The Search for Truth (13 page)

Silence was his only answer, and for a moment Erec felt ridiculous talking into well water. But then he heard giggling and shrieking. It sounded like he had channeled into a slumber party. Maybe he had gotten the wrong number.

“It's Erec!” one of them shouted, sounding more like a crazed fan than a supernatural being who ruled over the fates of humans.

“Eeeeeek!” they all screamed, laughing.

“We were
so
expecting you,” a voice giggled. “Too bad you can't pop over and, like, hang with us for a while.” She sounded like a Valley girl, yet older and more earthy at the same time. In fact, the Fates managed to come across as extremely young and amazingly
old at the same time. The only thing that wasn't quite human was the immense energy in their voices. Erec heard giggling, along with sounds of ice rattling and clinking glasses.

“I was wondering if you could tell me what the rest of my third quest is,” he said. “It got broken off in Al's Well.”

“Well, like, du-uh!” one of the Fates burst out. Erec could just imagine her rolling her eyes and painting her nails. “I mean, like, who do you think broke it? Unh!”

Another said, “We wanted you to come chat with us, Erec. And you didn't really, like,
want
to get the whole quest right then. I mean, did you?”

She was right. Balor would have found out what it was. And if Erec had not had to stick his hand back into Al's Well to look for the rest of the quest, he would never have escaped. “Can you tell me what the whole quest is now?” he asked.

Bursts of laughter issued from the well. A few of the Fates started to talk, but dissolved into fits of giggles. Finally one of them choked out, “G-get…be-hind.” They all started laughing so hard that even Erec could not help but smile.

“What is it?” he said. “Get behind what?”

“That's it!” one said with glee, chortling, “Get…be…behind! Oh, yeah,” she said with a giggle, “and set it free.”

“Get behind and set it free?” Erec repeated, confused. “That's my quest?”

“Yes!” The three of them screamed, laughing anew as if it was the best joke they had ever heard. He heard more glasses clinking. Someone said, “Pour me another Cosmos Ripple, Decima.”

“Oeww-kay.” Erec glanced at the Hermit, who nodded sagely, as if this were a grave discussion. “So I have to get behind and set it free.”

More hysterics broke out when he said it. It seemed best to move on and worry about the strange quest later. In fact, he thought, this
might be a good reason to step out and not do the quest after all. Nobody would be able to figure out what it meant.

“I have another question,” he said. “When I look into my future, I keep seeing a building exploding and people running away in fear. What's happening?”

The laughter calmed down, and after a few sniffs one of them said. “You will, like, totally figure that out soon. That's the Castle Alypium exploding, kid.” Her voice warbled, “It's like mega-awesome. We love it, don't we, girls?'

There was a chorus of “Oh, yeah”s and “So rad”s.

The Castle Alypium exploding? Erec choked. And they loved it? How could they? He had felt the terror there. Then again, the Fates might not care much about human lives. They saw birth and death on a much bigger scale. But Erec would figure out what would happen to the castle. And he would stop it.

After some more movement in the bushes, a wiry boy with reddish hair rushed toward him—Oscar Felix. Erec flushed with anger as soon as he saw him. “Now you're following us, Oscar? Spying on us for Baskania? So you can tell him what we're up to? Just get away from me. I'm not letting you ruin things again.”

Oscar's face was red. “Erec, please believe me. I've never talked to Baskania. He was lying. Really. That's why I came out here. Ask…ask that thing for me. Okay?”

Erec looked into the well. Why not? “Is Oscar Felix letting Baskania know where we are?”

A Fate said, “Well, like,
duh
. I mean, you already know that. Why are you asking us?”

Erec glared at Oscar.

“No! It's not true. They're wrong!” Oscar said.

Bethany frowned. “Erec, could you ask the Fates if Oscar is lying, if he knows that he is talking to Baskania?”

Erec leaned into the well. “Does Oscar know he is talking to Baskania?”

The Fates began shouting “Yes” and “No” until they were lost in laughter again. Oscar stared into the well, stunned. “There he is, girls. Unh! Fine!”

One of them talked insultingly slow. “I'll put it re-al-ly simp-ly so he un-der-stands. Okay? Rosco is telling Baskania everything Oscar knows.”

