CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT

Carey stared at Akito for a few moments before turning to Kurt, who sat at her side with the same expression of confusion on his face. The two then turned back towards the other figures that had come out of the back room as Akito had been speaking and stared at them once more. There was no way this was possible. Then again, you didn't think anything about your kids having powers was possible either, she reminded herself. Not until last year and that was before you had to leave Boston to be sure you were safe.

"I know this is all hard to understand," Kristin Manning said gently as she moved to sit next to her grandfather. She gracefully pulled her feet up so that she was sitting Indian style. "It's really hard to explain, but we need you to know that while Zack and Cody are just as important to what is going on right now, so are you and Kurt."

"I understand that they have powers and those things that help keep them safe," Kurt said slowly.

"Their guardians, mate," Reed Jackson corrected. He stood in the back of the room, alternatively looking out the window behind them, to be prepared in case there was any attack coming their way. "In the Element World, once a human is born, they are or aren't marked to become a guardian. Though, that doesn't necessarily mean they are to take the job that has been offered of them, it can be turned down. However you are considered to be very special if you get the opportunity. Every Elemental has a guardian and the guardian is latched onto a specific Elemental once it is noted by Mother Nature or Father Time that they are marked to be one." He turned to his wife, who stood nearby his side and she took up the explanation.

"In some cases, many believe that once an Elemental is born the guardian is born as well and they're marked to be together," Renee Jackson said. She brushed her long ponytail over her shoulder. "But that's not the conversation that we need to have at the moment. There is something of even greater importance we need to speak about. It's only a matter of time until Uriel decides to unleash his full sense of power."

Mr. Moseby cleared his throat before getting to his feet. He turned to the three figures that stood in front of him and then glanced at Akito, then towards the silvery fox that sat by his side. "I'm sorry," he said in his high-pitched voice that was a typical precursor to his screaming. "But…aren't you supposed to be dead? I'm not saying that I don't want you here, but the fact of the matter is that your children think you aren't alive."

London suddenly let out an almighty scream, causing the others to turn her way in case there was a sneak attack they had not seen coming. "You're telling me that I'm looking at a bunch of ghosts?" She asked, regarding them with eyes filled with fear. However, Carey wasn't sure if it was from the possibility that they had, indeed, been conversing with the dead, or if she was still reliving the torture each of them had gone through at the hands of Uriel as he tried to force the location of the boys and his friends out of them.

"We're not dead," Kristin reassured her as gently as she could. "But I'll admit that it will be a bit tough to explain once they all know. However, I was able to get in contact with Crystal and let her know that we aren't dead as well."

"And how did you do that?" The hotel heiress demanded. "Did you float over to her and haunt her too?"

"No," Akito said calmly. "She used the link between Sydney's power of the spirits through this guy." He reached out and ran a hand along the fox's back. "As I've explained before, he's a sort of protective guardian of the family and has his own abilities." He slowly stood up with the help of Kristin and went over to Carey and Kurt. "We don't have much time to explain, but it is as I had said before. You are very important to what it is that Zack and Cody are doing, what they have became, because the gene of being an Elemental passes on through the females of the family. In such case, Carey has been the one to pass on the gene."

"What does that have to do with me, then?" Kurt asked.

Akito smiled at him, a light twinkle in his eye. "You two are the start of this whole thing…in more ways than you would originally believe. You see, with everything that has gone on since the very beginning of the existence of Elementals on Earth; the discovery of Elementals within the government, the continued research, Uriel's trying to destroy everyone that knew about his existence, Zack and Cody awakening, Core trying to find the two of them, the prophecy that has been discovered, the collapsing of the two worlds. It was all made to happen, just as there is a reason that Zack and Cody are the strongest Elementals of our time."

The Martins continued to look at each other in confusion. This was all new to them. Until the boys were sixteen years old, they thought they were normal boys that went to school, hung out with their friends, and acted as normal as any teenager could. Sure, there were things here and there that caused them some worry. Carey still wasn't sure how they managed to come back from school so battered and bruised, though they always had an excuse ready. A soccer game. A football game. They got beat up by some bullies—which she knew now wasn't far from the truth. They had been crawling around in the Tipton air ducts. Excuse after excuse that she took at face value though the voice in the back of her head managed to plague her with slight worry. But there had been another part of her that didn't worry that though the boys knew what they were doing.

She had no idea why that thought came to her mind time after time. Maybe it was because they were constantly surrounded by their friends, so any trouble they got into couldn't be that bad. Thinking about it now, she could remember when she had first met the Jacksons and Crystal, other than the overwhelming sense of maturity that had befallen over them since the deaths of their parents; there was something off about them. If she were to believe in the paranormal or the unexplained in any sense, she would've understood it was because she had sensed something within them—and by extension Max, Tapeworm, and her sons themselves—she couldn't quite put her finger on.

