The Search for Truth (20 page)

Bethany opened her mouth to scream, and Erec clamped a hand over it. “Shhh.” He covered her eyes with his other hand, but she pushed him away.

Each half of Olwen was looking down at himself in shock. “What did you do to me?” When he spoke, both sides of his mouth moved at the same time, but his tongue was split so he sounded garbled.

Baskania stepped closer to inspect both sides of him. “No luck yet.” He made another motion, and now both halves of Olwen were split front to back. Each arm and leg were cleaved in two so he was four long strips. The front halves tripped forward a bit, and all four parts of him wavered unsteadily.

Unbelievably, Olwen was still talking. Erec could not understand him anymore, nor did he want to. Jack threw up in the bushes, and Erec almost joined him. Tears flowed down Bethany's face. When Erec saw her, his eyes brimmed over as well.

Baskania casually looked through Olwen's body, then split him again and again. Soon he was shredded into tiny pieces all over his floor. Erec only hoped that Olwen was no longer alive.

“Oh, well. It's not here,” Baskania said. “I suppose you were right, then.” He snapped his fingers and disappeared.

I
T TOOK MOST
of the night for the three of them to calm down. Jam was in and out of Bethany's mansion with hot compresses, trays of steaming milk, and hugs. Erec gagged on the milk and had to run to the bathroom, choking. Jack had a glazed look, as if he'd decided to take a vacation from reality. All three of them took turns crying and comforting each other.

“I guess that settles it,” Erec said. “The Fates were wrong.
There will be no fourth quest. Substance or no Substance.” They all decided to sleep on Bethany's beanbags. None of them wanted to be alone.

 

In the morning Erec felt groggy and stiff, with the sense that he'd had a terrible nightmare. After a while he realized that it had been real. The three decided to take a walk in the castle gardens for a change of scenery. Normally Erec loved the perfect, warm weather Alypium had because of its golden dome, even in the middle of winter. But now it all felt wrong. He'd had enough here. Going further with the quest did not seem possible, or even remotely desirable.

“I've got it,” he said. “We have a Port-O-Door. Let's take a trip somewhere fun. Jack's never been to Upper Earth. You'd love it there, Jack. We'll go somewhere relaxing and take a vacation.”

“Great idea.” Bethany perked up. “We could use a break. Somewhere warm. It's cold in North America now.”

“Maybe we could go to an island in the Caribbean,” Erec said. “Or Hawaii. I've always wanted to go there.”

“I've heard of Hawaii,” Jack said. “Something about ancient kings and magic totems.”

“Forget all that,” Erec said. “We're going to see the nonmagical part of Hawaii. Beaches, tourists, and luaus. I want to go scuba diving and climb a volcano.”

“Hey! What about Tahiti?” Bethany hopped on her toes, excited. “That could be great.”

“We'll do both!” Erec and Bethany high-fived each other.

Then Bethany's smile dropped. “Problem. What hotel will let us in—three kids without an adult? We'd get hassled the whole way.”

Erec thought a moment then stuck a finger in the air. And with one word, they were all grinning again. “Jam.”

“Yeah! He'll definitely come with us!” Bethany relaxed.
“Everyone will think we're a bunch of rich kids with our butler taking care of us.”

“We
are
a bunch of rich kids,” Erec said. “Don't forget the bags of gold, silver, and bronze coins we have. And you're living in a mansion here, remember? Now all we have to do is decide what we want to take with us. Who knows? Maybe we won't ever come back.”

“We've
got
to take the Serving Tray,” Bethany said. “And your Sneakers, in case we want to sneak anywhere.”

“And Wolfboy,” Erec added, “and Cutie Pie.”

“Of course.”

Jack thought a moment. “Maybe your mom could give you her glasses. Then we could stay as long as we wanted and check in with our families.”

Erec thought about his mother a moment. How could she object to this after he'd already been all over the world? It would be a piece of cake after risking his life so many times. And Jam would be there to keep an eye on them. That would seal it.

“Of course you'll want to take a few bathing suits and towels,” said a voice under them, making them jump. The Hermit was sitting cross-legged in a cluster of giant daisies, their huge multicolored tops spinning up and landing around his face. A large one covered his lap. Erec couldn't tell, but he hoped the Hermit was wearing something under the daisy. “And a good book or two. Nice to read by the beach.” He nodded. “You could stay a long time. A good ten years at least, until the world ended and Upper Earth died off. You'd all be about twenty-four then. Too bad time ends up going faster than you think.”

