Chapter 107

Autumn

The exhibits they held were very detailed wax and wooden carvings, along with paintings of the world during the time periods that each one spoke of. The only difference between this and the Smithsonian Museum in my home country was that this spoke of the world from a supernatural perspective.

It truly was a sight to behold. They had a preserved mammoth in the center of the grand courtyard of the museum, along with it ‘holding’ the map of each exhibit. There were also sections dedicated to the varying kinds of supernatural creature, and the head curator according to the panel was a Sphinx that led an order called the Secret Keepers….

The walls and floors were made to be tall and wide enough to accommodate the Son of the Lord of Time’s wingspan. He was supposedly the first mortal ever made, and held magical powers. He was a 24k gold winged angel created from the Lord of Time’s flesh.

The Lord of Light gave him a flaming spear that could burn through any material, and the Lord of Night gave him an unbreakable shield. It was said that this was the Only thing both rulers of the universe could agree on. He was made the Guardian of Time, smiting any who try to alter it, stopping anyone from rewinding time, as it was meant to only go one direction. I made note that we should be careful not to break anything or be disrespectful.

The punishment was death.

“Don’t worry about it Autumn; we’re only here to see stuff.” Said Oliver with a small smile.

“I know, but they seem pretty avid about not touching or breaking anything.” I said holding his hand.

There were at least five warning signs within a few feet of each other atop the doors to each hall that led to different displays. I could only guess that something very secret must also be here for there to be So many.

“Let’s go to the shifter section. I bet there’s stuff here even I don’t know about.” He said leading the way.

The shifter section held more than just stuff about wolves. Apparently there were many kinds of animal shifters, each with their own culture and stories. The bear shifters were mostly in eastern Europe, while wolf shifters were half the size and twice as spread out. There were cat, even dog shifters that were also out there, but those were the most rare.

It was also noted that calling them ‘dogs’ was an insult, so for the rest of the display, they were called ‘hounds’, though not all of the examples depicted looked like hounds. This was because being called a ‘dog’ was akin to a swear with canid shifters.

It also held a section about the discrimination shifters faced because of their non-magical nature. The statue that was carved looked almost real, with a fully shifted wolf in a dramatic pose on his hind legs while an elf in mage clothes you’d see in fantasy books throwing a fireball made of paper at him. It was said that there was a time that shifter pelts of wolves and bears especially held value for sword and arrow resistance. The only thing that could pierce a tanned hide of a shifter pelt was silver.

It also had a very large segment about the illegal trade of supernatural body parts throughout the centuries, and that it was still prevalent today. Their parts were used for magical cure-alls that for the most part did not work, or had ill effects. The hands of goblins, the ears of elves, the horns of unicorns, the ashes of vampires, the wings or dust of fae were only a few mentioned. However, if we wanted more information, we would have to go to their sections for details.

They also talked about how it was Omegas who found, then reported those humans responsible since they had no powers. They had wolves, although they were sleeping, dormant, and could not be roused like Winter unless they drank the blood of an elder. They held no strength, so they also held no rank.

Omegas were often the lowest ranking wolves in the pack, sent out to do dangerous jobs that could get a normal wolf killed. They could venture into the human world more easily. The tradeoff to having a dormant wolf was that they held no resistances, and would pass ‘inspections’ of if they were a wolf or not.

“Look there’s a section on the High Council and the Royal Family.” I said walking a little faster.

The Wolf King and Queen’s statue had two men and four women in front of them, all their sons and daughters, making a total of six children. The two males looked like photocopies of the King, and they were twins. All the women looked like the Queens identical copies, however none were living today. Only one lived, the First Prince, long enough to have a child in the late 1700’s, because the other son was killed by the God of Judgment during the beginning of the war.

The other four died from either hunters, fights with the other demigods of destruction, or from demons. The only surviving son lived with a wound on his side that never healed, and it was speculated that had the First Prince not been cursed, that he might have lived being poisoned. They also had his grandchildren documented, with their mates holding babies. It looked like a family photo if not for the three-dimensional aspect of it.

The Second Seat stood holding the shoulder of his son, but I didn’t know that he even had one… The plaque spoke of how he conspired with the Sitting Third, and was banished for it. The statue of Luna Aemi was holding a child, though by the date below him, he should have been a teenager… There was no mention of anyone other than those four in his bloodline...

The Third held my grandfather; there was no statue of Brutus in there, though the plaque mentioned him as a pack member who held his mortal mate hostage to sit in his seat. There were more children with him, though they were small…. And a baby in the arms of Susanna, though they were registered as deceased by poisoning by rivals…. The only adult child he had was Frigus…

The Fourth had a lot of details on his position in the court. He was a Delta of the King’s pack. It seemed each Council Member had a job, but it didn’t really talk about it until this section. His job is to tend to the King’s needs in the human world for him.

Statues of each member and their mate were there in order, and the next caught our attention the most. There was a statue of the human and wolf forms of every member to scale, including us. It was then that we both froze.

