The Search for Truth (6 page)

Oscar ran at Baskania and tried to kick him in the leg. Before his foot hit, Oscar sailed backward and slammed against a wall.

“Now, now, Oscar,” Baskania said. “That is no way to treat a friend.” His eyebrows lowered. “I would not advise trying that again.” He turned to Janus. “Now that we know Al's Well is ready, Balor Stain will be drawing the quest today. Erec will stay here in case I need him to help Balor. And when I no longer need Erec here, I will bring him back to my fortress. Come, Balor.”

Balor walked to the paper pad and picked up the feathered quill. He signed his own name, and Erec's name, several times. The signatures did not fill with light as Erec's had.

Balor looked at Baskania, and this time the fear in Balor's face was unmistakable. He opened the door that led into the Labor
Society. A shimmering bubble filled the door frame, the same one that only Erec had been able to pass through. Balor stepped back, then rammed himself at the membrane. He fell back, unable to get in.

After a few attempts Baskania sneered. “I'll get you there my own way.” He snapped his fingers, and he and Balor disappeared.

All eyes in the room focused on Oscar. “How could you?” Bethany asked.

“I didn't do anything!” Oscar yelled, enraged. “He lied. I never saw him before today.”

“How did he know your name, then?” Jack asked, his voice cold and hard.

“How do I know?” Oscar put his hands over his face. “Aargh!” he shouted. Then he looked at Jack. “I can't believe this. It's not my fault! Why won't you trust me?”

Jack stared at him. He said slowly, “So help me, Oscar. If you're lying—”

“I'm not!” Oscar grabbed his shoulders, frantic. “Believe me.”

Jack sighed. “I do believe you. I just don't get it though.” He looked at Erec. “Hey, I know Oscar really well. I think he's telling the truth.”

Erec and Bethany nodded. Erec had his doubts, but it didn't seem like arguing would help.

Oscar started to calm down. “Now,” he said, determined, “let's think of a way out of here.” In a flash, he grabbed a large dust-covered item off a shelf and swung it hard at Gog Magnon.

Erec could not believe his eyes. Either Oscar had been telling the truth, or he was truly sorry for what he'd done. Attacking a massive oaf like that was pretty bold, or stupid.

Before the object, which may have been a lamp, hit Magnon in the head, Arrete performed his famous trick of stopping time. One
second later the lamp was back on the shelf, and Oscar was crumpled on the floor across the room.

“Huh?” Magnon grunted, confused. He looked like he was thinking about clobbering Oscar but decided not to, as he hadn't been touched.

Erec thought about trying a dragon call, even though Baskania had blocked the building against it. But before he began to focus on it, Baskania and Balor appeared again. Balor looked angry, wiping a hand on his blue cloak. He must have reached into Al's Well and not had any luck. Erec remembered what Balor had pulled from the well last time and gave him a smirk.

“All right, Erec.” Baskania's eyebrows lowered at him. “It seems you will be necessary. Sign the paper.”

The ropes fell instantly from Erec's sides and he picked up the feather quill. He hesitated a moment, wondering if he should do it. But he realized that he was unable to fight. If he drew the quest from the well, he would at least know what to do. Maybe if he survived, he could attempt the quest—although surviving did not look likely.

As he signed the pad, the letters of his name cracked deep into the paper. Bright light shone from the words into the shop.

“Take Balor with you through the side entrance,” Baskania said.

Erec walked with Balor to the bubblelike material that glistened in the door frame. He passed his hand through easily. Balor stepped in front of him, blocking him, but bounced off the force field like it was rubber.

Then Erec slid right around Balor and into the Labor Society building. He filled with new hope. Was this possible? He had escaped! If he could just get—

But something yanked him right back into the shop. Balor had grabbed Erec's jacket and kept part of it from crossing the barrier, using it to pull him back. “Oh, no you don't, you loser. Let's try
this.” He shoved Erec behind him and threw Erec's arms over his shoulders. Then, holding his wrists, like Erec was some kind of cape, Balor tried to butt his way through the membrane. Erec's hands slid in, but Balor bounced off.