"They're the ones that are made to save this world and the Element World but they need your help as well." Akito clapped his hands together and the fox by his side immediately leapt to its paws and stood at attention. "I need you to open your minds and remember the past that has brought you here."

Kurt let out a nervous chuckle. "Are you sure you want to do that?" He asked. "I mean, there are so many things that I managed to bury in my past I'm not sure people want to hear about, let alone see." His nervous chuckle turned into full blown nervous laughter as his ex-wife turned towards him with a slight glare on her face.

"What sort of things?" She asked. "Like why you haven't paid child support in so long?"

"If this is what we have to do to save the world, then you should do it," London suddenly said. She turned to Reed, Renee, Kristin, and Akito, motioning towards them. "There's so much of this we don't understand and they seem to have all of the answers. Boston is in trouble. Our home. The whole world. If Zack and Cody are the only things that can save us, then I want to help somehow. I hope you do, too."

Touched, Carey regarded the hotel heiress with a renewed sense of surprise. The girl had had her head in the clouds for so long, probably as a way to ignore the fact that her father didn't show his care for her more than he did his work. But here she was, just as she had done when they were still in Boston, standing up to do something as their home was continuously destroyed. She truly had managed to grow into a strong woman that Mr. Tipton who would be proud to know. If any of them lived long enough to see that their families again.

"London's right," Mr. Moseby agreed. "We don't have time for any of these petty fights." He held up his hands. "I still hope that I'm back on the SS Tipton or even within the confines of my own apartment dreaming, seconds away from being pranked awake by your hoolingan sons. But all of this appears to be real and we need to stop it before it gets any worse."

What worse than what's already happened? The thought crossed Carey's mind before she could stop it. However, she could hear it wasn't in her own voice but someone else's. One that sounded very much familiar. Do you want to be responsible for the deaths of many other people, more than the ones that have already fallen prey to Uriel's power? There is more you can do than sit around and wait for your sons to get back and save the World. They need all the help they can get and you're one of their biggest aids of all.

"What do we need to do?" Kurt asked.

"Allow yourself to open your minds to the lives that have always been there," Reed explained. "That you may not have remembered."

Carey watched as the fox came closer to her and Kurt, taking slow, calculated steps towards the two of them. It's eyes started to glow as white as its silvery fur, the light increasing as the seconds passed. Carey wanted to bring her arms up to shield her face, but found that she couldn't move. The light continued to brighten until there was a complete absence of color. She tried to call out for Kurt, but found that her voice was stuck in her throat. She could feel her vocal chords straining, her chest moving up and down, but found herself unable to make a sound.

Then there was a sudden flash of green light, an orb that appeared in front of her that continued to increase in brightness as the seconds passed. The orb elongated until it was the shape of a human and continued to fill in on itself. She could see the flowing hair mixing in with the dress that continue to swirl around the legs of the figure, despite there being a lack of wind. As it continued to fill, Carey got a good look at the green eyes that twinkled back at her, filled with confidence and a sense of regal and authority. Finally it filled in completely and despite having never seen the figure before her in her entire life, Care felt as if she was looking into a mirror.

Mother Nature smiled back at Carey and lightly reached out her hand. Carey did the same, looking down to see that her hand was out and lightly touching the woman's despite not feeling her arm move at all. She had no control over her body but if felt right. Her fingertips lightly touched Mother Nature's and there was a sudden warm bath of green light that swirled around Carey, enveloping her in the pillowy softness. As the light faded, so did the figure of Mother Nature, naturally fading until there was nothing before her but the bright light she had seen before.

Finally, the light faded and Carey found herself back in the sitting room of the Japanese house. Turning towards her ex-husband as his eyes flew open, she could see the stunned expression on his face, knowing it mirror the expression on hers. He had seen the same thing, experienced the same thing.

"Well?" London asked, looking back and forth between the two of them. "What happened?"

"I…I saw something," Kurt explained slowly. "There was a man in front of me…I've never seen him before but it was…it was like I was looking at myself."

"Me too," Carey agreed. She ran a hand through her hair and turned back to Akito, who smiled warmly at her. Now an excited look to his eye. "But that doesn't make sense, who were those people? How come we know who they are?"

"That is because it is your past life," Akito explained. The fox trotted back to his side and flopped down at your feet. "You Carey, were Mother Nature in a past life. As such Kurt was Father Time. If that is any indication, Zack and Cody are the reincarnates of Gattaca and Geneva as well. You have opened your mind to your true forms. That is the key to defeating Uriel and restoring both worlds that are in peril."

"So what do we do now?" Mr. Moseby asked.

"We get to Boston," Renee declared. "And find your sons and stop Uriel once and for all."