Disclaimer:*sigh* Why must I waste my breath on a silly disclaimer. Anyone
can tell that I own nothing from Rayman's world other than what comes out
of my fantasies and daydreams. You got a problem with that? *pause* I
thought so. On with the fanfic!
Notes: Soul binding is based off of various neromacer fiction like 'Sabriel' and the very captivating game called 'Enternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem'. It's strange on paper, but it seems to fit the atmosphere of this story. In case anyone doesn't know, soul binding is a lot like making someone your slave. (Submission, hypnotism, servitude. You know, the "I am at your will, Master..." stuff.)
--------------------------Foreword-------------------------
The world that Rayman came to know among his journeys was full of prosperity and happiness. The books of the time before the pirates came described the land as flawless and full of love and beauty. As described, everyone came to believe that there were no nightmares or monsters save the ones locked in the prisons dwelling in the Cave of Bad Dreams and in the Tomb of the Ancients. There was no need to protect yourself from anything or anyone before the pirates came.
Sadly, these tales of prosperity weren't completely true.
For as long as anyone can remember, the Marshes of Awakening was known to be the one place that surrounded the entrance to the Cave of Bad Dreams. Despite popular belief, the well-secured entrance didn't keep all the ghouls locked inside its ghastly tomb. In fact, one ghoul had escaped many eons ago and still haunts the swamps to this very day. One they describe as foul, merciless, and most importantly, unstoppable.
Everyone just called her Morphina.
She was among the first nightmares accidently created by the world's protector; the almighty Polokus while he dreamed up the creations of the world. When she was created, she was considered to be a sight of bad omen, for she brought disease and famine wherever she grazed the land. Polokus, seeing this danger, quickly shut her away along with the other ghouls that followed her in the Cave of Bad Dreams. Jano, the guardian and keeper of the Cave, was instructed that he was to be extra wary of her, for even Polokus and the Teensies feared her shape-shifting and soul-binding ways. She was even believed to be the flesh incarnation of hate and death by most.
Morphina escaped in private only a few years after her imprisonment. She brought with her a whole legion of unspeakable creatures with strength that would bring whole countries to their knees. Using her sadistic cunning, she ordered the monsters to terrorize as she planned for the day that she would take Polokus's place as the ruler of the world. The Marshes of Awakening became nothing more than a poison-infested wasteland with very few inhabitants, and the Sanctuaries, which were normally filled with life, became hazardous to anyone who came near.
The Ancients, upon seeing this threat to the world, needing someone to be the exact opposite of Morphina's power. They needed someone who would pass this unique power throughout their bloodline, and someone who could be comfortable among the swamplands that Morphina enjoyed and liked to target. That's when they took notice a small petty family that lived in the marshes.
The family was known as the Thorn family. They had traveled to the marshes to escape a dangerous feud that took place in a human suburb many miles away. It consisted of only a man and his wife, but they had to make do. They were given a great and powerful magic power by the Ancients that would be passed throughout their bloodline as time went by. The Thorn family later became known among the swamps and marshes as the zombie-tamers.
Like Morphina, they could bind souls to their whim and could also unbind an already cast spell off of a innocent victim. They were such called the zombie-tamers because of Morphina's army obeyed her every command until the spell upon them was broken. Now, Morphina had someone to worry about during her path to world-domination. Everything seemed safe throughout the years. Morphina and her army of monsters went into hiding as her power dimmed with the coming of the zombie-tamer and the pirates. Soon, she'll be powerless and the world wll once more regain its fabled prosperity.
Unless, Morphina wipes out the entire zombie-tamer bloodline completely before they have a chance to defeat her. Then, without the one power to defeat her, even the great and powerful Rayman will be brought to his knees as she takes over. Unfortunately, Morphina seemed to know about this. That's why she chose to act now...
And so begins our story...
-------------------------------------------------------
"Don't try to fight it, female. You just can't win..."
A shrill cold cackle that pierced her soul came from behind her. She pivoted on her heels, her fiery red hair swirling behind her, hoping to face her fears. Nothing but the black layer of darkness that surrounded the area met her eye. She was surrounded by her darkest fear. The cloaked darkness was so thick she couldn't even see her own hands in front of her face. The evil creature will finally get to taste victory at last, but not without a struggle.
