The Alchemyst

Flamel remembers the words of the prophecy, which he first learned about centuries earlier and now believes is about the twins. He thinks Josh and Sophie will be able to stop the Elder Race from returning and destroying humankind. The mysterious Abraham, who wrote the Codex, recorded that the Elders possess magic to control four of the five elements, Air, Fire, Water, and Earth. However, they cannot control Time, which is why they want the Book of Abraham. The Codex also contains the spells that could free the Elders after Abraham banished them. Flamel’s thoughts are interrupted when the ghost sent by Perenelle appears to warn him about the Morrigan’s intention to wake Bastet.

After dinner, Scathach warns Sophie and Josh not to leave their rooms during the night because there are dangerous creatures in Hekate’s Shadowrealm. Finally alone, the twins discuss their surreal experiences of the day and decide to run away. They sneak out of the house, but soon realize that they cannot use the car because the tree has siphoned its energy. As they debate running through the forest instead, three winged creatures, which Sophie identifies as pterosaurs, land near them. Josh is about to fend them off with a fire extinguisher when one of them telepathically tells them that they are not enemies.

In his car, Dee reminisces about his first encounter with Flamel in Paris, a century after the alchemyst’s supposed death, and the moment he became Flamel’s apprentice. He then remembers the moment when he was first approached by members of the Elder Race who promised he would control the world if he brought them the Codex. When Dee arrives at Bastet’s home, a luxurious estate in Bel-Air, he is led down to the basement by her servants. He tells Bastet, an Egyptian goddess in the shape of a woman with a cat’s head, that the Morrigan has called upon her to attack Hekate.

The twins are herded back to Scathach by the pterosaurs. Scathach leads them to Flamel’s room, and the latter explains that they cannot go home. He tells them the gist of the prophecy from the Codex that mentions them, then mentions that they all will need to leave because of Bastet’s arrival. Hekate, now in her young girl form, was alerted by the sentient house and joins their conversation. She tells Flamel that she will not awaken the two teenagers’ full magical potential, because it might overwhelm their senses, or even kill them.

As Hekate leaves, followed by Flamel, Josh tries to question Scathach about their situation. When he approaches her, she throws him to the ground and refuses to answer him. She tells the teenagers that she wants to teach them some self-defense moves, mentioning that she was the original inspiration behind most martial arts. Josh and Sophie reply that they have experience with taekwondo and karate, and they begin practicing. In another room, Flamel eventually convinces Hekate to awaken the twins’ power, arguing that they are all part of Abraham’s prophecy. Flamel himself is mentioned in it as the second to last Guardian of the Book.

Dee watches as all the cats and birds of San Francisco swarm to Hekate’s Shadowrealm. Bastet and the Morrigan eventually arrive and begin their attack on the Goddess’s home.

Josh and Sophie debate going through the Awakening as Hekate’s creatures prepare for combat around them. They eventually agree to go through the process together just as Scathach warns that their enemies have entered the Shadowrealm. Hekate takes Sophie and Josh downstairs, under the Yggrasill’s roots. The Goddess explains that “magic is really only the utilization of the entire spectrum of the senses” (227), which is why it could overwhelm them to the point of killing them. She begins the process with Sophie, the older of the twins.

Dee follows the birds and cats into Hekate’s Shadowrealm, where the animals turn into dangerous half-human creatures. Flamel, armed with a magic staff, and Scathach have taken position in front of the chamber where Hekate is awakening the twins. Inside, the Goddess is going through the ritual with Sophie, whose senses are soon overloaded, and she faints. Josh is distraught, but Hekate suddenly realizes that her enemies have set fire to the World Tree and runs away to stop them.

Flamel and Josh carry Sophie outside with Scathach protecting them. She and Flamel fight off Bastet and the Morrigan’s creatures, and they soon catch a glimpse of Dee fighting a Torc Allta. Scathach and Flamel realize Dee must have left a car at the entrance of the Shadowrealm. As they attempt to flee, they are stopped when Bastet suddenly leaps onto Flamel’s back.

Perenelle is being taken out of her cell by Dee’s simulacra, his magically animated servants, when the ghost of the security guard reappears. When he shows her a vision of her husband in danger, she knocks out the simulacra. She then rushes to a puddle on the ground, from which she can see what is happening on the battlefield, and uses it to communicate with a still unconscious Sophie, urging her to wake up.

Sophie is awoken by Perenelle’s voice and is overwhelmed by the sounds of the battlefield. Perenelle then takes control of Sophie, using her magic to turn the half-human creatures attacking them back into normal birds and cats. The sorceress then speaks to Bastet through Sophie, warning her that the young girl’s magic will be the Goddess’s undoing. Bastet runs away, and Perenelle tells Flamel to take the children to the Witch.

Dee watches the fight between Bastet, the Morrigan, and Hekate unfold. When Hekate successfully separates Bastet from the Morrigan, the Cat Goddess attacks Flamel instead. Dee realizes that Hekate may win, so he thrusts his sword, Excalibur, into the World Tree. The Yggrasill starts turning to ice, and Hekate’s power falters. While they watch the dying tree and the struggling Goddess, the Morrigan congratulates Dee on his idea. Bastet informs them of Sophie’s power, but she and the others have escaped. The World Tree eventually dies and falls on Hekate, crushing her to death as well.