Traitor

Chapter 2

The pain in her head eased away, and within a few seconds, it was completely gone. The session of memory-receiving was over for now.

"Are you okay now?" Jackson asked, and when Mallie nodded, he offered her a hand. She grasped it and he pulled her up, and took a small step forward. She almost immediately pitched forward, and Jackson swept his arm in front of her just in time to catch her.

"Okay, you're obviously not ready to walk," he stated.

"Thanks for noting the obvious, Jack," she huffed, then stumbled over to a small boulder. Jackson froze in place.

"Did- did you just call me Jack?" He spluttered.

"Yeah, I did. Do you have a problem?" She replied.

He shook his head, and looked at her, slightly frowning.

"Do you know Teresa? Because she refuses to call me Jackson, but only Jack or even Jackie. It's gross," he said with a shiver.

"Yeah, since that flashback thing, I now know she conducted my 'Joining Ceremony', whatever that is," Mallie said. Jackson nodded.

"Yeah, well, she wouldn't talk about me then. It's a serious business, the Joining Ceremony. If they mess it up... Bad things can happen," Jackson said ominously. Mallie started to stand up very slowly, and took a few steps forward.

"I'm ready to walk," she said, "but when we are walking, can you explain this all to me? From the very beginning?"

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"Okay, it all started... A while ago. No one is for sure when the original Morphs were born, but it has to be over two thousand years ago, which was when the Ancient Texts were created." Jackson paused, taking a breath. "The Ancient Texts are a series of seven books, describing every aspect of the Morph's lives, following them on adventures, and lots of paintings of them. They are magic, of course, and whenever a large event happens in the Morph world, the book immediately records it. So, an eighth book can be created in the future," he said.

"So anyway, the six main Morphs. Let's start with our dear Olympia, the founder of our clan. She is the Empress of the Moon, and Keeper of Emotion." He looked at Mallie, and seemingly reading her mind (or actually reading it, she had no clue) said, "That means she controls our emotions, which I sometimes find creepy. She pretty much controls.... Everything, when you think about it." He paused for a moment, then continued to speak.

"She also is the eternal maiden, so she has no children. No one here, or anywhere I should say, is her child."

"So, who even lives in this clan then? I assumed that descendants of the, um, person who runs that clan live there?" Mallie asked.

"We take in everybody in this area that either doesn't know their heritage, or they were born of bad heritage, and want to stay off that track," Jackson answered, saying it like it was common knowledge.

"Alright. And by the way, I don't know anything, so don't sound all annoyed, like I should know this already," she snapped at him. Jackson stared at her wide eyed, then laughed a bit.

"Oh, I guess I forgot who I was talking too! Heh, sorry. But let me talk, okay?" She nodded sternly, and he continued.

"So, our largest population of Morphs we have here are from Ira Greene. That's only because their clan is on the other side of the forest, and they enjoy helping others out. And we do need their help, and I've got to say, they're pretty happy here. There's a lot of things they do that helps here." He slowed down a bit, and looked up at a huge maple tree. "She's the Empress of Life, Love, and Peace. And by life, I mean life in general. Things from your life to this tree's," Jackson stated, and placed his hand on the wide trunk. Mallie looked up, and saw a small burrow in the trunk. She dug her foot in a small crook in the tree, and boosted herself up. Her head was level with the small hole, and she peered in. A shrill bark emitted from the hole.