A/N: This is an idea I had for a while after seeing the "Can You Dig It?" episode. This will also be a Cailey but admittedly a twisted Cailey. You'll see why near the end.
"Normal speaking"
"Spirit speaking"
The True Purpose of Zaria
Inside a dark underground cave, two people were currently within it. One of the persons was a teenage girl who was wearing female barbarian warrior clothing. The girl had blonde hair, which was usually kept straightened, but was now in a somewhat wild fashion. Her usual creamy complexion was now a very pale one. And instead of the normal cheery and friendly expression on her face, it was twisted into a fearsome one. The other person who was in the cave with the girl was a blonde teenage boy. Unlike the girl he was wearing typical clothing, a light green t-shirt with a glasses' lens on a brown eyeball and buck teeth at the center of the shirt and khaki dark brown shorts. He had a normal Caucasian complexion, however it was slightly growing pale from the boy's increasing nerves. His face was full of panic and worry as he was at this time being dragged by force deeper into the cave by the girl's iron tight grip on his arm. The boy's name was Cody Martin and the girl's name was Bailey Pickett. However the girl, Bailey, was not herself at the moment. She was being possessed by the spirit of an ancient warrior princess named Zaria.
It had all started with the S.S. Tipton stopping in South America and the class of Seven Seas High going on a tour of the Temple of Zaria. However Cody had his own agenda for the trip. His goal for the trip was set on finding the uncovered Crown of Zaria. After having done long spent research prior to this trip, he knew that today he was going to find that crown. Unfortunately, his twin brother Zack Martin ended up being the one to find the crown at the end through pure luck and timing. So he claimed all the fame for his accidental discovery, leaving all of Cody's hard work unacknowledged and Cody in anger at his brother's actions. Yet at that time, what nobody knew was that by Zack removing the Crown of Zaria from its resting place, the spirit of the princess who owns the crown was set free. Unluckily Bailey was alone near Zaria's idol and so Zaria's spirit entered Bailey and took control of her body.
When Zaria discovered that her crown was no longer where it had been kept, she became alarmed and began searching for it immediately. When she hadn't found her crown anywhere in the area a hard determined look crossed Bailey's face. She then swore that nothing and no one would stop her until she found her crown. After Zaria had ran out of ideas of where to look for her crown she had decided to tap into her host's mind in hopes of getting a clue on where her crown could be. She saw many of Bailey's memories that hardly interested her and was about to leave Bailey's mind until memories of her time on the S.S. Tipton showed up. A huge smirk formed on Bailey's lips as Zaria not only had a good idea where her crown could be, but also found the other important piece that she needed. So with that she quickly left the area and headed for her new destination.
Everyone returned to the S.S. Tipton where Zack was sponging off all the fame he was receiving, Cody was angrily watching his brother take credit for all his hard work, and Princess Zaria, in Bailey's body, was continuing her search for her missing crown in Bailey's and London's room. Once Zaria found out from London that someone had actually stole her crown she grew furious and swore that she would make the perpetrator pay for their crime. She first decided to find more comfortable and familiar clothing as she could no longer stand wearing the poor common clothing that Bailey had on. Once she had her new attire she quickly headed to the Juice Bar, following London's advice. Zaria arrived at the Juice Bar and meant Cody who was still seething over Zack's fame. Cody was the only one that Zaria had meant after her awakening that she was able to tolerate so she decided to stay near him for awhile. Zaria listened to Cody as he continued ranting about Zack, not understanding most of what he was saying but getting the gist of it. However during his rant, Cody had unintentionally ratted out his brother to last person that should've known about it. Cody's words only confirmed to Zaria that Zack had indeed been the one to take her crown and told Cody what she planned for Zack's punishment. She was slightly pleased that he agreed with and liked the punishment, yet she made sure not to let it show. When Zaria finally saw her crown as Zack took it into his hands, she demanded it back from him. But what Zaria quickly realized was that unlike his brother, Zack was the most annoying to her and would not tolerate him patronizing her. She soon started chasing Zack around the deck trying to get her crown back while Cody had soon realized what was going on with Bailey. Yet before he could utter his realization out loud the sound of whip was heard. Zaria was finally able to catch and tie Zack up with his own whip before reclaiming her crown from him and gladly placing the crown on her head where it belonged. Now that her crown was back in her possession, Zaria was able to carry on with what she needed to do. She grabbed Zack and dumped him overboard before turning her sights on Cody. Zaria moved swiftly towards Cody, making everyone else move away from him.