“Rosco? Can he read my mind?” Oscar's face bunched up like he was about to cry. “I'll get 'im. I will. Just wait. He's dead. I'll get 'im.”

“How does Rosco know what Oscar is thinking?” Bethany asked. “Did he put a spell on him? Plant something on Oscar so he knows his thoughts?”

“Rosco ruined
everything,
” Oscar said. “I can't go on the quests. Now my friends can't be with me. And I bet my dad died because of our fighting. That wouldn't have happened if Rosco hadn't turned out to be a criminal.”

Bethany patted his back. “Don't even think that. There is no way your father died just because you were arguing with him. That's you feeling guilty.”

Oscar jutted his chin up. “All right then. Ask the well, Erec. Ask it. I want to know why my dad died.”

“I don't know if that's a good idea.” Erec did not want to upset him even more.

Oscar shook like he was about to explode. “Do it. I have to know. If you were ever my friend, then do this for me.”

There was more rustling in the bushes behind them. Erec looked around, but whoever was there stayed hidden. He asked the well, “How did Oscar's father die?”

“He killed him.” The Fate's voice sounded upset.

All eyes fell on Oscar. Oscar looked around, terrified. “I did not! I didn't. They're lying! That's crazy.”

Erec turned toward the well. “Who killed him?” He was afraid to hear the answer.

It sounded like one of them said, “Oscar.” But then they all heard it loud and clear. “Rosco killed him. He used a magic spell to make him stop breathing.”

Oscar sank to the ground, crying. “Rosco did it,” he said. “Rosco.” He buried his face in his arms, sobbing. Then he rolled on the ground, pounding his feet and fists into it. Erec heard him say between hiccups, “…if it's the last thing I do. I'm having my revenge.”

Bethany sat by Oscar and rubbed his back. There was more rustling behind Erec. He had more questions for the Oracle, and had to ask them fast. The Fates' chatter was fading, as if they were losing interest in him. “Wait,” he called, “I have another question.”

The voice of one of the Fates tinkled like a bell. “Your girlfriend better, like, jump in this well right now, before we talk any more. I mean, if you even like her at all. Or she'll be toast.”

“What?” Erec looked at Bethany in shock. That didn't make any sense. Why did she have to go into the well?

Bethany didn't look excited about jumping in either. “Huh? Ask them why.”

But the Hermit pushed her to the edge. “Don't argue. These three know what will happen, remember? Get in. There you go.”

Bethany took a look at Oscar, then she put two and two together. Someone nasty would arrive soon. She jumped into the well with a splash and disappeared. Erec was glad she had Instagills. He leaned over the well again. “Could you tell me, quick, who my father is?”

A hand on his shoulder jerked him backward, and he fell onto the ground. Balor Stain shoved past him and looked into the well. “All right. I've waited long enough, ‘got behind' him like I was supposed to. Stupid quest. Now it's my turn to ask some questions.”

The Fates could see Balor but not hear him, Erec knew, since he was not a medium. So they seemed to think that Erec's question had been for Balor. “Look!” they screeched. “It's Balor Stain! Can you believe it? And he wants to know who his father is.” They giggled.

“I do not,” Balor said. “I know my father.”

“This will be
so
funny,” a Fate said. “He has no clue. Who gets to tell him?”

Erec dusted himself off and came closer. Everyone stared at the well, mesmerized.

“I'll do it!” the voice of one of the Fates rang out. “Balor, you and your brothers, Damon and Dollick Stain, were born on April twentieth, almost fourteen years ago, in Alypium. You were triplets, cloned from Thanatos Argus Baskania, who is your real father, then given to Mauvis and Perdita Stain to raise. I mean, like, Balor, didn't you notice something was weird about you guys?”

Erec stared at Balor in shock. He did look like Baskania, now that she mentioned it. Just much younger, with black hair and only two eyes. Balor looked like he was working something out in his head.

“Why does Damon have a bone coming out of his head, and Dollick look like a sheep, then?” Erec asked the well.

The Fates giggled. “They really, like, screwed up the cloning job. Thanatos Baskania had just eaten lamb for dinner. And when they took the laser slice from him to clone Dollick, part of the slice went through Baskania's stomach and got some lamb in it. And
the slice for Damon got too big a piece of Baskania's thigh bone. So it messed his head up. That Vulcan cloning thing was pretty new then, and it still had bugs.”