“Well I’ll be damned.” He said looking at the lifelike wood… There was even information on his life before he was a council member, his general personality…. And about me. It said that I was the abandoned child of the Exiled wolf of Frost because of my human lineage. It also talked about the fear that comes with watching blood too thin die of old age, while the grandparents of the hybrid child stay forever young.

“…. How do they know so much…. Even my eye color is right.” He said pointing to the lifelike painted wood. They all looked as if you could start talking to those figures, and they’d respond. They even got it right on his venom, and the look of East.

There was a small wolf about the size of a Saint Bernard next to me too, and it was speculated with my wolf blood content, that that would likely be my maximum size…

“How do they know what my wolf would look like?” I asked looking at the statue.

There was no one else in here but us, though the lifelikeness of the statues made me feel watched after that.

“We can go.” Offered Oliver, but I declined.

“No, I want to know more about the supernatural world being part of it… there’s so much I don’t know.” I admitted.

“Alright.” He said walking with me to the section about the Unshifted. Their statues were even bigger than the wolf king’s, especially the first bear shifter. Most of them were alive, living in the northern uninhabited part of eastern Europe.

We were quiet walking through the exhibit, especially when it got to the herbivore shifters. They were eaten by people, especially rabbit shifters. They were stewed for luck alive, and I think that was about all I could take. They had a depiction of it with the plaque made of marble, and the sorrow of the woman trying to stop them as they roasted her child made me look away. This was an account from a still living person, engraved in stone so no one would forget.

They also spoke of the slave trade, making weaker shifters ‘pets’ and the plight of being an Omega in the same situation. Strength was how shifters interpreted power and high status, whereas that was true for magical creatures as well, but they added bloodline importance to that. It wasn’t uncommon for hybrids to be thrown into this trade, and the depiction of women in chains unsettled me.

It was noted that many of the living creatures, because of their lifespans, were from different times…. And in ancient times many had and still held onto ancient mentalities. There was a constant fight with the progression of time and beliefs, while they desired to hold onto what they grew up with.

However, they grew up in times before regulation, freedom, and uncorrupt judicial systems.

The issue was that many of the deplorable people who had done this, grew up during empires where this was common, and used it as an excuse to traffic the weak. It could not be surprising for one born when women were objects… to see women as objects.

“That’s enough… sorry.” He said rubbing my back.

I didn’t cry, but I was pretty upset… Oliver kissed me on the forehead.

“No. I want to see All of it, not just the pretty parts. I’m not a little kid; I know in my heart I shouldn’t be sheltered.” I said firmly.

“Are you Sure?” He asked.

“Yes. This is Important. I’m sure you know most of this stuff, but I serve on the Council too. It wouldn’t be right to stay ignorant when I have an opportunity to learn Now.” I said firmly.

“…. Alright.” He said caving in. “Unfortunately, the bad in this world is… really rough. I didn’t know this place would be so detailed.” He said looking behind us as we walked from the shifter section to the section of beasts. These creatures were non-sentient, meaning that they were like regular animals you’d see every day or in a zoo, only they were magical in some form or fashion.

There was stuffed taxidermy here, and many of the creatures here were strange combinations of animals I’d seen before. There were goats the size of horses, peacocks that were orange and red, pigeons that had parrot colors and the like. There were also replicas of trees that grew only in groves tended to by magical supernaturals like fairies, elves, and witches.

But I still couldn’t unsee the details of the last exhibit, as some of the terrible information of what happened to shifters, happened too to the beasts. They were caged, trees were cut to the point that some specimens were extinct, but they did have a protector.

The sculpture of the beast king Beast King Rau was in front of a sabertoothed bear holding, 12 foot long taxidermy ferret, and the King held a long spear. It did make me feel a little better. He was a dark skinned, hulking man too, wearing a moose horned bear pelt with raccoon tail tassels lining down his face. He was a wild looking bearded man with amber snake eyes as crazy as the beast behind him.

I’d hate to see what he did to poachers, but they got what they deserved.

Next to him were two sons, though the oldest was reported as an exile. and this segued into the next section of the museum. He sided with the Tyrant King, the God of Judgement, throwing away his title of Crown Prince. Now he was the first general of Xaxas, the Horned Lion, the Ruling One. There was no reason though… but I could guess why. Unlike his father who could tame beasts, it said his powers were that he could make men beasts, as in make them the worst version of themselves.

He single handedly started wars behind the schemes, including those that caused the Great Depression. The first World War happened when countries banded together in coalitions, and the Prince of Denmark’s daughter was killed by a Russian spy, causing a chain reaction.

The spy was actually his doing, the Great Depression and WWII also was caused by him, as nuclear weapons had been re-invented, and the continuation of the chain reaction that made the first war.

He singlehandedly started wars behind the scenes, and was responsible for the most deaths in human history besides the Tyrant King, but I didn’t know anything about him. About all I knew of him was that he led the Demigods of Destruction, and no one could defeat him in battle. The only thing that stopped his rampage was the promise of a hybrid mate….

All in total, about half of the world’s population was culled by those wars created by the Beast Prince, yet… he personally didn’t spill a drop of blood with his own hands.