"You are coming with me as well," Zaria proclaimed while grabbing Cody's arm causing a girlish squeal from Cody.
Zaria then started pulling Cody with her and took him overboard with her before anyone could do anything to stop her.
With the two twins now in her possession, she carried them back to her alter. Zaria had successfully buried Zack in the anthill that would punish him for his crime against her. As for Cody she forcibly took him with her, leaving Zack to suffer all by himself. It was easy for Zaria to handle Cody since he couldn't put up much of a fight anyway and because deep down he couldn't leave his girlfriend like this. So they arrived at the very same cave that housed the crown and started walking inside it. They had only been walking for five minutes and already Cody was losing his nerve. He just didn't know what to do. Running away was out of the question and he didn't know how to get Zaria out of Bailey so he was stuck.
"We have finally arrived," Zaria announced as they had stopped at a wall with numerous markings and carvings on it.
"So-uh Ba-Zaria, what are we doing here?" Cody asked nervously trying to be calm but failing miserably.
She turned to him with a smirk on her face before taking off her crown.
"You will see soon enough," she told him while placing her crown in one of the carvings on the wall.
Cody's eyes widened as he watched the crown glow and a passage way on the wall opened up before them. Zaria then pushed Cody through the opening before she took her crown from the wall and placed it back on her head. Once she too entered the passage the door instantly closed right behind her.
Meanwhile for the past half hour, Zack had been screaming for help as the feeling of many ants crawling and biting all over his skin made him fear for his life. Luckily for Zack the rescue party had heard his frantic screaming and was able to find him. The group consisting of London, Ms. Tutweiller, Reese, and the press from XOMG News. They all spotted Zack and Reese quickly went over to help him out of the anthill. As soon as Zack was out he started frantically trying to get all the ants off of him.
"Jeez, took you guys long enough!" complained Zack after he was free of ants.
"Zack, where's Cody and Bailey?" Ms. Tutweiller asked seriously, quickly coming up to him.
"I don't know! Bailey took him off somewhere after putting me in that anthill," Zack answered before leaning his head closer to Ms. Tutweiller.
"Between you and me, I think being Cody's girlfriend had finally made Bailey go completely insane," he whispered to his teacher, which made Emma exasperated before taking an authoritative face.
"Ok, everyone split up and let's go find them!" she announced and everyone was just about to do that until a familiar voice interrupted them.
"Actually, everyone don't split up and find us because we're right here," publicized Cody as he and Bailey, holding hands, walked out towards the crowd.
Emma sighed in relief before becoming authoritative again and facing them.
"Ok you two, where have you been?" she asked them.
"And where is the Crown of Zaria?" questioned Isabel Cruise, the news reporter.
"And why did you put me in an anthill?" Zack demanded to know.
"Oh and why do keep wearing poor and ridiculous clothing all the time?" wondered London to Bailey causing everyone to stare at her strangely before decided to ignore her comment.
"Cody, Bailey, I want to know what's going on now," Ms. Tutweiller insisted of them.
Cody and Bailey glanced at each other nervously, trying to think of what to say to everyone. Yet seeing everyone waiting for an answer, Cody came up with something to say.
"You see…the truth is…we felt that it was best to return the Crown of Zaria where it belonged," replied Cody, happy that he was able to come up with something.