“Yeah,” another said, “eeew. It was so gross. The bugs were, like, all over it.”

A shadow fell over the well. The Fates screamed, “Eek!” and “Eeew!”

Erec looked up to see many eyes gazing back at him from one face.

O
SCAR!” BASKANIA CRIED.
“Thank you again, so much, for alerting me that your friend is here. You will be well rewarded, I assure you. In fact,” he raised his chin and grinned smugly under his many darting eyes, “someday I will place you at my side, put my full trust in our friendship.”

Oscar spat in the grass but seemed afraid to say more.

Then Baskania turned to Balor, seething. “Are you happy now,
fool? I sent you to do one thing. ‘Get behind' Erec. It was your last chance to do something right. And instead you run up and ask the Fates who your real father is?” He sneered. “That was for me to decide
if
and when to tell you.”

Balor looked stunned, like he was not absorbing what Baskania, his father, was saying. Erec knew that Baskania's attention would turn to him before too long. There was only one way out, and he needed to try to escape before Baskania noticed it too.

“Oscar.” Erec nudged him with his foot. He nodded toward the bushes and whispered, “Go. Don't look at me.” Oscar must have understood, for in a moment he was gone.

Baskania did not seem to care that Oscar had left. He looked at Erec and rubbed his hands together.

In a single motion Erec dove into the well. A second later Bethany was swimming beside him, their Instagills open again.

The Fates must have been helping him, for a strong current sucked them away, fast. The water felt both boiling hot and freezing cold, but it quickly turned to a normal temperature.

“Look!” Bethany screamed. Two thick ropes spiraled through the water toward them like snakes. Erec was sure Baskania had sent them. He kicked faster to get away, but one of the ropes was gaining on him. He knew it would wind tightly around him and drag him back to the Oracle.

“This way!” Bethany took a sharp turn into a small tunnel to the bottom of a lake. The ropes jerked behind them, spinning closer.

Then Erec heard a voice. “All right. Like, fine.” “Fine” sounded like “fi-yun.” It was one of the Fates. “We'll, like, fix it. Just this one time, since we were having such a fun chat. Don't count on us again, all right, kiddies?”

Out of nowhere two snapping turtles appeared in front of Baskania's ropes. The ropes sprang at the surprised reptiles and bound them tightly, dragging them away.

Bethany grinned, delighted. “Those turtles will give Baskania a little surprise. I hope they snap off his fingers.”

“Or at least one of his eyes.”

The image made both of them burst out laughing.

 

They waded out of the lake and sat drying in the sun under a stand of tall trees. A village stood in the distance, and cars rumbled far away. “At least we're not deep in a jungle this time,” Erec said.

“I just can't believe that Balor Stain and his brothers are Baskania's sons,” Bethany said.

“Clones,” added Erec. It gave him a chill.

“I don't think Balor liked it either,” she said. “Imagine finding out Baskania was your dad.”

Erec would not have wanted that shock. “But you'd think Balor would love it,” he said. “He was so proud to be the son of the ‘great sorcerer Mauvis Stain.' Now his dad is even more powerful and evil. How perfect.”

“I bet he'll like it once he gets used to it,” Bethany agreed.

“Funny, he'll turn fourteen on April twentieth. He's just two days younger than me,” Erec said.

Bethany considered that. “Interesting. I'll bet Baskania planned on Balor, Damon, and Dollick taking over the Kingdoms of the Keepers all the way back when he cloned them.”

“And here I show up, trying to take the throne away from them.” Erec nodded. “No wonder he hates me. I just wish I knew why I am supposed to be destined to rule here. It doesn't make sense. And also who those other kids are who are supposed to rule with me. Why did we get picked?” He wished he had more time to ask the Oracle questions. He could have spent days there, just finding things out.

What had he really learned at the Oracle, anyway? He'd heard
a lot more about the Stain brothers than himself. He learned that Rosco had some tap into Oscar's mind and had killed Oscar's father. But what about the things he really needed to know? That terrible explosion in his future was the Castle Alypium blowing up. But he still had no idea when it would happen, or why, or how to stop it. And what he had found out about the rest of his quest was useless. “Get behind and set it free”? What could that possibly mean?