"What's the matter, Ivy? Cat got your tongue?" the disembodied voice sneered at Ivy as it played with its prey. Ivy could feel her own cold sweat trickle down her back as she watched the darkness with her wary green eyes. Swallowing the bile that had risen to her throat, she shouted to the blackness that surrounded her.
"Even if I die, Rayman could always take care of you, Morphina!" Ivy's voice cracked with unreleased anger and sadness as she shouted at her unseen enemy. There was a brief silence, before the voice that hid in the thick darkness laughed coldly at her fate.
"Rayman can't touch me, Ivy. Even the great guardians, Rayman included, of our planet can't stop me. You read too many sappy fantasies in your spare time." A slimy tendril whipped out from under Ivy and tripped her. Ivy let out a small yelp in fright as she fell onto the floor. She scrapped her elbows against the rough rocks and soft earth of the Marshes of Awakening, her homeland. Ivy struggled to get up, only to feel the same tendril wrap around her left ankle and pull her upside down. Morphina was playing with her prey. Ivy felt herself being lifted up into the air. Ivy struggled to slip out of Morphina's grip, but it was as tight as a shackle's clamp. Ivy wiggled, trying to see something other than the shrouded darkness that Morphina liked to cloak herself in, but all she saw was pitch-black.
"Goodbye, heir of the zombie-tamers!" Ivy felt the tendril's grip loosen, and she guessed that she was probably ten stories above the ground....
------------------------------
"Wake up already! It's almost ten in the morning, and you're still lying in bed!" Ivy cringed when she felt her brother's icy snicker against her ear. Startled and confused, Ivy opened her eyes. Instead of staring at the cloaked darkness of her enemy, she was staring face-to-face at a thatched bamboo ceiling. She turned her head, staring at her brother Davis's blue eyes, which were dancing with laughter. Great, Ivy thought as she sighed to herself. Was the whole fight against Morphina nothing but a dream?
"Dad says that the house doesn't protect itself. He needs you to fix the barriers, to guard against ghouls and other fairy-tale nonsense." Davis said. Ivy pushed herself off her comfy goosedown bed with her elbows and gave her brother a dirty look.
"We're not protecting against nonsense, Davis. Unless we were sleepwalking the day those swamp ghouls attacked!" Ivy accidently sent a shiver down her spine. Nothing was more painful than remembering the very day her mother was dragged kicking and screaming into the marshes by sharp-clawed monsters that only her parents knew were. Thankfully, the ghoul attacks seemed to decrease ever since Rayman destroyed the flying ship that Razorbeard owned, freed all the slaves, and returned the center of the earth to normal. However, there was always the slight chance that such monsters still stalked the land...
"Whatever. See you outside, Ivy." Davis raced out of her room without any other thought. Ivy sighed to herself as she dragged herself out of bed and away from her memories. Strange. Dreams are usually not that vibrant...
When she stood up, Ivy suddenly felt her left ankle pulse in pain. She bent down to rub it, only to see that it was badly-scratched. She inspected it gingerly with wonder and fright. Deep grooves ran in a complete circle from where Morphina's ghastly tendril had wrapped around her ankle in her dream. Quickly, Ivy checked her elbows for any scrapes and bruises that were inflicted during her dream battle against Morphina. Sure enough, her elbows were rubbed away, scraped, and dirty.
"That wasn't any dream. I need to tell this to Dad..." Ivy quickly dashed out of her bedroom, her dream still fresh in her mind. Something told her in her gut that her life was going to change dramatically...
------------------
Outside, Ivy's nose was tickled by the foul smells of the marshes that she called her home. However, being raised in this environment made her immune to the stink that came from the swamp's waters. She ran to where her dad was working on the barrier that surrounded her family's house, which consisted of bramble, wires, pieces of spare wood, and piled stone. Simple as it looked, it was durable and strong and was protected by the power of some enchanted Silver Lums that Ivy's dad was supplied with by a passing fairy who took pity on the poor family. Not that Ivy has any idea what currency was. Everything that Ivy's family owned was hand-made or remains from when her grandparents migrated to the swamps.