"Excuse me, you thought what?" asked Isabel Cruise with an unbelievable expression on her face at the loss of her current scoop.
"That's right," said Bailey, getting everyone's attention.
This made her a little nervous but an encouraging look from Cody told her to go on.
"Well…I felt that the crown shouldn't have been taken from its resting place…I mean if you were a dead princess who had her crown taken from her grave wouldn't you be unhappy about it?" replied Bailey.
People started agreeing with that but Ms. Tutweiller still wasn't convinced.
"That still doesn't explain why you acted the way did on the ship," she retorted to Bailey, bringing everyone's focus back on Bailey.
"Um-actually it does," Cody said, trying to get attention away from Bailey, which worked perfectly because eyes were on Cody now.
"It does?" Reese asked confused.
"What better way to prove a point than dramatization," Cody declared with a light smile on his face as he spread his arms out for emphasis.
"Yep that's it! I was acting as I thought Princess Zaria would act if she found out her crown was stolen from her to prove that she defiantly wouldn't be happy about it," cheerfully explained Bailey, giving Cody a quick grateful smile.
"Bailey's right, it is said that taking the precious items of the deceased leaves their spirits in anger and resentment. It's best if the crown stays so Zaria can truly be at peace in the afterlife," Reese claimed, bringing smiles and understanding among the group.
Everyone had fully accepted this and Isabel was now talking once again to the camera.
"Well you heard it here. The drastic acts of a teenage girl's protest against the finding of the Crown of Zaria have touched our hearts. And so it is agreed that the Crown of Zaria will remain with Zaria where it truly belongs," ended Isabel before she signaled the camera to be shut off and her and the crew left.
"Can we go now? This place is starting to get on my nerves," complained London with an annoyed expression on her face.
"I thought it was already getting on your nerves when we first came here…before even leaving the ship," countered Bailey giving London an implausible look.
"And hearing your voice speaking is making it worse," retorted London making a frown come on Bailey's lips before London had enough and left the area to go back to the ship.
"Wait a minute!" exclaimed Zack, looking at Bailey.
"Why did you stick me in that anthill then?" he asked her, which made a grin form on Bailey's lips.
She walked closer to Zack a wrapped her arm around his neck.
"Zack, you mess with my boyfriend, you mess with me. Understand?" she whispered threateningly in his ear causing a gulp of fear in Zack's throat.
"Ah huh," he uttered out fearfully, making Bailey's grin bigger.
"Good," Bailey said while giving Zack a pat on his shoulder before removing her arm from him.
"Alright everyone I think that's enough adventure for one day! Now let's get back to the ship…Besides some of us have a date this evening," Ms. Tutweiller announced and the others started leaving as well.
"Cody, could you come here for a minute?" she called out before Cody and Bailey were about to leave.
This made the two stop but Cody told Bailey to go on ahead.
"I'll meet you back on the boat," Bailey stated before giving Cody a quick peck on his cheek and leaving Ms. Tutweiller and Cody alone.
"So what's up Ms. Tutweiller?" asked Cody, moving in closer to talk to her.
"Ok I know I'm going to regret asking this even though the press is gone now, but what really had happened Cody?" she questioned him to which Cody bit his lips before he decided to just come out with it.
"Bailey was possessed by the spirit of Princess Zaria because we had unearthed her crown. And she put Zack in an anthill as punishment for taking her crown. She took me to the place where the crown was kept because she was planning to use me as some kind of sacrifice to resurrect her high priest so they could rule once again. Luckily while she was busy preparing me as a sacrifice, there were hieroglyphs on the walls that mentioned that returning the crown where it belonged would appease Zaria's spirit. So when I knew what to do I tried reaching through to Bailey and it worked. She and Zaria ended up fighting for control and so I was able to get the crown while the fight was happening. Once I returned the crown Zaria's spirit left Bailey and then we returned back here," summarized Cody, making an unreadable expression cross Emma's face.
