CHAPTER FORTY-ONE
Bailey's eyebrows furrowed together. She could feel herself starting to wake up, but her body wouldn't allow herself to get to that moment. There was something holding her back. Or someone, she couldn't ignore that possibility. Nothing with Elementals had become normal for her, there was nothing that was potentially off limits to be an explanation for whatever it was that was keeping her down.
Maybe she was coming more in tune with the world around her, with the world she hadn't had any thoughts about a few years before. There was something she could feel moving through her, some sort of energy she hadn't felt before. It wasn't until Mother Nature had entrusted her with the Book of Esme that she truly started to feel there was something she could do to help in the crusade to save the world. Knowing that she had the spirit of some sort of Medium entrusted within her, or that she was a reincarnate of some sort. It had to have been the reason that she was able to have Geneva and Gattaca protect her so easily.
"It was what we were training for before Uriel came in to the kingdom," Gattaca said to her. He crossed his arms as he floated through the empty white space around them. Realistically, Bailey knew they were in some sort of limbo—between awake and asleep. She could feel her body lying on a sort of cot just as easily as she could feel herself sitting on the ground in the white space.
Geneva floated to her other side, long brown hair flowing behind her as she did so. "We were instructed to learn how to use our abilities to protect the medium that was…the sort of guide for Mother Nature and Father Time."
"Aeon," Gattaca said. "That was her name."
"Was?" Bailey repeated.
"During one of the battles that had been called upon the Element Kingdom by rebel forces, Aeon disappeared. Mother Nature and Father Time sent out as many searches for her as they could mange, but were unable to find her. Despite her disappearance, we were instructed to continually work on our studies so that we could protect her if she ever came back to the Kingdom."
"And I'm her reincarnate?" Bailey asked, tilting her head to the side.
It wasn't something she was incredibly surprised about at this point, if that were the truth. Though she couldn't help but find that there were still doubts in her mind. What could she do if she didn't have any powers at all? She couldn't fight, she couldn't defend herself…and as much as she fit in with the rest of the group, she wasn't an Elemental and that showed.
When he had first demanded to know what was going on with Zack and Cody on board the SS Tipton—which seemed like such a long time ago, although it had only been two years—she knew, in a way, she was on the outside looking in. This was something they had been dealing with since before she met any of them and continued to deal with, and she was still learning things that were coming their way. Not only that, but she continuously found herself amazed by the strength of their power time and time again.
"Not her reincarnate more than that we're sure you are her," Geneva explained. She held out her hand and the Book of Esme appeared flat on her palm. It was a very big, very thick book and while it was heavy for Bailey, it didn't seem to be an issue for Geneva to hold it up. She passed it over to Bailey, gently placing it in her lap.
Sighing, Bailey took the book and ran her hand over the leather cover. Opening it, she stared at page after page of…gibberish. It wasn't gibberish exactly, but a language she had never seen before. It reminded her of Arabic, but the way the letters were created weren't exactly the same. Let alone the way it was stylized on the page, sort of the way the Japanese had it, reading up and down. But it also appeared to have to be read from right to left as well.
Resting her chin in her hands, she found the pages on the book suddenly shimmering. Her eyes widening, she tilted her head to the side and watched as the letters started to shimmer and wobble around until they came into focus as if she was reading English. But the letters and phrases were still in the language that she had never seen before in her life.
"You're starting to realize your true potential," Gattaca said to her. "You can read it can't you?" He lowered himself to the floor until he was standing next to his sister, the two hovering over Bailey as they watched her continued to turn page after page by the second.
"Sort of," Bailey said slowly.
And she truly sort of could read it. Some pages came into focus slower than others did, but she was getting the general idea. Not only was the book filled with spells and the prophecy that they were following—she checked the back of the book to be sure it truly was there—but it appeared to be filled with the history of the Element World in general.
There were logs of long battles and wars, times of change, at time where the kingdom seemed to be running out of food and morale, and everything that made it grow to be what it was in the present time. Bailey was surprised to find that the Element World seemed to function much like Earth did, but there were many, many more years that stretched on.
How long had the Element World been in existence? She asked herself as she continued to turn page by page. There's so much history here that we've never heard about before. She paused when he reached a point in the book that was so familiar. Glancing over the notes that were left on a page:
-Fire and Water Elemental awakened
-Air and Earth Elemental awakened
-Surge of darkness
-Weakness has been brought upon our people. Famine is running rampant and there is little to nothing being produced. Scavengers have been sent out to make a deal for food. It will take some time for them to return. Until then, there will be a protective shield put up to ensure our safety.
Bailey noted it as the days Zack, Cody, Max, and Tapeworm had been awakened. If that were the case, that was the start of the prophecy, which explained darkness the surge of darkness. They had already figured out that Uriel had started his sense of power over them all once the four of them had awakened; but if that were the case and the date was right along the top of the page, it meant that Earth and the Element World existed on two different planes of existence…which meant the time they spent there, compared to Earth, had been shorter.
