And the child was me, Ivey made the sudden realization. Could the story get any crazier?

"The Spirit promised us, you," her father continued. He sounded odd, almost robotic as if he were repeating the lines from a script. " We had given up and thought we would never have a child…Twenty years before you were born, we were told to visit the Spirit. It promised us a child so long as we agreed to the Soul Calling Ceremony, binding part of your Soul with the vessel still in the womb. If we agree, it will grant our wish."

Okay, Ivey was following so far, but she was a bit confused. Why perform a Soul Calling Ceremony and bind the Soul? What was the point of that?

"A baby in the womb, and after the first three months after birth, is a vessel for the Soul," her mother explained. "To put it another way, a baby is but an empty vessel that is born without a soul until the Soul Calling Ceremony is done.

"The ceremony must be performed a year after the baby is born. This ensures that the rightful Soul of the vessel makes its way home. If a ceremony isn't done, the baby will eventually have a soul. However, it's no guarantee the Soul will be the right 'fit' for the vessel. Your case…our case…was a little bit more unique because the Soul Calling Ceremony was done while you were still in your mother's womb. This meant your Soul was combined with the vessel before birth."

Her father lamented next to her, "In short, no one knew how it was going to turn out. For the most part, if the ceremony isn't done a year after giving birth, the baby will have a soul, but it wouldn't guarantee the right Soul for the right vessel. The end results are usually sickness...even death. Other times the right Soul will eventually make its way to the vessel, but it would already be occupied. In this case, you're often dealing with multiple personality disorders. Very rarely would there be a vessel without a soul, but there have been a few cases known to us.

"What's not known was performing the ceremony without the physical body to place it in. There were so many things that could have gone wrong: your mother's Soul combining with yours, the death of you, your mother, or even the both of you. Also, what would have happened if the body becomes stillborn? We would have lost your Soul again, and Draco's sacrifice would have been for nothing.

"It was all very risky. There was a 50/50 chance, but we wanted a child so badly we were willing to take the risk."

Ivey, so engrossed in the story, didn't realize that they had stopped until her mother exclaimed beside her, "We're here!"

They were coming up to a large pond, about an acre in size. At the opposite end was a huge waterfall. Like any other waterfall, there was nothing amazingly different or unique about it other than there was no beginning to it. Jets of water fell from the sky towards the pond where large boulders of rocks were grounded. Mists and clouds surrounded the waterfall, but as far as her eyes could see, there was no top to the waterfall.

No matter how long she stared or squinted up at the sky, Ivey couldn't tell where it started.

"It's almost time," her father's voice interrupted her, bringing her back, "I know all of this is unexpected. It seems unbelievable...it is unbelievable. We don't expect you to understand us right away, but we're hoping it will become clearer in the next couple of days."

Ivey eyed the waterfall, recalling her father's earlier words. Her tone sounded dry, almost sarcastic, "This is where I'll be purifying and cleaning my Soul? Or am I in seclusion? Perhaps I’m doing both?"

Her father either missed her tone or ignored it, "You were always too smart for your own good."

Now she understood why she was left in a tank top and shorts and covered only in a bathrobe. Strangely, she glanced down at herself, despite the humidity and the heat, her body temperature remained cool beneath all these layers.

"So, what now?" Ivey glanced up to find Seymour yards away standing on top of a large boulder that was half-covered in water. He was overlooking the pond so she could only see him from the side.

Turning away from him, Ivey scanned the vast body of water and noticed the large boulders. They were expertly placed at an equal distance all around, fencing the pond in.

"It's all up to you," her mother turned her around. She clasped both of Ivey's hands and squeezed gently. "Whether you're here for the next few days or for the next few years, it all depends on you."

"And if I don't want to spend the next few years here?"

"Then, you'll need to recover your powers as fast as you can and try to recall as much as possible of your previous life."

Memories…powers…Ivey King, but wasn't she Ivey Link…? Panic started to crawl into her mind and under her skin. "Are you sure you have the correct person? I mean, I'm just a girl, a police officer. How can I be this Shaman King you speak of? I don't even know what a Shaman King is?!"

"We're not expecting you to believe us right away," her mother squeezed her hand again, reassuring her. "No matter what happens, you'll always be our daughter first. We'll protect you no matter what."

Her father squeezed her shoulder gently, "From now on, the Spirit will guide you. You will learn all you need to know and know all you need to learn. When you come out of this place, you'll be the Shaman Queen."

"No one can take a step inside or out with Seymour standing guard," her mother took a step back, and her father followed suit. "He'll be here if you need him, but until you're ready, you won't be allowed to leave."

Her parents turned to leave, and fear settled in. 

Fear for herself, for her parents... and of the unknown. Ivey's life so far and everything she's ever known and worked for rushed in. She replayed the last few days from attempting to apprehend a suspect and then getting shot at but getting stabbed instead. It seemed so long ago with the memories still very vivid in her mind.

"I—this is…what if I refuse?" She didn't want to disappoint her parents, but weren't they expecting too much of her as well? After all, this was her life.

"We're sorry to put you in such a spot," her parents never looked back, but their words drifted to her ears, carried by the wind.

"We tried to raise you normally. We gave you everything you could ever want so that you wouldn't have any regrets when this day came. Ivey…we're really sorry, but we've kept you long enough. It's time for us to give you back."