realised she wouldn't have to. She turned off the monitor and span round in her chair. How would this new human affect the Land of Ooo, Should she tell the only other Human that he wasn't alone? She decided it could wait Finn was busy enough as it was he himself had just turned 17 and was growing into a dependable hero of the land and a brave knight of the Candy Kingdom. She wouldn't rock that boat yet. PB stood up with a yawn she really had to stop all these nights without any sleep as it could really cause her to not think straight. She climbed into her bed and thought of all the new events that could happen from the arrival of Lumen. She thought intently about how the hybrid would react to the hero and vice versa. It made her smile as she thought that for once Finn would not be alone and with that she fell asleep.

There we have it Chapter 2 peeps. It's a bit longer but i'm worried it's still a bit too short to get into. The first chapter was meant to tell us two things. Lumen is Human and we have no idea who he is. Chapter 2 adds a bit more to the mix we found out why he's in Ooo and what role he has to play. Pretty convient there was that spell though don't you think ;) I think PB's bit at the end helped with Chapter 3 as it becomes more based around Adventure Time than based just around Lumen. Leaden is actually another word for Dark and Lumen is another word for Light :) this is why Leaden found the name funny. I hope that if you've read this far you leave a review with a bit of good old honest juice XD it'd help alot... anyway onwards to Chapter 3.

And PB thanks for the reviews i'll look into that site you recommended :) as for your Idea's on the Ice King's involvement i have already finished chapters 3 and 4 i'm just getting them proof read by my friends as if you hadn't noticed i have terrible grammar. Not wanting to spoil it i can't really discuss with you what'll happen but he is central to the next few chapters but not as a villain. I think Ice King/Simon is one of the best character's Adventure Time has to offer and i enjoyed his intro to the story I'm planning on Uploading 3 maybe 4 tonight so keep posted :) and thanks again for the reviews.