 

Erec took the Serving Tray out of his backpack, and they ate pizza, macaroni and cheese, chocolate bars, four types of chips, five kinds of cookies, French fries, and, in an effort by Bethany to be healthy, an orange.

But when they finished, they both felt a sense of loss. “Should we walk to those houses over there and see where we are?” Bethany asked.

“I guess.” Erec shrugged. “I don't know what else to do. We'll have to find a place to sleep soon.” They started walking. “I just wish the Hermit was here. Maybe he could help.”

“I do too,” a voice sounded right behind them. “If we could only find him, things would be so much better.”

They spun around to see the Hermit strolling along, clicking his tongue in disappointment. Below the Hermit's long robes, feathers sprung from the back of his shoes like odd wings.

“Hey!” Erec shouted. Bethany threw her arms around him, then quickly pulled them away, not fully comfortable with him yet.

“What should we do?” Erec asked the Hermit. “I have no clue what that quest means. ‘Get behind and set it free'?”

The Hermit giggled, then doubled over laughing. It seemed that he had the same sense of humor that the Fates did. “Oh, it's precious.” He gasped. “Get be-hind. Oh…” He sank to the ground
laughing, tears of mirth rolling down his face, and pounded the ground in delight.

Bethany and Erec waited expectantly until he calmed down.

“I know where you need to go. So perfect. So beautiful.” He chuckled. “I can't tell you what to do there. That is up to you. But I know where you must go to find out. Tonight you can sleep on this nice patch of leaves. We will leave in the morning for Ceryneia.”

“Where is Ceryneia?” asked Bethany.

“In Otherness,” said the Hermit. “Much farther south than where you were before. It's right on the border of Otherness and northern Thailand, close to where the Ping River springs from the Chiang Dao Mountains. Not too far from the Upper Earth city Chiang Mai.”

“Otherness is in Thailand?” Erec tried to remember what Jam had told him about Otherness. It ran through many countries and was filled with creatures that had been exiled first from Upper Earth and then from the Kingdoms of the Keepers. Jam had said a big section of Otherness ran through remote parts of Russia and China, and a bunch of other countries. Upper Earth people stayed away from those areas because they were hard to reach and untamed. They were also kept away by the spells and force fields that Baskania had put around Otherness.

The Hermit said, “There are parts of Otherness in most countries, some more than others. Ceryneia is a beautiful part of Otherness, just like Thailand is a beautiful part of Upper Earth.”

Erec wished that his quest was more clear. His second quest had also been vague: “You must stop the monsters in Lerna.” He'd had no idea who the monsters had been. In fact, he'd had it all wrong. But at least it had told him where to go. “Remember my first quest?” he asked. “It told me to open Patchouli's eggs in Nemea. You can't get more specific than that. I wonder why this one barely said anything.”

“Maybe it had to be this way,” Bethany said. “The Fates probably
knew that the Hermit would figure it out. If it had been specific, then Balor and Baskania would know where to go too. Balor probably heard what the Fates told you at the Oracle.”

She had a good point. Balor knew the whole quest now too, but he probably was as clueless as Erec would have been—as Erec was about everything else. The other important problems he had to solve still loomed over him. Who would blow up the Castle Alypium, and when? Plus, how could he help fix the Substance before things got worse on Upper Earth and all the bees disappeared? He wasn't sure if life would end on Upper Earth first because of the Substance draining out, or if the plants would disappear without bees to pollinate them, and there would be no oxygen left.

If only he knew his father, it would all be so much better. He wished that he had just that simple pleasure. Someone from here who could help him. Having a father was something most people didn't think twice about. Couldn't he have that one small thing?

The Hermit, almost as if he knew something Erec did not, crossed his arms, looked at the sky, and started to whistle.

 

After breakfast from the Serving Tray the next morning, Erec and Bethany followed the Hermit through the castle Port-O-Door and into the vestibule. After tapping the yellow square marked
OTHERNESS
, a map appeared on the screen. The Hermit touched the spot labeled
CERYNEIA
at the southern end, right near the border. He chose an unlabeled section and the door clicked.

