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The Alchemyst Chapter 18 Summary

How It All Goes Down

  • Alone at last, Flamel finally allows the worry that's been gnawing at him to creep in in earnest.
  • He is totally freaked out, but tries to control himself as best he can. 
  • It's nothing a bit of deep thought can't cure, so he sits down, exhausted, by the water's edge and remembers the prophecy of the Codex. 
  • He realizes it has started to become true:
  • "There will be a time when the Book is taken." Check
  • "And the Queen's Man is allied with the Crow" (Queen Elizabeth's magician Dr. John Dee is allied with the Morrigan Crow Goddess). Check.
  • "Then the Elder will step out of the shadows." Okay, nothing has happened on that front just yet. 
  • "And the immortal must train the mortal." Check. He has to train the twins, right? 
  • Oh, and just one more thing: 
  • "The two that are one must become the one that is all." Hmm. That one's a bit trickier. Flamel will just have to think on it later.
  • At least Flamel knows that everyone has magical potential within them. That means that all Flamel has to do is teach the twins how to unlock what they already have inside.
  • See, everyone knows that in ancient books, there were four elements of Magic: Air and Water, Earth and Fire. 
  • But Flamel also knows that there is a fifth element—the magic of Time—obtained only through the Codex. 
  • That's why Dr. John Dee wants it so badly; with the Codex, he can control time itself. That's some serious power.
  • Then Flamel gets really down on himself and asks himself a question he often wonders: 
  • If he knew all those years ago what he knows now about the Codex, would he have continued his research into the secret of life?
  • Usually he says yes, but today, with everyone in danger, he's not so sure. 
  • Okay Shmoopers, it's time for another Elder history lesson. Ready? Here we go:
  • Humans worshiped the Elder Race as gods and demons—like the gods of ancient Greece and Egypt, Sumeria and the Indus Valley, the Toltec and Celt. 
  • The Elders divided into two groups, those who worked with humans and those who thought of them only as slaves or food. 
  • Of course this means that the Elders fought each other often, almost destroying the planet in the process.
  • So Abraham (of VIB fame) forced all the Elders from the earth. 
  • Some, like Hekate went into their own Shadowrealm, while others like the Morrigan and Scatty live among humans to this day. 
  • If the Dark Elders were to return, humans would be wiped out as the godlike Elders war among themselves. 
  • In fact, it has happened already—that's what the Great Flood is, from the Bible, at least according to Flamel.
  • Now Dee has the book. Not good. 
  • Flamel sadly wishes Perry was with him—she'd have a plan.
  • Suddenly, the ghost of Jefferson Miller pops out of the water and tells him that Perry is safe and that Dee is terrified of her, but that the Morrigan is not. 
  • The ghost also says they need to leave now: the Crow Goddess is gathering her forces and intends to awaken Bastet. Yikes.