"I need to talk to you, Dad." Ivy said nervously, afraid that she'd disrupt his consentration as he pounded a stone in place with a worn-out hammer. Luckily, her father merely set the hammer down and turned to face her, his broad and bearded face smiling at his daughter.
"What do you need to tell me? Did Davis place another swamp rat into your bed?" Ivy blushed.
"No. It's more important than that..." she took a deep breath. "You see. Last night I had this dream." Ivy looked down at her feet. "Strange thing was, the whole thing was almost real. I was fighting a ghastly monster that called itself Morphina. It surrounded me with a cloak of darkness and toyed with me like a cat would toy with a cornered rat with a tendril that wrapped around my ankle. Before I woke up, it called me the heir of the zombie-tamers and dropped me from a high height. The strange thing is, my ankle and elbows were scratched like the whole battle was real. What's wrong with me?" Her Dad placed a strong hand on her shoulder.
"There's nothing wrong with you, sweetie." her Dad cooed. "Your grandmother had the same problems..."
"My grandmother? What do you mean, Dad?" Ivy asked. Her dad never mentioned her grandparents ever since her mom disappeared. Never changing his mood, her Dad pointed to a book that lay on the ground next to his other working tools. Ivy picked it up and dusted away the excess dirt. Worn letters appeared before her. "Monsters Throughout The Ages". Her dad always carried it with him when he was repairing monster damage or renovating barriers and traps.
"What does this have to do with-" Ivy started, but never finished her sentence. She held the book gently in her hands as she stared at it's worn cover and lettering. Without being asked, she opened the book and was greeted with strange sketch illustrations and cursive writing. She stared deeply into the worn pages, her last material memory of her grandparents.
"You see, Ivy," Ivy's father began. "Our family has been living in the Marshes of Awakening since your grandfather and grandmother migrated here to escape the depression that haunted their old lives and to start a new life in the solitude of the marshes. Your grandparents were happy of their choice, and they quickly became friends with the 'unique' neighbors they had. Sadly, not all of the people they met were friendly.
"It wasn't long before your grandparents learned the name of a ghastly and merciless creature that stalked the marshes. Its very presence is cloaked with pitch-black darkness to confuse and cloak its prey and enemies. The creature was so horrible, that even the mighty guardians and even Admiral Razorbeard steered clear from it. It became known as the infamous Morphina, keeper of the dead and sworn enemy of the living." Ivy flipped the pages of the book carefully as her dad narrated. The sketch pictures interested her.
"Morphina has powerful magic strengths and properties that no one has yet to match during this age. Besides the fact that she (the gender was later learned by many unfortunate souls) can change into whatever form she wants to, she can bind the souls of members in both the living and the spirit worlds, making them serve her with as much hatred and spite as herself."
"Why are you telling me this, father? What does it have to do with my dream?" Ivy asked as she thumbed the book in her hands.
"Because what you saw last night was not a dream; you were having a vision of dangers to come. I have to tell you this because your mother waited until it was too late for any lessons on your powers." Her dad pointed a finger at her. "You are what many people would call a zombie-tamer, just like your mother and her mother before her. When Morphina's name was learned by your grandparents, the Ancients gave them the chance of a lifetime. She granted them and their expected relatives that would come after them the power to bind souls like the evil Morphina, and to free cursed souls as well."
"Really? Why didn't you tell me this sooner?"
"Your mother wanted to wait until you came of age, but she waited too little too late. That's why you need to learn to use your power soon." "Can you teach me?" Ivy knew that her father wouldn't lie about all this. He had to know how to use this binding soul stuff.
"No, I can't. However," Her Dad pointed to "Monsters Throughout The Ages" that was still being held casually by Ivy. "You can take that with you as a guide, and a passport into the Cave of Bad Dreams."
"Cave of Bad Dreams? Why there?" Ivy shouted. To her, this explanation was going nowhere. She also knew that the Cave of Bad Dreams wasn't a place for a fifteen year old to hang out.
"Sadly, I was never passed the powers, seeing as the zombie-tamers are on your mom's side of the family, but the Guardian of the Cave of Bad Dreams can teach you the basics of your powers in record-time. That is, if you just show him the book beforehand." He pointed to the gate that guarded the entrance to the household. "This is all that I can tell you. You must hurry, for if your vision tells you that Morphina and you will cross paths soon, then she will act as quickly as possible. Pack some rations, and then leave this place without any trace that you were here!" Ivy nodded to her father and, with the old book still in her hands, ran into the house to pack for the journey of the lifetime.