“Forget it, Balor,” Baskania said, disgusted. With a nod, he and Balor disappeared from sight.

Seizing his chance, Erec charged through the doorway into the huge glass and steel Labor Society lobby. Was he free? He looked around. Nobody seemed to notice him.

But a hand fell heavily onto his shoulder. Of course Baskania would not let him go that easily.

Balor was waiting by the elevators. They rode down to the bottom floor. Baskania followed Erec and Balor up the hill to the well. He tapped on the gravestone marked
JACK
that they passed at the bottom. “Looks like it's time for Jack to have some company.”

When they got to the top of the hill, the door in the stone was open. Al lumbered over, waving them in. He looked just like a plumber in his overalls and tool belt, and was carrying a big plunger. “You two back again?” Al said, eyeing Baskania and Balor.

The stench hit Erec right away. He had forgotten how awful it smelled here. Al had called it the “smell of life” because “people's fates weren't always that sweet.” He had said Erec would get used to it, but Erec doubted that was possible. Balor and Baskania were disgusted, not liking the smell any more than he did.

“I gotta finish polishing it, after that last mess.” Al shot a look of disapproval at Baskania, then walked through an opening in the round shower curtain around the well and bent over it. The back of his overalls were loose, so his shirt came up and the top of his rear end showed over his pants. Balor snickered.

Al backed out and closed the curtain. “Let's do it right this time,” he said. Erec was amazed that Al did not seem afraid of Baskania.

He yanked a cord and the curtain flew open, revealing the gleaming white toilet that was Al's Well. Servants behind Erec stood in a row and bowed deeply before it. Erec thought he heard a distant chorus singing a single note: “Aaaahhhh.”

Al gestured toward the toilet. Balor followed Erec and stood next to him.

“You want to go first?” Erec asked Balor, smirking.

Balor scowled at him.

“You will both reach in at the same time,” Baskania's voice boomed. “Balor will take the paper, either in the well or as soon as it's out. Balor—before he sees it.”

Erec got onto his knees before the porcelain commode. The inside was a straight drop into blackness, like a never-ending latrine. He reached a hand inside. The air within it was misty, and the water seemed boiling hot and ice cold at the same time. He almost jerked his hand out, until he realized that it did not hurt him.

Balor crouched next to him, plunging his hand in. Both of them fished around in the strange liquid. Chills raced through Erec. What would the quest say? Would Baskania let him find out? Would it be something dangerous? He knew the quest was meant for him. It didn't seem right that it was being taken away.

A thick, warm paper entered his grasp. This was it! He tugged, but it was caught on something. Was it Balor? Did he have it?

Balor looked like he had something, but from the look on his face he wasn't sure what it was.

Erec tugged, and he felt the paper rip. He fished around a moment, but the other piece was gone. Both Erec and Balor pulled their hands out at the same time.

In Erec's hand dripped a piece of paper, torn at the end. In Balor's hand was a smelly, slimy piece of poop.

Balor shrieked and flung it into the grass. Almost in the same
movement he grabbed the paper from Erec's hand. He wiped his hand on the grass and read the quest. Confusion filled his face. “‘Get behind?'” he said. Then he gasped in shock, and looked from Erec to Baskania, aware that he had read it aloud. “I'm sorry,” he sputtered to Baskania. “It just didn't make any sense, or I wouldn't have said it. Look, the end is ripped off.”

Baskania turned over the paper as Balor again wiped his hand on the grass and then the shower curtain, to Al's annoyance. “
Get behind
”? Erec thought. What kind of a quest was that? Only part of one, it seemed. Get behind what? He snickered at Balor. “Looks like the Fates sent you a message, too.”

“Reach back in,” Baskania commanded. “Find the other part.”

Balor sat poised to grab the paper, this time not bothering to reach into the liquid himself. Erec stuck an arm all the way into the toilet. He could feel nothing except for the strange liquid.

Al, standing in his line of sight, mouthed something at him. Erec could not tell what he was saying. He seemed to be repeating a word, but what was it?