Who knows what we're going to return to, Bailey thought, gently shaking her head as she closed the book along her lap. They had seen the destruction of Boston once they returned; they had witnessed the attacks that shot their way before Zack and Cody decided to deal with it themselves, and that was just Boston. Who knew what else was going on in the rest of the world. What will the world be like after all of this? There's already been proof of what's been going on across the US when we were being filmed before going to the Element world…is society going to be different now?
Closing her eyes, Bailey ran her hands over her face. This was all so confusing. No wonder Zack and Cody did their best to keep it all a secret. Suddenly she felt a warm hand run down her arm and she opened her eyes to find her mirror image standing in front of her. For a moment, Bailey stared at…herself…in disbelief, then she took in her appearance. The form of her that was in front of her looked exactly like her, apart from her garments that matched those that Geneva, Gattaca, Mother Nature, and Father Time donned, but there was also a sense of extreme confidence exuding off of her.
"Aeon?" Bailey asked.
"That's me," Aeon replied. She reached out her hands and took Bailey's in hers, pulling her to her feet. "It's nice to finally meet you, Bailey. Though I guess I shouldn't have to say 'meet' as you are me in many ways."
"I don't understand," Bailey admitted.
"The night of your birth was the night that I left the Element World," Aeon said. She brushed her hair back out of her face and thought for a moment. "This is something that may make things even harder for you to understand, though that's not to say that any of us understand what goes on in our own world as it is." She motioned towards Geneva and Gattaca, who nodded in reply. "I am you, in the aspect that we share a lot of similar traits as well as experiences. Though we are two separate people even if we do have a portion of us that is forever connected.
"I left the Element World as I was aware of the prophecy that was bound to come into existence. It isn't a coincidence that you, Zack, and Cody were born when you were and I knew it was coming as the Book of Esme told me months before it happened. I knew I had to leave to protect you from the danger that was to come your way."
"Uriel?" Bailey asked.
Aeon nodded. "Uriel would not stop at anything to be sure he was able to get the power source he needed to take revenge on us in the Element World. That was what he was meant to do when he had been targeting you all for years. The 'boogeyman' that Zack and Cody continued to see as they were young, was Uriel trying to capture them to take the power that had been dormant inside them. If he managed to get any of that power, he would've been, in many ways, unstoppable."
"What does that have to do with me?"
"There's power inside you, too, Bailey. Power that can't be handled by anyone else. The sort of power that can only steadily improve over time. Geneva and Gattaca's power is what you've been using whenever the time came. It hasn't been the power that you have nestled within you. The Book of Esme can aid you in tapping that power. I shall help as well." She grinned at Bailey. "I've been protecting you as much as I can for as long as I can and I shall continue to do that. But you have to come into your own and realize that power for yourself."
Bailey shook her head, unsure of what to say next. Unsure of what to do next. It was so much to go through. She had been protected ever since he was back in Kettlecorn and didn't know anything about the world other than what she had studied in her textbooks. Her dreams of seeing the world had become actualized when she got onto the SS Tipton and had become actualized in many ways since finding out the truth.
But this?
Hearing what she had hoped to hear?
It was more than she thought she could handle. Thankfully she was sitting on the ground or else she was sure she would've passed out and fallen smack on the ground.
"I've been watching you your whole life Bailey, you've certainly grown into such a lovely young woman," she said. "Someone who has the same qualities that I'd like to see in anyone. Confident, intuitive, inquisitive, smart, dedicated and so much more. It is those things that makes you worthy of being able to open and read the Book of Esme. Everything that's within that book will aid you in defeating Uriel once and for all."
"What will happen to him then?"
That was the one thing that seemed to elude the group for as long as she could remember. Uriel had managed to survive year after year after year. She understood those that lived in the Element World didn't necessarily age in the same way those on Earth did. But what did that mean for death in general, especially for the one that had the power of life and death. Was it possible for him to be killed? Or would that negate his power in general? Could he bring himself back to life?
"You have to understand Uriel never used to be like this, until he felt he deserved to be within the royalty of the kingdom," Aeon explained. She appeared sad, turning on her heel and starting to pace back and forth. "As a matter of fact, we used to work together to keep them all safe before…something changed his mind. Maybe understanding his power? I don't know. Next thing I know, he's turned and tried to kill them all. If it weren't for my book, Uriel could now have power over the Element World."
"And I can stop him?"
" You and Zack and Cody?" Aeon turned back to her, a determined gleam in her eye. "Once everything is explained to you. Once you all understand your true potential. You'll know how to defeat him and restore both of our worlds. Once you wake up."
Bailey's eyebrows furrowed together. Once she woke up. She thought she was already awake. Speaking to the three Elemental beings had taken her away from Earth, away from the reality that she was lying on a cot somewhere. But as soon as she said those words, she could feel herself slowly starting to get pulled backwards. Geneva, Gattaca, and Aeon watched as Bailey was pulled back, the edges of her vision starting to turn black. The further back she was pulled, the blacker and darker things became until she couldn't see more than a foot in front of her face.
Then there was a glimmer of light.
A light at the end of the dark tunnel.
And she smiled.
Bailey woke up.