-------------------------------
"Are you sure you saw monsters here, Sssam?" Rayman leaped from tree root to tree root, following his purple snake friend through the marshes as quickly as possible. It was now two months since Rayman had destroyed Razorbeard's slave ship and found all 1,000 lums, so Rayman was more than a little skeptical about monster sightings now. He scanned the swamps as he kept one hand on Sssam's scarf, just in case he would lose his footing. His other hand was curled into a fist. "I mean, monsters like zombie chickens and giant piranhas are long gone, now that Razorbeard is gone. There's no need to worry about anything now!"
"Hissss....I wouldn't think so Rayman. These marshes are not as ordinary as, say The Woods of Light. Ssstrange things happen here." The snake glided throught the water without making a noise. His tongue flickered uneasily as he too scanned the region. Rayman sighed, but he still followed his friend. Inside, he couldn't believe the fact that ghouls still dwelled somewhere other than the two nightmare prisons Pokolus created a long time ago.
"Don't worry Sssam, I believe you. I never did like these marshes." Sssam glared at him with a you're-talking-about-my-home-here-pal look on his face. "I don't mean that personally!" Rayman quickly retorted. "This climate is ideal for all kinds of ghouls. There's no telling what you'd run into here..."
----------------------------
As the two friends traveled through the swamps, a young fifteen year old with fiery red hair, piercing green eyes, and a leather knapsack on her shoulder crept carefully towards the direction to the entrance to the Cave of Bad Dreams. Ivy smiled hopelessly to herself as she tiptoed on the poisoned dirt and rocks of her homeland. Let's just hope that she will learn to harness her 'powers' under the instruction of Jano. She clutched the book to her chest as avoided the poisonous water. If she lost the book, Jano will probably send her away.
Or worse.
Little did she know that she won't cross the paths of Morphina alone. The Ancients made sure that Fate will also cause the young teenager to cross paths with the greatest hero of them all...
----------------------------
End of Chapter 1.
Remember to review! Chapter two will be up as fast as I can. ^_^
Notes: Soul binding is based off of various neromacer fiction like 'Sabriel' and the very captivating game called 'Enternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem'. It's strange on paper, but it seems to fit the atmosphere of this story. In case anyone doesn't know, soul binding is a lot like making someone your slave. (Submission, hypnotism, servitude. You know, the "I am at your will, Master..." stuff.)
--------------------------Foreword-------------------------
The world that Rayman came to know among his journeys was full of prosperity and happiness. The books of the time before the pirates came described the land as flawless and full of love and beauty. As described, everyone came to believe that there were no nightmares or monsters save the ones locked in the prisons dwelling in the Cave of Bad Dreams and in the Tomb of the Ancients. There was no need to protect yourself from anything or anyone before the pirates came.
Sadly, these tales of prosperity weren't completely true.
For as long as anyone can remember, the Marshes of Awakening was known to be the one place that surrounded the entrance to the Cave of Bad Dreams. Despite popular belief, the well-secured entrance didn't keep all the ghouls locked inside its ghastly tomb. In fact, one ghoul had escaped many eons ago and still haunts the swamps to this very day. One they describe as foul, merciless, and most importantly, unstoppable.
Everyone just called her Morphina.
She was among the first nightmares accidently created by the world's protector; the almighty Polokus while he dreamed up the creations of the world. When she was created, she was considered to be a sight of bad omen, for she brought disease and famine wherever she grazed the land. Polokus, seeing this danger, quickly shut her away along with the other ghouls that followed her in the Cave of Bad Dreams. Jano, the guardian and keeper of the Cave, was instructed that he was to be extra wary of her, for even Polokus and the Teensies feared her shape-shifting and soul-binding ways. She was even believed to be the flesh incarnation of hate and death by most.
Morphina escaped in private only a few years after her imprisonment. She brought with her a whole legion of unspeakable creatures with strength that would bring whole countries to their knees. Using her sadistic cunning, she ordered the monsters to terrorize as she planned for the day that she would take Polokus's place as the ruler of the world. The Marshes of Awakening became nothing more than a poison-infested wasteland with very few inhabitants, and the Sanctuaries, which were normally filled with life, became hazardous to anyone who came near.