Erec scowled. He didn't want to hear it. “That's going to be someone else's problem. I'm through with it.”

The Hermit nodded. “It will be someone else's problem. Everyone else's problem. Too bad none of them will be able to solve it.”

“I can't either.” Erec pointed at himself, breathing harder. “It's over.”

“It sounds like it is over,” the Hermit agreed. “For everyone.”

“Hermit!” Erec punched his palm. “What can I do? You know what happened, I'm sure. Baskania searched Olwen Cullwich's house, and…” He couldn't say it. “He's gone now, anyway, if I ever had a chance to get that Twrch Trwyth from him. Even Baskania's given up.”

The Hermit put a finger to his lips. “Hmm. Who do you trust more, Baskania or the Fates? You know how our three girls work. How your cloudy thoughts work. Do you trust them? Did you doubt when your cloudy thought told you that Bethany would tell Oscar her secret, and Baskania would find it out if you didn't stop her?”

“No. But that was different,” Erec said. “I knew that. I don't know this.”

“You decide who to trust. Up to you!” The Hermit pretended to think hard. “So, you can trust Baskania, enjoy your vacation, and try to make the next ten years good ones, or you can trust the three Fates and do your quest. It's dangerous. No guarantee you will succeed or survive. You might be better off in Hawaii.”

Erec kicked a rock in frustration. It spun through the air and knocked the top off of a wide blue daisy with a yellow center, and sent it whirling into the air. Then he growled, “All right. Fine! I'll do it. At least whatever part of it I can. But afterward, it's Hawaii.”

 

There was another reason Erec could not go to Hawaii, when he thought about it. Balor Stain was going to blow up the Castle Alypium, and he still had not figured out how to stop him. It was time he gave it another try. He sat on his bed in the west wing and closed his eyes.

Soon he was entering the small, dark room in his mind, and
the two smaller, darker ones within it. Inside he again saw the box on the table, the part of him that knew everything his future had to hold. If only he could choose what it showed him. He wanted to see what would happen with this crazy, impossible quest. Then again, the Hermit had said he
was
choosing what to show himself. A different part of him was. If only he could make those two parts of himself meet and talk.

He ran his hand over the box, feeling the life pulse within it. Then, bracing himself, he opened the shades on the windows of his dragon eyes.

He was there again. Castle crashing down. People screaming and running. This time, before he rounded the corner, he turned back to look where he had come from. There he saw himself again, transfixed, holding the scepter.

He could feel the scepter's power streaming through his body, shooting from his fingers and toes. He could do anything at all that he wanted. The scepter pulled him closer. Soon he stood right next to the future version of himself, admiring the gleaming gold in his hand. He raised a finger to touch it, but it fell right through. The scepter, like everything here, was a mirage.

It was frustrating being so close to the scepter yet so far. He managed to pull himself away and walked around the corner to find Balor Stain.

There Balor stood, holding his bronze whistle and laughing. How could he rewind time? Find out what had happened before this moment? He walked up to Balor and passed a hand through him, not able to feel a thing. “You menace,” he said to Balor's image. “I'll figure this out, one way or another.”

Then he closed his eyes and concentrated.
Move back time. Push it further.
He knew it was all in the box. He just had to show it where to go.
Think. Back. See back…

It was working. Everything was a blur, but he could feel that time was going where he wanted. Backward.

 

Balor was laughing and pointing to the castle. Damon and Dollick were behind him. “Look,” he said. “It's crumbling.”

The castle begin to crash down. A massive spire trembled, then tipped, falling through a roof.

Balor's face lit with delight. “I love it! Hey, I know, guys.” He turned to his brothers. “Just the thing to help this along.” He picked up his bronze whistle and blew it.

Suddenly, swarms of bronze wraiths flew through the air. One hovered in front of Balor, red eyes burning.

“In there,” Balor said, pointing. “Go to it!”

The bronze ghosts sailed into the castle. Balor watched, laughing, still holding his whistle.

 

This was where Erec had first seen him. There would be nothing new from here. But, just in case, Erec stayed a while longer and watched the castle cave in. When it was nearly gone, and he couldn't take it anymore, he pulled the shades on the windows and left the small room in his head.

So, Balor really had called the bronze ghosts there. King Piter had been right about his whistle. Now if Erec could figure out how to change the future, not just watch it, he'd be set. But he comforted himself with the knowledge that he would be there, at least, with the scepter. He would use it afterward to fix whatever bad thing happened to the castle. No problem.

