Chapter 169: It Shall Be

Tuesday, June 22, 1971

“It seems that we have two different puzzles to solve,” Catherine said, summarizing. “First, what is this codex that Michael is supposed to find? And second, what made him disappear in front of your eyes?”

We had been meeting for more than an hour, having connected everyone, and then walking step-by-step through what had happened in the Dining Car earlier this afternoon. Penny had each person telling it from their own perspective, including what they saw, heard, and even what they felt. When you boiled it all down, Grace’s earlier description just about covered it.

“Michael? Are you positive they said nothing else?” Penny asked.

“Three words, repeated two times, the second with only slightly less intensity,” I told her dryly. “Find the codex. The problem is, I have no idea what a codex looks like, much less where to begin looking.”

“Adriana, would you mind checking the library tomorrow to see if...” Catherine started.

“A codex is like a book,” Jimmy said.

“What?” Catherine asked. I could detect the surprise in her voice. I was slightly jealous that it wasn’t me who had surprised her, but the thought flittered away faster than it had come. Mainly because I was surprised as well. “What did you say?”

“Codex was the early term for paper or vellum that had been folded and bound. At the time, it proved much simpler to use and to store a codex, than a scroll. But, just as the codex began replacing the scroll, the printing press was invented,” Jimmy patiently explained.

“So it’s a book?” Vickie asked.

“Not exactly. You see, a book usually refers to bound pages that have already been printed. Whereas a codex is blank paper that is bound first, then written on. So while a codex could be described as a book, a book could not be a codex.”

“Well, I’m impressed,” I said when nobody said anything.

“Jimmy, where did you learn that?” his mother asked, softly.

“I think I read about it at the library,” Jimmy replied sheepishly. The way he looked at his mom reminded me that I had never followed up on that relationship.

Everyone else began talking. As usual, I just kept quiet, taking it all in. I tried one more time, just as I had in the shower, to put up my heavy-duty shield. It was the same type of scenario, with everyone else talking. Unfortunately, I got the same results I did in the shower. Zip! Nada! I still remained visible.

Sighing to myself, I looked across the Dining Car to Jimmy. His face was one big smile as he explained what a codex was again.

It was finally decided that Adriana and Vickie would spend some time tomorrow at the New York Public Library to see if they could find anything that might give us a clue as to which codex the words had referred.

“Now that’s a library I would like to see!” Jimmy said with a sigh.

I created a separate channel to Vickie and asked her to look into making that wish come true while we were in New York this weekend.

“It will be my pleasure,” Vickie replied. “You are so good, Michael. I just love you so much.”

“Well, that seems to be all we can do on that, for now,” Catherine said as she continued down her short list. “Michael? Do you have any idea what caused you to disappear?”

“I guess, technically, I didn’t disappear, because I was still here the whole time. It was just that they couldn’t see me,” I offered.

“So that’s why Ileana could still feel you, and pull you over on her?” Grace asked.

“I guess. Again, I didn’t know you all couldn’t see me until I scanned Alice,” I replied. “To me, everything was normal. The only thing I did was to put up my shield while everyone else was talking. I was trying to shut out the noise so I could think.”

“Do you think that if you did it again, put up your shield, you would disappear again?” Anna asked.

“I just tried it again. I’m sitting in the same spot, and Ileana is holding my arm like before, and everyone was talking in the background. But it didn’t work,” I told them sadly.

“Is there anything else that you can think of, that might have made a difference?” Penny asked. “Think, Michael. What’s different now than before?”

“I don’t know. It’s getting dark now, and I have more people connected, and everybody else is sitting in different places, and I’m drinking a Coke instead of coffee. There are dozens of differences,” I said.

“Think back to this afternoon, Michael,” Penny persisted in her FBI interrogation mode now. “It happened. The others suddenly couldn’t see you. What were you doing? What were you thinking? It’s got to be something you were thinking, or feeling, or doing.”

I tried, but I couldn’t come up with anything I hadn’t already tried.

“Uh, Michael?” Rose asked hesitantly, “Could it have been your crown? I thought you looked so different when you were wearing it this afternoon. It made you look so ... so regal.”

“You know, Rose” I said slowly. “I think you may be on to something. Hang on, I’ll be right back.”

I was back in less than two minutes, with both cases. Laying them on the table, I opened them carefully. Ileana immediately began removing the items and handing them reverently to me to slip on. Until she got to the crown. That she put on me herself.

“There. I think Rose is correct, you look very regal wearing that,” she said straightening the royal sash.

Impatiently, I tried putting my shield in place, still, nothing happened. I began to feel the disappointment creeping over me. I had believed that the crown had to have been it.

Standing in the aisle, I slowly reached for the sword. Just like this afternoon, I felt the twin rings begin to warm my finger slightly. Grasping the hilt with my right hand, I lifted the sword from the case. My left hand was reverberating from the ring’s pulsations as I brought it up to join my right hand on the hilt. I suddenly had the distinct impression that the rings were glad to be joined with the sword once again.

No one was saying anything, as they watched my every movement. Closing my mind, I raised my shield, but I didn’t feel anything happening.