The Ancients, upon seeing this threat to the world, needing someone to be the exact opposite of Morphina's power. They needed someone who would pass this unique power throughout their bloodline, and someone who could be comfortable among the swamplands that Morphina enjoyed and liked to target. That's when they took notice a small petty family that lived in the marshes.
The family was known as the Thorn family. They had traveled to the marshes to escape a dangerous feud that took place in a human suburb many miles away. It consisted of only a man and his wife, but they had to make do. They were given a great and powerful magic power by the Ancients that would be passed throughout their bloodline as time went by. The Thorn family later became known among the swamps and marshes as the zombie-tamers.
Like Morphina, they could bind souls to their whim and could also unbind an already cast spell off of a innocent victim. They were such called the zombie-tamers because of Morphina's army obeyed her every command until the spell upon them was broken. Now, Morphina had someone to worry about during her path to world-domination. Everything seemed safe throughout the years. Morphina and her army of monsters went into hiding as her power dimmed with the coming of the zombie-tamer and the pirates. Soon, she'll be powerless and the world wll once more regain its fabled prosperity.
Unless, Morphina wipes out the entire zombie-tamer bloodline completely before they have a chance to defeat her. Then, without the one power to defeat her, even the great and powerful Rayman will be brought to his knees as she takes over. Unfortunately, Morphina seemed to know about this. That's why she chose to act now...
And so begins our story...
-------------------------------------------------------
"Don't try to fight it, female. You just can't win..."
A shrill cold cackle that pierced her soul came from behind her. She pivoted on her heels, her fiery red hair swirling behind her, hoping to face her fears. Nothing but the black layer of darkness that surrounded the area met her eye. She was surrounded by her darkest fear. The cloaked darkness was so thick she couldn't even see her own hands in front of her face. The evil creature will finally get to taste victory at last, but not without a struggle.
"What's the matter, Ivy? Cat got your tongue?" the disembodied voice sneered at Ivy as it played with its prey. Ivy could feel her own cold sweat trickle down her back as she watched the darkness with her wary green eyes. Swallowing the bile that had risen to her throat, she shouted to the blackness that surrounded her.
"Even if I die, Rayman could always take care of you, Morphina!" Ivy's voice cracked with unreleased anger and sadness as she shouted at her unseen enemy. There was a brief silence, before the voice that hid in the thick darkness laughed coldly at her fate.
"Rayman can't touch me, Ivy. Even the great guardians, Rayman included, of our planet can't stop me. You read too many sappy fantasies in your spare time." A slimy tendril whipped out from under Ivy and tripped her. Ivy let out a small yelp in fright as she fell onto the floor. She scrapped her elbows against the rough rocks and soft earth of the Marshes of Awakening, her homeland. Ivy struggled to get up, only to feel the same tendril wrap around her left ankle and pull her upside down. Morphina was playing with her prey. Ivy felt herself being lifted up into the air. Ivy struggled to slip out of Morphina's grip, but it was as tight as a shackle's clamp. Ivy wiggled, trying to see something other than the shrouded darkness that Morphina liked to cloak herself in, but all she saw was pitch-black.
"Goodbye, heir of the zombie-tamers!" Ivy felt the tendril's grip loosen, and she guessed that she was probably ten stories above the ground....
------------------------------
"Wake up already! It's almost ten in the morning, and you're still lying in bed!" Ivy cringed when she felt her brother's icy snicker against her ear. Startled and confused, Ivy opened her eyes. Instead of staring at the cloaked darkness of her enemy, she was staring face-to-face at a thatched bamboo ceiling. She turned her head, staring at her brother Davis's blue eyes, which were dancing with laughter. Great, Ivy thought as she sighed to herself. Was the whole fight against Morphina nothing but a dream?
"Dad says that the house doesn't protect itself. He needs you to fix the barriers, to guard against ghouls and other fairy-tale nonsense." Davis said. Ivy pushed herself off her comfy goosedown bed with her elbows and gave her brother a dirty look.