Their Port-O-Door turned out to have lodged itself in the wide trunk of a jackfruit tree. The massive fruits with green, pebbled skin hung over their heads, some of the darker ones bigger than Erec could reach his arms around. They stepped into the sunlight of a perfect day. Dense bamboo thickets clustered nearby. Bright red orange blossoms with banana-shaped petals hung from tall coral tree
branches. A few of the ripe jackfruits lying on the ground smelled of rotting onions, but even this did not mar the effect of the gorgeous scenery before them.

Erec and Bethany walked in awe, the Hermit trailing behind them. Narrow streams trickling through the mountains dropped off breathtaking waterfalls. Yet Erec was soon thinking about his quest. “‘Get behind and set it free.' What could that mean? I'm guessing something is stuck under a big rock. I need to get behind the rock and push it out of the way to set the thing free.”

“I don't know,” Bethany said. “I was thinking you would have to get behind someone's idea. You know, support them. And with you backing them, you can set their idea free.”

“Baskania seemed to think that Balor had to get behind me or get behind in the search.” Erec tripped over a heavy jackfruit. “That couldn't be it, could it? I don't want to go find Balor and get behind him.”

“I doubt Balor has anything to do with it,” Bethany said. “Or the Fates wouldn't have made it so he doesn't even know where we are.”

Erec agreed. “Maybe a big animal is stuck somewhere. If I get behind it I can find a way to set it free.” He felt better about the quest now. The Hermit had taken him to the right place at least. Setting something free didn't sound nearly as bad as the battle in Otherness that had been his second quest.

Around a corner, a small village was nestled in the mountain. People worked on terraced fields cut into the hillside. The Hermit said that they were paddies, where farmers grew rice.

Bethany began to skip down the path, and Erec sped up to join her. It was exciting to be with her here in Asia, whether it was Otherness or Upper Earth. The people in the rice paddies looked human from a distance, but when Erec got closer he saw most of them had four or more arms. Several had extra legs as well. He counted sixteen arms and four legs on one of the men.

“Look,” Bethany whispered. “They move so gracefully, like they're gliding.”

Both the men and women had straight, long, black hair, but the women had pinned their hair up with lotus blossoms. A few of them appeared male in half of their bodies and female in the other half. Some had third eyes on their foreheads. Odd as they looked, they were beautiful and mesmerizing.

“What are they?” Erec asked.

“They have no name,” the Hermit said. “Or they go by many names. They are very powerful. They once mingled with people, long ago, but now they choose to live in Otherness.”

Erec could have watched them work all day, but the Hermit urged them along. “There is a human who lives here. He might be able to help you with your quest.”

They walked up a dirt path into the village. A few of the elegant, many-limbed beings drifted in and out of the buildings and down the streets, but none of them paid attention to Erec and Bethany. Their houses looked welcoming, full of soft fabrics and vibrant colors.

A ranch house, much plainer than the rest, stood on the edge of town. A chubby man sat on the front stoop gazing at the mountains. He had only two arms and two legs, and definitely did not look as graceful as the others in the village. Scraggly gray hair fell on the sides of his face, circling his mostly bald head.

“I'll be watching,” the Hermit said. But when Erec turned around, he was gone.

When the kids approached, a delighted smile lit the man's face. He wore a dark brown sackcloth tied around his waist with a rope, similar to Swami Parvananda's garb. His skin was far lighter, though, and covered with warts. When Erec got closer, he could see that the man had a glass eye, like Erec once had. It looked cloudy and old, though, like it needed changing.

“What brings you kids round here?” His voice sounded so goofy it made Erec wonder if he was crazy. But his one eye twinkled, and he seemed nice enough. “You just here to visit? Or are youse on the run?”

Erec wondered if he should tell him about his quest but decided to find out more first. “Just visiting,” he said. “What's your name?”

“Call me Artie,” the man said, his voice bouncing all over the place. “I just likes to live here with these nice people in Otherness. They's so pretty. Youse pretty too,” he said, pointing at Bethany. “Not youse so much.” He pointed at Erec. “Youse okay, but youse ain't pretty.”

“Uh, thanks,” Erec said. “So, anything interesting going on around here?”