 

Erec looked in his backpack for the singing crystal that Swami Parvananda had given him in India. The Swami had said he knew Erec would need it. He felt guilty remembering that. He had
wanted to walk away from his quest too easily, give up too fast.

He picked up the tall, clear crystal. If this was the master of the five Awen, he might as well go on the Path of Wonder and find them. The crystal wasn't so difficult to get, so maybe the Awen wouldn't be either. How he would ever find the Twrch Trwyth, though, was beyond him.

Jack and Bethany were eating lunch in the west wing dining hall. Erec waved to them. “Listen, I've made a decision. I'm going to try to find the five Awen. If you guys could help me learn about them first, I'd really appreciate it. But I'd like to go on this quest with Jam, I think, if you two don't mind.”

Jack and Bethany shrugged, but neither of them looked happy. “Why is that?” Jack asked. “I haven't gone with you since your first quest. And I already took the time off with my tutor.”

“I don't know,” Erec said. “Just seems like a good idea.” He didn't want to bring up the real reason for his decision. He had put them—Bethany especially—in enough danger. After she appeared in Artie's house the night when the manticore could have shredded them all to bits, he was through jeopardizing her life.

Bethany's lip pushed out, but she didn't say anything. The three of them walked to the library tower in silence. Finally, she said what was on her mind. “Are you sure you even want me to go to the library with you? Since you're that sick of me?”

“That's not it,” Erec protested. “Really. I just—”

“Don't want to hang out with me anymore. I know.”

“No! I wish you could go. But—”

Her chin crinkled. “No biggie. I guess I just had us pegged as better friends than we really are.”

“Look.” Erec gave up pretending. “I do want you to come. But it drives me nuts to put you in danger. Please, just this time, wait here for me. I almost lost you in Otherness.”

“And I almost lost you. What's the difference? I'll be fine, Erec.” She had perked up considerably.

“The difference is that I have to go, and you don't.”

“This sounds familiar,” she said with a hint of a smile. “Isn't that what you said to me when we first met? You said you had to go through the sidewalk, into the unknown, and I didn't. It was too dangerous for me to risk it.” She paused. “But remember what I said? I'm going with you. That was the deal. You needed my help to get in. And I'm glad I did come. Imagine if I was still stuck there with nasty Earl Evirly.”

Just like back then, Erec worried about what would happen to her, but he also didn't like the idea of going alone without her. But this time he would stay firm. It wasn't the same. “No, Bethany. I'm glad you were with me before. But this might be more risky. If something happened to you I'd never forgive myself.”

Carol Esperpento, the librarian, sat at her desk. She lifted her squinting eyes to them over the narrow granny glasses that jutted out far from the sides of her face. She pointed at the third floor after they asked where they might find books about the Awen. “The books must stay here,” she warned sternly.

On the third floor, they found books about the Awen in the sections “The Great Magic of Upper Earth,” “History Mysteries,” and “The Awen of Celtic Poetry.”

Jack pulled a book off the shelf called
Ah, When? When Were the Awen Discovered, and How You Can Discover Them Too.

“Look at this.” Bethany laughed, pointing at a book called
Get Your Stinkin' Awen Away from Me
. She took
The Total Loser's Guide to Capturing the Awen and Not Losing Your Mind
and
How the Five Awen Ruined My Life
off the shelf and sat down. Erec picked up a book called
Aptly Named? Awen: Beauties or Beasts
.

“Hey, Erec,” Jack said. “Bad news, bud. Looks like these Awen
are kind of bad luck charms. At least that's what they seem like.” He read some more.

“I don't know,” Bethany said. “Here it says they hold really powerful magical spells made by an ancient druid. But they're stuck where they are. It's really hard to collect them….” She ran her finger down the page. “Oh, wait. Unless you have a singing crystal. It finds them like a metal detector and draws them in.”

“Yeah.” Erec saw the same thing in his book. It looked like bringing back the Awen would be easy with the singing crystal. “It says the crystal is the master of the Awen. Cool.”

Jack pointed. “The druid who created the Awen was called Bile. He did it by capturing huge amounts of power and putting them in really small packages. But the things caused a lot of damage. I mean a
lot
of damage. His whole land was ruined. So he made this Path of Wonder, a magic passageway that led to some of the most beautiful places on Earth, and he spread the Awen through it.” He frowned. “That way each of those spots had some of the problems, but they weren't all in his place, piled on top of one another.”