“Oh, well...” I thought to myself as I lowered the sword’s point to touch the floor. “I tried.”

“He’s gone!” Eve cried.

Ileana reached out for the last place she had seen my arm, and finding it still there, held on to me tightly. When I later viewed their memories of that moment, I had to agree that she looked weird with her arm wrapped around nothing.

“Say something, Michael,” Grace said. “I want to know if we can still hear you.”

“Okay,” I replied. “What should we talk about?”

“I can see him!” squealed Alice.

I quickly realized that I could not speak and keep my heavy-duty shield in place. I had originally constructed it for peace and solitude. I had never envisioned needing it when I was actually talking.

I raised my shield again.

“He’s gone again,” Eve reported. I knew she was doing this so that the ones who were connected would know what was going on. I could sense the amazement in everyone in the Dining Car, while all those who were connected murmured excitedly in the background, asking for more details.

I looked around the Dining Car, watching them. While I didn’t feel anything different, I could tell that they were all amazed and confused that they couldn’t see me. I knew, that they knew, I was still there. If only because Ileana had her arm wrapped in mine.

Kalani was in the last booth, and I realized that this was the first time I had seen her amazed. “She’s the one that’s amazing,” I thought. “Amazingly beautiful.”

“Thank you, Michael. Even with your talents, you have no idea how it makes me feel, to know that you think I am still beautiful.”

I was confused because I had my shield in place to block out the thoughts of others. I considered it for a moment before I realized I had not constructed it to block my outgoing thoughts, but simply the invading emotions around me.

I had a hunch, as my eyes alighted on Hanna, so I tried it.

“I love you,” I thought to Hanna, who was seated at the back table, across the aisle from Kalani. Just like this afternoon, she was busily recording everything in her notebook. It occurred to me then that I needed to provide her with a secure place to store her notebooks when she filled one up.

“I love you, too,” Hanna said aloud. It worked. I could connect and still keep up my shield. I knew I was going to have to practice and work on improving my shield. But at the moment, I couldn’t see a practical reason for ever being invisible, except when school started. There was always the girls’ locker room!

“I’ll take care of the notebooks, Michael,” Vickie responded to my earlier thought almost automatically. “And you are such a pervert!”

“I love you, too,” I told her.

“I know,” she purred. “I am an empath, after all.”

Dropping my shield and becoming visible again, I replaced the sword in its case and began telling everyone who was connected remotely goodnight. As I cut the connections, one by one, Ileana had begun removing my crown and other items, replacing them reverently in their places. Then turning to me, she kissed my cheek. I closed the two cases and looked around the crowded car for a place to sit. I’ll admit it. After last night, and the excitement of today, I was so tired, I didn’t even feel like experimenting with my new found trick.

“I wonder if I could be invisible if I put them on?” Alice thought curiously as she reached for the case.

“NO-O-O!” screamed Kalani, as she saw Alice’s hand reach for the case. It was Ileana who, being closer, swept Alice’s hand away from the case a fraction of a second before she could touch it.

Alice looked at Ileana angrily, but my wife wouldn’t back down. Standing nose to nose, they were almost the same size, so if push came to shove, it might be an even match.

“Only those of my linage may safely touch the treasure,” Kalani began softy, hoping to diffuse the situation diplomatically. “It is said, that anyone who touches it, not of the royal line, will die. That’s why Ileana stopped you.”

Alice’s features softened at this new information. Finally, she turned to Ileana.

“Thanks’, I guess.”

“It’s okay, I understand,” Ileana told the girl. “I just didn’t want anyone to die tonight.”

“But what about Michael? Is he of your line?” Alice asked her, still slightly miffed.

My curiosity piqued at her tone, so I decide it was time to scan her. Miss Alice Castleberry was a very interesting young lady. At first, I had thought she was just spoiled. As the baby of the family, and the only one left at home, it was a natural conclusion. But as I delved a little deeper, I saw a series of contrasts. Alice would rather toss a softball with her dad or go to the rodeo, than go shopping with her mom. But she liked make-up and pretty dresses, especially if boys were around. She was lost in the kitchen, but had her own box of tools in the garage. She liked movement and action, to waiting, preferring her results immediately rather than soon, but she was an exceedingly deep thinker, with a serious side she didn’t let out often. Like I say, a series of contrasts.

Alice was also anxious to get on with life, but she wasn’t sure what she wanted to do. Her natural curiosity and absence of fear often combined for the excitement she seemed to crave. I honestly believed that she would choose a date to go rock climbing or skydiving over dinner and a show. Knowing what I had found made it a foregone conclusion that she would be the one to reach for the box, testing the unknown.

“No,” Kalani said slowly. “While Michael IS a Prince of Tapato, he is not of our linage.”

“Then how...” Alice persisted. “How can HE touch them and not die?” She was still not sure that the threat was real.

“For the last four hundred years, Alice, my family has been tasked as the guardians of the Protector’s treasure. It does not belong to us. We have only been guarding it, just as the original Protector, guarded our nation for over two hundred years,” Kalani patiently explained.