"We're not protecting against nonsense, Davis. Unless we were sleepwalking the day those swamp ghouls attacked!" Ivy accidently sent a shiver down her spine. Nothing was more painful than remembering the very day her mother was dragged kicking and screaming into the marshes by sharp-clawed monsters that only her parents knew were. Thankfully, the ghoul attacks seemed to decrease ever since Rayman destroyed the flying ship that Razorbeard owned, freed all the slaves, and returned the center of the earth to normal. However, there was always the slight chance that such monsters still stalked the land...
"Whatever. See you outside, Ivy." Davis raced out of her room without any other thought. Ivy sighed to herself as she dragged herself out of bed and away from her memories. Strange. Dreams are usually not that vibrant...
When she stood up, Ivy suddenly felt her left ankle pulse in pain. She bent down to rub it, only to see that it was badly-scratched. She inspected it gingerly with wonder and fright. Deep grooves ran in a complete circle from where Morphina's ghastly tendril had wrapped around her ankle in her dream. Quickly, Ivy checked her elbows for any scrapes and bruises that were inflicted during her dream battle against Morphina. Sure enough, her elbows were rubbed away, scraped, and dirty.
"That wasn't any dream. I need to tell this to Dad..." Ivy quickly dashed out of her bedroom, her dream still fresh in her mind. Something told her in her gut that her life was going to change dramatically...
------------------
Outside, Ivy's nose was tickled by the foul smells of the marshes that she called her home. However, being raised in this environment made her immune to the stink that came from the swamp's waters. She ran to where her dad was working on the barrier that surrounded her family's house, which consisted of bramble, wires, pieces of spare wood, and piled stone. Simple as it looked, it was durable and strong and was protected by the power of some enchanted Silver Lums that Ivy's dad was supplied with by a passing fairy who took pity on the poor family. Not that Ivy has any idea what currency was. Everything that Ivy's family owned was hand-made or remains from when her grandparents migrated to the swamps.
"I need to talk to you, Dad." Ivy said nervously, afraid that she'd disrupt his consentration as he pounded a stone in place with a worn-out hammer. Luckily, her father merely set the hammer down and turned to face her, his broad and bearded face smiling at his daughter.
"What do you need to tell me? Did Davis place another swamp rat into your bed?" Ivy blushed.
"No. It's more important than that..." she took a deep breath. "You see. Last night I had this dream." Ivy looked down at her feet. "Strange thing was, the whole thing was almost real. I was fighting a ghastly monster that called itself Morphina. It surrounded me with a cloak of darkness and toyed with me like a cat would toy with a cornered rat with a tendril that wrapped around my ankle. Before I woke up, it called me the heir of the zombie-tamers and dropped me from a high height. The strange thing is, my ankle and elbows were scratched like the whole battle was real. What's wrong with me?" Her Dad placed a strong hand on her shoulder.
"There's nothing wrong with you, sweetie." her Dad cooed. "Your grandmother had the same problems..."
"My grandmother? What do you mean, Dad?" Ivy asked. Her dad never mentioned her grandparents ever since her mom disappeared. Never changing his mood, her Dad pointed to a book that lay on the ground next to his other working tools. Ivy picked it up and dusted away the excess dirt. Worn letters appeared before her. "Monsters Throughout The Ages". Her dad always carried it with him when he was repairing monster damage or renovating barriers and traps.
"What does this have to do with-" Ivy started, but never finished her sentence. She held the book gently in her hands as she stared at it's worn cover and lettering. Without being asked, she opened the book and was greeted with strange sketch illustrations and cursive writing. She stared deeply into the worn pages, her last material memory of her grandparents.
"You see, Ivy," Ivy's father began. "Our family has been living in the Marshes of Awakening since your grandfather and grandmother migrated here to escape the depression that haunted their old lives and to start a new life in the solitude of the marshes. Your grandparents were happy of their choice, and they quickly became friends with the 'unique' neighbors they had. Sadly, not all of the people they met were friendly.
"It wasn't long before your grandparents learned the name of a ghastly and merciless creature that stalked the marshes. Its very presence is cloaked with pitch-black darkness to confuse and cloak its prey and enemies. The creature was so horrible, that even the mighty guardians and even Admiral Razorbeard steered clear from it. It became known as the infamous Morphina, keeper of the dead and sworn enemy of the living." Ivy flipped the pages of the book carefully as her dad narrated. The sketch pictures interested her.
