Free Excelsior by George Sirois

would become known as Greenland . The sword remained there until Ritgen's excavation team set up an archeological dig.”
    Matthew nodded. “So how come Excelsior's lifeforce didn't transfer to someone else during its discovery?”
    “That's hard to say. All that we really know is that the sword bides its time until a worthy host appears.”
    “Wait, do you mean me? What are you telling me?” Matthew leaned forward.
    “Right now, I would say you have fragments of Excelsior's memories because you are meant to be the next host.”
    Matthew suddenly felt like a child who was told there was no Santa Claus. “Wow. So…all of this is real, and…I didn't create Excelsior.” He looked down at the table, then ran both hands through his hair. He slowly looked up as he tried to compose himself. “If everything that you're saying is true, then how did I get Excelsior's memories?”
    “You tell me. Have you ever come in contact with the sword? Think back to that time when you saw the sword.”
    Matthew hesitated to make sure no tears were coming down before answering. This was getting weirder and weirder. “Well...”
    Katherine waited. “Yes?”
    “Well, there is this one time, the time when I saw the sword at the museum. You know, the Metropolitan Museum of Art.”
    “Yes?”
    “This is kind of embarrassing, and I never told anyone about this since I was a kid at the time, but I wanted to get a closer look. It was really pretty, you know?” Katherine nodded. “Anyway, we were in the middle of this really big group and everyone was asking questions and the guards were occupied since there were so many kids running around and touching things.”
    “Right.”
    “So nobody could see me getting past the velvet rope and I went up and touched the handle. Just for a second.”
    Katherine gave him a concerned look. “You touched it?” Matthew nodded. “Let me see your hand,” she demanded sharply.
    Matthew held out his right hand and Katherine examined it closely. “It was this hand, wasn’t it?”
    Matthew nodded again, feeling a golf ball lodged in his throat. Katherine’s fingers were feathers on his palm as she traced a shape. “Just what I thought. Have you noticed this?”
    “Well, it IS my hand. So yeah, I noticed the star.” She saw a very faint outline of a star embedded in his palm.
    “When you touched the sword, what else happened?”
    “Well, I got a pretty bad shock and fell back, and the alarms went off and the guards were grabbing me. My parents were chaperoning and they were really embarrassed.”
    “I can understand that. What made you want to touch it?”
    “Well, as I said, it was pretty. And it was singing, sort of. It seemed like...” Matthew took a deep breath and answered in a rush. “It seemed like the sword was... calling to me. I could hear a faint humming that got louder the closer I came. I looked around, but I don't think anyone else heard it.”
    Katherine looked back up from Matthew's hand and released it. “I'd like to talk to your parents. Can I meet them?”
    Matthew lowered his head again and struggled to answer. It was too difficult to hold back the tears now. “My, uh... my parents are dead.” He felt like he was strangling on the words.
    “I'm sorry,” Katherine said. “Can you tell me what happened?”
    Matthew roughly rubbed his eyes. “They were on their way back from visiting my uncle Jason. He was…well, he was sick and they got into an accident. The other driver got away with only a few cuts and scrapes, but they...”
    “They didn't make it,” Katherine finished. Matthew nodded. “So with whom are you living now?”
    “It's just me and my Uncle Jason. He's been living at my house so I didn't have to switch schools.”
    “Is there any chance that I can talk to him?”
    “Um, sure. I think he mentioned to me last night that he'll be home earlier than usual.”
    “I can give you a ride if you like.”
    Matthew nodded. “Why do I feel like you haven’t