Then Al made a little motion with his hand. And Erec suddenly understood.

Flush.

Erec put his left hand up by the toilet handle, pretending to grasp so he could reach deeper in. Then he grabbed the handle and pulled.

A
HUGE ROAR FILLED
Erec's ears, and he was sucked headfirst into the toilet. As he flew in, he caught a glimpse of shock on the faces of Balor and Baskania.

Erec choked and sputtered in the liquid as he shot through a long tunnel. He felt pops in both of his wrists and then something opening there. His breathing became regular again. With a jolt, he realized that his Instagills had opened, and he was breathing
through them. Erec and Bethany had won the Instagills—automatic gills that opened when they were in water—in Queen Posey's Sea Search contest when he had first come to Alypium.

Colors that Erec had never seen before whirled around as he spun through the liquid in Al's Well. He had the sensation of being surrounded by fire and ice, a feeling that almost burned yet did not hurt at all. As he plummeted through the giant tube, the liquid around him was replaced by regular water. It sped him around bends and curves gently, rushing past other openings and forks, carrying him through an underground network, as if he were a tadpole. He looked for the other half of the paper with his third quest written on it as he swirled on, but even if it were somewhere in the water, it would have been nearly impossible to find.

A smile burst across Erec's face. He was free and soaring safely away, somewhere. If only he had seen the whole quest he would know what to do. But, then again, Balor would have seen it too.

The tunnel felt like a giant water slide, whipping and turning him this way and that. Erec began cheering. He found that he could hear himself, even though he was underwater. Maybe the Instagills had that effect too. In the end, he slipped up through a thick, dark pipe and into a shallow pool. His head popped out of the water and he took a breath. The feathery gills in his wrists shut back into slits.

Erec tried to absorb what he saw around him. He was indoors, in a small rectangular pool of water that sat on a pedestal—the pedestal being the tube he had just come through. The water was only up to his chest as he sat on the bottom. Around the room were shelves stacked with games and books. The room felt oddly familiar. Erec was sure he had been here before.

Then he realized. This was the game room. He was in the castle! Bethany and he had fallen onto the wall in this room when the castle had been on its side. The games and furniture had been piled on the
wall then. Only the pool table had remained fixed to the floor.

Erec remembered what had happened when Bethany accidentally flipped a shelf up with her foot. The top of the pool table had opened and loads of water had dumped right on top of her.

He was in that pool table! Erec looked around, amazed, and then climbed out, dripping water all over the rug. He found the same shelf that Bethany had kicked on the side of the room. It was pushed up against the wall. When he pulled the shelf flat, a green felt top covered the water in the pool table. The shelf was marked with a few wavy lines—a water symbol. He flipped the shelf up and down a few times and watched the water appear and disappear under the felt top. It must have opened automatically when he shot out of the tunnel.

Now he understood why the table had dumped tons of water on Bethany when the room was on its side. It was a passage out of the castle, leading into endless water tunnels.

Dripping all the way, he walked to his room in the west wing, dried off, and changed. He was safe now, and nobody knew where he was. If only he could find a way to figure out the rest of his third quest.

 

Erec called Jam on the house phone in his room, then met with him in the west wing dining hall. He figured it was a good place to wait for Bethany, since they hadn't eaten dinner yet. After Erec told Jam about what had happened, the butler looked faint. “Young sir, I believe you have had enough near-death experiences for all of us. Maybe it's time to relax a while. Rest in your room if you like. I'm more than happy to bring you anything you want there.”

“I'm fine, Jam,” Erec said. “I just want to find out what my quest was supposed to be. How will I ever know?”

Jam studied him. “Well, young sir, you do have those dragon eyes. Maybe you could learn to use them.”

That was it! His dragon eyes could show him the future—and let him change it. That was exactly what he needed to do. Patchouli said she could teach him how to do it. Now he would just have to find her.

Bethany walked in, then stopped, staring at him in shock. “Erec? You're okay?” She threw her arms around him and then Jam, as if hugging one person wasn't enough to show her relief.