"Morphina has powerful magic strengths and properties that no one has yet to match during this age. Besides the fact that she (the gender was later learned by many unfortunate souls) can change into whatever form she wants to, she can bind the souls of members in both the living and the spirit worlds, making them serve her with as much hatred and spite as herself."
"Why are you telling me this, father? What does it have to do with my dream?" Ivy asked as she thumbed the book in her hands.
"Because what you saw last night was not a dream; you were having a vision of dangers to come. I have to tell you this because your mother waited until it was too late for any lessons on your powers." Her dad pointed a finger at her. "You are what many people would call a zombie-tamer, just like your mother and her mother before her. When Morphina's name was learned by your grandparents, the Ancients gave them the chance of a lifetime. She granted them and their expected relatives that would come after them the power to bind souls like the evil Morphina, and to free cursed souls as well."
"Really? Why didn't you tell me this sooner?"
"Your mother wanted to wait until you came of age, but she waited too little too late. That's why you need to learn to use your power soon." "Can you teach me?" Ivy knew that her father wouldn't lie about all this. He had to know how to use this binding soul stuff.
"No, I can't. However," Her Dad pointed to "Monsters Throughout The Ages" that was still being held casually by Ivy. "You can take that with you as a guide, and a passport into the Cave of Bad Dreams."
"Cave of Bad Dreams? Why there?" Ivy shouted. To her, this explanation was going nowhere. She also knew that the Cave of Bad Dreams wasn't a place for a fifteen year old to hang out.
"Sadly, I was never passed the powers, seeing as the zombie-tamers are on your mom's side of the family, but the Guardian of the Cave of Bad Dreams can teach you the basics of your powers in record-time. That is, if you just show him the book beforehand." He pointed to the gate that guarded the entrance to the household. "This is all that I can tell you. You must hurry, for if your vision tells you that Morphina and you will cross paths soon, then she will act as quickly as possible. Pack some rations, and then leave this place without any trace that you were here!" Ivy nodded to her father and, with the old book still in her hands, ran into the house to pack for the journey of the lifetime.
-------------------------------
"Are you sure you saw monsters here, Sssam?" Rayman leaped from tree root to tree root, following his purple snake friend through the marshes as quickly as possible. It was now two months since Rayman had destroyed Razorbeard's slave ship and found all 1,000 lums, so Rayman was more than a little skeptical about monster sightings now. He scanned the swamps as he kept one hand on Sssam's scarf, just in case he would lose his footing. His other hand was curled into a fist. "I mean, monsters like zombie chickens and giant piranhas are long gone, now that Razorbeard is gone. There's no need to worry about anything now!"
"Hissss....I wouldn't think so Rayman. These marshes are not as ordinary as, say The Woods of Light. Ssstrange things happen here." The snake glided throught the water without making a noise. His tongue flickered uneasily as he too scanned the region. Rayman sighed, but he still followed his friend. Inside, he couldn't believe the fact that ghouls still dwelled somewhere other than the two nightmare prisons Pokolus created a long time ago.
"Don't worry Sssam, I believe you. I never did like these marshes." Sssam glared at him with a you're-talking-about-my-home-here-pal look on his face. "I don't mean that personally!" Rayman quickly retorted. "This climate is ideal for all kinds of ghouls. There's no telling what you'd run into here..."
----------------------------
As the two friends traveled through the swamps, a young fifteen year old with fiery red hair, piercing green eyes, and a leather knapsack on her shoulder crept carefully towards the direction to the entrance to the Cave of Bad Dreams. Ivy smiled hopelessly to herself as she tiptoed on the poisoned dirt and rocks of her homeland. Let's just hope that she will learn to harness her 'powers' under the instruction of Jano. She clutched the book to her chest as avoided the poisonous water. If she lost the book, Jano will probably send her away.
Or worse.
Little did she know that she won't cross the paths of Morphina alone. The Ancients made sure that Fate will also cause the young teenager to cross paths with the greatest hero of them all...
----------------------------
End of Chapter 1.
Remember to review! Chapter two will be up as fast as I can. ^_^