"Yep I was right…I would regret asking that," she commented with her hand on her head before walking away in exhaustion from hearing the explanation, leaving Cody the only one remaining.
A serious expression suddenly appeared on Cody's face as he made sure no one was still around. When he was sure that he was alone, he went over to the podium where Zaria's idol was. He then took the idol in his hands and threw it as hard as he could at the stone wall. A pleased smirk formed on Cody's lips when the idol broke into pieces that could never be assembled back together again. With that done, Cody finally left the burial ground of Zaria.
It was late at night on the S.S. Tipton when most of the occupants were asleep by now. Nevertheless Bailey, who looked like her normal self again and was back in regular cloths, was still awake. She was currently leaning on the railing on the deck looking out at the scenery of the land she had been on earlier that day. While she was gazing, a pair of arms hugged her from behind and pulled her into a chest. She smiled already knowing who was behind her. A grin spread on Cody's face as he leaned his head close to her shoulder and started nibbling on Bailey's neck. She let a light moan escape her lips as she moved her head to expose more of her neck for him. Cody gladly took advantage of this and kissed stronger on her neck before trailing kisses all the way to her earlobe. He let his breath tickle her ear before he spoke in a very deep voice that clearly didn't sound like Cody's at all.
"You preformed well my princess."
Bailey's lips made a smirk as she slightly turned her head toward his.
"You as well my high priest," Zaria replied, brining her fingers to stroke his cheek.
"We are finally united again after so many years of separation," whispered Zaria with a small hint of joy in her words.
"It is because of you my love," he whispered back as he took her hand in his and squeezed it.
Flashback
After Zaria walked through the now closed passage, she immediately grabbed Cody and proceeded dragging him further into the hidden chamber. Despite his current situation, Cody's nerdy nature couldn't resist marveling and observing the place he was now in. He could tell by the size of the area, the exquisite and priceless items around it, the delicately crafted carvings and symbols on the walls, and the altar that was in the center of the room, that this place was another burial sanctuary. Curiosity was becoming too much for Cody so he risked asking the question that popped into his mind.
"Whose altar is this?"
Zaria gave him a critical look that made anxiety creep back in Cody, yet she opened her mouth to speak.
"My high priest's," she answered calmly, surprising Cody that she had answered in a rational way.
This gave Cody a little more confidence to ask Zaria the question he asked earlier in hopes of getting a better answer this time.
"Why did you bring me here?" he asked as nicely as possible, knowing of Zaria's dangerous temper.
"You will free him from his imprisonment," Zaria told him, which caused alarms to go off in Cody's head when he realized what she was planning.
"There's no way I'm getting possessed, especially by a spirit I haven't even been introduced properly to!" strongly responded Cody, now trying harder to get out of Zaria's grip.
Nonetheless Zaria tightened her hold on Cody and glared at him with fearsome eyes that froze Cody in fear.
"You should feel honored that I choose you to be his vessel!" Zaria proclaimed before bringing him to where the alter in the chamber was.
On the alter was a golden idol similar to Zaria's, except the idol was of a masculine head and around the idol's neck was a golden medallion shaped as one of the thunder marks with different color rubes incrusted around it's sides and one in the center of it.
"Remove the pendant!" she commanded to Cody.
Cody having a good idea of what would happen if he did what she said gained some courage and glared back at Zaria.
"No! I won't do it!" he yelled back, once again trying to escape from Zaria's grasp.
"You dare defy me?" Zaria shouted while tightening her hold on his arm to the point that Cody was forced down to his knees.
"Now remove the pendent or else!" she threatened.
Cody was scared and puzzled at the same time. It was obvious that she wanted to release her high priest and that he was supposed to be his new 'home'. But something still felt off to Cody before it suddenly clicked to him.
"You can't remove it yourself can you?" Cody questioned, making Zaria harden her glare at him as his answer.
Unfortunately asking that question had made Zaria angrier and she lifted up Cody from the ground.