Erec grinned, thankful that she was safe as well. “Bethany, do you remember that pool table in the south wing near the castle armory that dumped water on you?” He told her how he had been catapulted there, flushed through Al's Well.

She laughed. “That explains one more thing I saw. Janus helped Jack, Oscar, and me escape from his shop after you and Baskania were gone. We hid behind some trees and bushes nearby, just in case you showed up and needed us. After a while we heard this noise. It was Balor, bursting out of a ditch filled with water. He was soaking wet, coughing and choking. I couldn't understand how he got there, or why. But I bet he flushed himself after you and ended up there.”

Erec grinned. Of course Balor would try to follow him. “I wonder why we ended up in different places?”

Bethany thought a moment. “I bet the Fates had a hand in it. It is their well, right?”

“Yeah,” Erec agreed. “And guess what they sent him when he reached into Al's Well?” They both laughed until their sides hurt.

“How did Janus help you guys escape?” he asked.

Bethany sighed with relief. “He was babbling, and kept pointing to different things around his shop. I thought he was just nervous. But then he made a big fuss about one of the dusty things sitting on a shelf. He acted all worried that someone was going to steal it, said it was really valuable and nobody should touch it, and we weren't really supposed to be in there anyway.

“I thought he had gone overboard from all the stress. But he was pretty crafty after all. John Arrete picked the thing up, whatever it was, and he froze like a statue. Gog Magnon looked confused. He's not too bright, because when Janus begged him not to take the thing out of Arrete's hands, he grabbed it too, and froze. We just ran out of there.”

“I hope Janus doesn't get in trouble for that,” Erec said. Then he thought of something that made him frown. “I don't understand why Oscar is telling Baskania where I am. I can't believe it. I never thought he would do this to me.”

Bethany shook her head. “I don't think he did anything, Erec. That's the strange thing. I believe him. Just looking at him, how upset he got at Baskania—”

“It was all an act,” Erec scoffed. “Why would Baskania make up something like that? And how else would he know we would be there early?”

“I don't know,” she said, puzzled by that too. “It's not like I have a good explanation. I just know Oscar.”

“I don't think you do.” Erec felt impatient. “What about my cloudy thought? If you had told your secret to Oscar you'd be dead right now. He has to be talking to Baskania.”

Bethany could see Erec was still tense, and she changed the subject. “So the only part of the third quest you heard was ‘Get behind'?”

Jam served Erec some macaroni and cheese, and Bethany loaded her plate with some of the goodies that were now in front of them. “Yeah. ‘Get behind.' That really tells me a lot.”

“I'm going to find King Piter.” Bethany stood. “Wait here. Maybe he has an idea what we can do.”

Jam disappeared for a while, and he was just returning with three cloud cream sundaes when King Piter walked into the room with
Bethany. “I'm glad you caught me, Erec,” he said. “I'm leaving tonight for Upper Earth and won't be back for a few days.”

“Jam.” Erec motioned toward a chair. “Get a sundae for yourself, too, and join us, okay?”

Jam sheepishly nodded. Erec thought he looked grateful even though he was embarrassed.

The king listened to Erec tell about the ripped quest. “That's a shame,” he said. “That never happened to Pluto, Posey, and me when we did our quests.” He frowned. “Which reminds me, you are still doing them all alone.” He shook his head. “I wish there was a better way.”

“I've taken friends with me,” Erec said.

“I know, Erec. That's not the same.” The king shook his head. “I think you understand.”

Erec did understand. His friends' help was important, necessary even. And it felt good to have company. But it was different than truly sharing the burdens with someone. All of the big decisions had been his alone. King Piter had done his quests to become king with his triplet siblings. Erec thought it must be nice to be part of a real team.

“How can we find out who the other two future rulers are, who are supposed to be doing this with me?” he asked.

King Piter didn't answer. Instead, he studied the wooden table. Erec watched him carefully. Something in the king's face struck him as odd.

“You know who they are, don't you?” Erec asked.

The king looked up at him guiltily, and anger rushed through Erec. How could he? The king did know who they were, and he was holding back that information too.