"You will do as I say!" she proclaimed while her fists clenched tighter on the neck collar of Cody's shirt.
Her grip was so strong that she was causing the neck line of his shirt to tighten around his neck which was starting to make him suffocate.
"B…Bailey," choked out Cody as his air was decreasing rapidly.
This made Bailey's eyes widen in shock as Bailey started breaking through.
"Cody?" Bailey asked in surprise before quickly letting him go.
Once he had been released, Cody began greedily taking back air into his lungs, bringing a regretful look hit Bailey's face.
"Oh my gosh! Cody I…"
"Will be silent!" interrupted Zaria, trying to get control over Bailey's body again.
"No! I won't!" Bailey countered back, trying to fend off Zaria's spirit that was inside her.
Cody, having got his air back, right away noticed the struggle that was going on between Bailey and Zaria.
"Bailey, fight her! I know you can do it!" Cody shouted in encouragement, hoping that his support would be enough to help Bailey.
Bailey hearing and noticing Cody soon faced him with an urgent expression on her face.
"Cody, listen to me. You've got to take the crown and…"
But Bailey couldn't' finish her sentence as throbbing erupted in her head. She had to shut her eyes and held her head tight from the pain she felt because Zaria was fighting her back with a vengeance. Seeing this Cody rapidly walked up to Bailey and held her at her sides.
"Bailey and what!" begged Cody, knowing that Bailey had the answer that he needed.
Yet when the pain left from Bailey's face a scowl took its place before Cody's arms were suddenly grabbed in a strong hold. Cody's eyes widened in fear, immediately realizing that Zaria was now in control of Bailey's body.
"No Bailey, please!" Cody pleaded desperately, praying that he could reach Bailey again.
"ENOUGH!" Zaria shouted in an infuriated tone, getting irritated with their resistance.
She then twisted Cody around in her grip, making it so that his back was now facing her. She let both hands clench onto both of Cody's wrists locking him in place.
"True, I can't remove the pendent. But I can still make you do it by force," she told him while yanking him a few inches off the ground and carrying him closer to the altar once more.
Cody struggled to break free but again Zaria's strength was too much for him to handle. When they reached the altar, Zaria took one of Cody's hands that she held in her grip and started bringing it closer to the idol.
"Please stop!" he pleaded again, however his words fell on deaf ears as Zaria continued to move his hand closer and closer to the medallion on the idol.
When his fingers touched the pendant a shiver of dread went through Cody. Zaria then swiftly left his wrist and covered her hand over his, putting an amount of pressure on his hand so that it couldn't slip out of hers. She forced his hands to curl firmly around the gold hexagon medallion before lifting his hand upward until the pendant was over the idol that was no longer wearing it. The panic grew in Cody when his hand held the pendant and he felt it vibrating just as Zaria's crown had when her spirit had been freed. That was when Zaria released Cody and stepped back to make some distance between them. Cody had quickly registered that Zaria had let him go but before he could make a move a green smoke came out of the idol and immediately entered his body.
A blank look was on Cody's face for a minute before a curious look replaced it. However a delighted expression followed after when he noticed the pendant in his hand and happily put it around his neck. His gaze then went to the idol and hatred instantly adorned Cody's features. He then acted on impulse and grabbed the idol before smashing it on the ground into bits. A feeling of satisfaction came over him at seeing the idol now destroyed.
"Perun," called out Zaria, making him turn towards her with surprised eyes.
"Zaria?" Perun asked carefully, even though he already believed it was his princess.
"Indeed, it is I," she answered causing a thoughtful expression on Cody's face.
Perun had an idea of what was going on but he wanted to make sure of it and get more details. So he took a moment to enter his host's mind to distinguish what had happened. Once he was done scanning Cody's memories, a small grin displayed on his face.
"I see," he replied before taking Zaria into his arms.
"I missed you," confessed Perun in a sincere tone.
"And I you," Zaria admitted back with a ghost of a smile on her lips.
They moved their heads closer to each other with their lips getting ready to connect.
"SOMBODY HELP ME!" they heard Zack scream from afar, interrupting their moment.
But instead of the disappointed looks expected on their faces from being interrupted, amused ones took place on them.
"I believe that is our cue to leave," Perun stated, bringing a smirk to Bailey's lips.
"So it is," Zaria agreed as the two started walking out of the cave together hand in hand.
End Flashback
Zaria and Perun smiled at the memory, but then an aggravated scowl appeared on Bailey's face.
"How long do we have to keep this charade? These people around us are sickening, especially that dim-witted one I'm forced to share a room with," she stated irritably just thinking about how she would soon have to return back to that meager room with London.
"Zaria you must be patient. Remember we are now in a new world, new time…new bodies," Perun reminded her before cupping her face in his hands and gazing at her with intense eyes.
"We must gather our bearings back before we can rule once more in this era. You need to be grateful that we can still access our abilities in these bodies," he remarked, making Zaria sigh in understanding.
"As usual you are right Perun. Very well I will tolerate them, but only for us," Zaria replied with certainty.
"I won't have it any other way," he agreed before smiling at her.
"But for now…you are my girlfriend Bailey Pickett," Perun confirmed while switching his voice back to Cody's and letting Cody's forehead touch Bailey's
"And you…are my boyfriend Cody Martin," proclaimed Zaria as she changed back to Bailey's voice as well.
The two then leaned into a passionate kiss to commemorate their second and new chance at life.
A/N: Hope this was enjoyable to read.
Ok, this episode had left plenty of holes in it and so I took advantage of them.
One of the main things that made me think was why Zaria wanted her crown that badly. She clearly wanted it back and as Cody had said "Boy, she really doesn't want to give up that crown." Zaria even admitted that it had sentimental value because she wore it to prom. This made me wonder if she had a date for the prom and that if the crown could have been given to her as a romantic gift. And since they said in the beginning that her high priest made the crown for her I made him her lover in the story.
The next thing that I wondered about. Since putting the crown back on her idol was to appease Zaria's spirit then why didn't she want them to do that? It seemed to me that it was like she had been trapped but freed and then trapped again (and freed again by London lol). So in this story I took it that she had been imprisoned in her idol which is why Cody (Perun) broke the idols. Without the idols their spirits can't be trapped back in them again.
Another thing I took note of was of Zaria being on the S.S. Tipton and in the correct room despite how many rooms and floors there are in the ship. And then when London told her to look for Zack at the Juice Bar Zaria knew right where that was. So the question was how did she know about the ship, where it was, and where Bailey and London's cabin was? In this story my answer for that was that she had the power to read Bailey's mind and thus knew where important things were located.
Now I don't know if it was just me or if anyone else noticed, but it seemed Zaria was the most tolerable around Cody. Everyone else she kind of threatened, insulted, or was physical with. Zaria only lifted Cody off the ground a little bit and called him a dog near the end but other than that she was actually conversing and talking to him in an non aggressive (towards him anyway) manner.
Hope that clears some things up. Also I'm thinking about doing a multi-chapter story for this. It would go through the episodes after this one but with differences obviously. So if you want me to do a story for this let me know! Here's what the story would be:
Title: A Rose's Hidden Thorns
Rating: M
Genre: Romance/General
Characters: Cody M. & Bailey P. (duh)
Full Summary: After the S.S. Tipton's stop in South America, people have taken notice of the changes in Cody and Bailey. Bailey's more confident. She's taking more pride in her appearance and attire. She's standing up to London more. And she's toned down on her country attitude. Cody is also more confident and braver. He's improved his physical endurance. He's also standing up to Zack more. And he's also toned down his nerdy attitude. Not to mention that their relationship seems to be stronger than ever. Most see this as a good thing; however there are a few who believe something is very wrong with it. Too bad those few people don't know just how right they are.