“Why is everything a secret? If there are two others out there who can help me, tell me who they are now.”

“There is nobody who can help now, I'm afraid,” the king said. “There are problems with both of them, you see.”

“Problems?” Erec said, enraged. “What problems? Who are they? Where are they?”

King Piter sighed. “Yes, problems. One of them is missing, you see. And the other—”

“The other is not missing?” Erec felt faint. “Who is it?”

“No.” King Piter shook his head. “The one who is not missing cannot help you. I want her to stay hidden, for her own safety.”

Erec sat down, stunned. Two kids somewhere could be doing the quests with him right now. Two other suckers who, for whatever reason, were also chosen to be the rightful rulers. Well, they were smarter than he was, staying away from the scepters and the dangers of the quests.

King Piter cleared his throat. “You need to find out what your third quest is, first and foremost. I think you'll need to consult the Oracle.”

Erec thought he had heard of the Oracle before. He tried to clear his mind, swallowing his anger.

“What is the Oracle?” Bethany asked.

“It's the one place where you can speak directly to the three Fates,” King Piter said. “I think you were meant to go there. They are the ones who design your quests, knowing how the thread of your life entwines with all of ours around you. If they gave you only a part of your quest, I think that means you need to go to them to find out the rest.”

“So they know my future, then?” Erec asked. That sounded interesting.

“They know everybody's future. The Fates are the only ones who can give real prophecies.” He looked pensive. “Except one seer from long ago. Bea Cleary, the one who foretold the future rulers of Alypium. But she was very rare.”

“And not part of my Cleary family tree, I found out,” Bethany said with a scowl.

“Where is the Oracle?” Erec asked.

“It's in Delphi, Mount Parnassus,” the king said. “Central Greece.”

“Greece? In Upper Earth?” Bethany was surprised. “But I thought magic things don't exist in Upper Earth.”

“On the contrary,” King Piter said. “Life itself is magic, Bethany. But if the Substance gets messed up any further, I'm afraid you may be right.”

Erec did not want to think about the missing bees and life on Upper Earth coming to an end. All he could deal with was thinking about surviving this next quest—if he ever found out what it was. And, of course, wondering who and where the other two chosen rulers of the kingdoms were. On top of his usual questions about who his real father and birth mother were, and why they had left him. Just a few small things to worry about.

“What about my dragon eyes?” Erec asked. “Maybe if I learn how to use them to tell the future, I can figure out what to do.”

“That may take some time,” King Piter said. “It's not a bad idea, though. Why don't you take the Hermit with you to the Oracle? He could probably teach you how to use your dragon eyes along the way.”

“The Hermit?” Erec tried not to sound as shocked as he felt. “He's a little…strange, don't you think? I mean, I never could tell what he was talking about. I'm not sure if he's the right one to teach me.”

“Well, you better get used to him,” the king said. “Because I appointed him to be your new magic tutor.”

 

The next morning at breakfast, Erec noticed that Jam had slipped some classic Alypium dishes in—ambrosia, a fluffy white pudding
sprinkled with nuts and berries, and nectar, a drink that tasted like sparkling honey. They actually tasted great, and after he ate he could feel energy surge through him.

“I can't believe King Piter knows who the other two future rulers are, and he won't tell me,” Erec said. “Can you believe that guy? We'll have to come up with a way to find them.”

Bethany nodded, uncomfortable. Erec felt guilty complaining about her father figure and decided to drop it. “Do you want to come with me to the Oracle?” he asked instead. Jam was nearby, adjusting a chafing dish of scrambled eggs. He seemed to be listening. “Jam?” Erec asked. “Could you come too?”

Jam's face flushed with excitement. “Sir! Young sir! Well. I don't know if I'm worthy of your newest trek, but I assure you there would be nothing more…” He stopped, at a loss for words.

“Great!” Erec said. “So you'll come, then!”

Jam muttered something about making arrangements and rushed from the room. Bethany grinned. “I'm in. This will be fun! Hey, can we invite Jack and Oscar? I know that's more than three people, but since you're not exactly doing the quest yet, it shouldn't matter.”