The Secret of Ashona (29 page)

“No!” Erec panicked. “Stop! Tell me anything. Will I find my lost siblings soon? Would that help me? What should I do to keep from going bad?”

One of the Fates sounded frustrated. “The
only
thing I will tell you to do is to stop asking us so many questions! If you start to bug us we’ll never talk to you again! Now, like, go turn into a dragon or something!”

The waters in the well grew quiet and still.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Bad News from a Pen

V
OICES ECHOED
and crashes resounded on the other side of the Port-O-Door when Erec and his family returned from the Oracle. They stood in the vestibule, afraid to go into the house.

“What’s that?” Erec put a hand in front of the doorknob to stop Zoey from opening it. “Somebody’s in there.”

June looked worried. “I left the doors locked. Who could it be?”

They listened for a minute. Something was dumped onto the floor, and then something else. It was obvious that the apartment was being searched.

“Let’s see who it is!” Bethany looked angry, and wanted to march in the room and see what was going on. “We’re not going to let them get away with this!”

“Let’s be safe. I’m sure it’s Baskania’s soldiers. They’re probably searching for the scepter. After all I’ve been through lately, I’ve learned not to rush in.”

“But I thought your apartment was protected by the chalk King Piter gave your mom!”

Erec thought a moment. “I guess Baskania did something when he had the scepter—located us or something. It won’t be safe here anymore.”

Spartacus stuck his head into the vestibule of the Port-O-Door through the wall. “You’re right, Erec. Alypium and Aorth soldiers are all over the place, searching for your scepter. Guess who sent them.”

“I thought so,” Erec said. “How long are they going to stay?”

Everyone looked at Erec funny, like he wasn’t making sense.

“Who knows?” Spartacus said. “I’ve been having fun with them, though. If you want to come out it’s okay—I’ll protect you all.”

Erec laughed, imagining what Spartacus had been doing to the soldiers. “Are you sure we’ll be okay? I mean, can you watch all seven of us at once?”

Now Erec’s family, Jam, and Bethany were all staring as if Erec had gone crazy. “Are you talking to yourself?” June asked.

But at the same time, Spartacus was saying, “No problem, kiddo. Piece of cake.”

Erec remembered what it had been like to be a ghost, and agreed that Spartacus would be able to handle the soldiers. Plus, it would be fun to see what happened. So, to the surprise of everyone in the Port-O-Door, Erec opened it up and walked out.

“There he is!” one of the soldiers shouted. A few pointed guns at him.

“Nice and slow, Erec Rex. Put your hands over your head. No funny stuff.”

Erec put his hands over his head. His family walked out behind him, stunned. June tried to reason with a soldier, and Zoey started bawling. But then the windows flew open. One at a time, guns popped out of the soldiers’ hands and flew out, disappearing in the distance.

“Quit that! Stop!” One of the officers still carrying a rifle pulled the trigger. The bullet shot out, but stopped in the air midway to Erec, its target. It then began to perform loop-de-loops in the air, and ended up flying back to the officer and wedging itself up his nose.

“How is he doing that?” The soldiers were obviously frightened, but trying not to show it.

One officer sounded like he was in charge. “Erec Rex. We have a warrant to obtain any magical items that you have in your possession, including a golden scepter, and any objects that you might be wearing around your neck. Please hand those over, tell us where the scepter is, and we will leave you in peace. We saw it here when we first came in, then it seemed to vanish.”

Erec laughed. “That wasn’t the real scepter. I wish I could help you. I can’t give you anything, though. You’ll have to go tell your boss he’s a big loser.”

This didn’t go over well—probably because the soldiers were terrified of coming back empty-handed.

“See here.” A tall, brutish soldier with chest hair popping out from under his uniform stalked over and looked down on Erec, thick hands on his hips. “You better not mess with us, or you’re going to be sorry, kid.” He stuck a finger out and poked Erec hard in the shoulder.

In a moment, the soldier was flying overhead in circles, shouting in horror. “Put me down! Stop it! Please—I’m sorry, okay?” After a
few circles near the ceiling, the guy flew out the window and landed on the lawn.

Erec looked around with a smirk, as if he had done that himself. “Anyone else want a ride?”

Most of the soldiers fled the apartment, and the few that remained were tossed out of the window by Spartacus. Erec dusted his hands.

Bethany looked at him with amazement. “How did you do that? You’ve gotten amazing at finger magic!”

Erec laughed. Why not let her think he had done it? It wasn’t like Spartacus could rat him out—nobody could hear him.

Except for Erec. “Oh, that’s a good one,” Spartacus said. “Take all the credit for my hard work.”

“I’m sorry,” Erec laughed. “It’s not like anyone here could pat
you
on the back, anyway.”

Bethany’s face turned red, thinking that Erec was talking to her. “Well, we can’t all be superheroes, I guess.” She stuck her chin in the air and crossed her arms.

“I’m sorry!” Erec caught up to her. “I wasn’t talking to you.”

“It sure sounded like it.” Bethany obviously didn’t believe him. “Who could you be talking to, then?”

There was obviously no more keeping this secret. “Spartacus Kilroy. Remember we did things together as ghosts? Well, he’s here now. He’s the one who took care of the soldiers, not me.”

Everyone looked around the room as if they might be able to see him.

“Where is he?” Zoey asked.

A chair bounced up and down in response.

“Thanks, Spartacus!” June exclaimed.

“It’s good to see you again!” Bethany said. “I mean . . . be with you . . .”

“He says hello,” Erec said. Then he winked. “Spartacus says that he couldn’t have done anything without me, even as a ghost, and that he someday wishes that he could be as powerful as I am.”

“Oh, yeah?” Spartacus knew that only Erec could hear him, but he grinned. “Time to do a little dance, Erec.” He picked Erec up and turned him upside down in the air, then bounced him all around the room.

Zoey screeched laughing, and Bethany pointed, eyebrows up. “Look what Spartacus is doing to him! Looks like he doesn’t agree with you, Erec!”

“What?” Erec played innocent, still floating upside down. “I’m doing all of this myself, of course.”

Spartacus carried Erec to the kitchen table, head down and feet up. He produced a banana cream pie with the Serving Platter and in a minute pushed the pie into Erec’s face.

Now everyone was laughing.

Erec swiped a finger full of pie off of his cheek and ate it. “Not bad.”

Spartacus said to him, “Tell them that you were joking. Say that you’re a mere mortal weakling. Go on.”

“Never.”

A blueberry pie got produced, and hung in the air in front of Erec’s face. “Say it . . .”

“Oh, all right.” Erec announced to the room, “I am a mere mortal weakling. Spartacus is the one who can do everything.”

The pie drifted back to the table, and Erec was put back on his feet.

He ate a little more pie and then washed his face off. “We’re going to have to get out of here soon. If Baskania’s armies found us here, they’re going to be back with more powerful people. He’s not going to stop until he gets that scepter again.” Erec cringed, thinking about his vision of the future where he handed it to Baskania.

“I agree,” June said. “King Piter has been asking us all to go to Ashona with him and Queen Posey. I’m starting to think that’s a good idea.”

“I’ve never been to Ashona,” Erec said.

“It’s amazing!” Bethany jumped up and down, rubbing her hands together. “It’s so pretty there. And Queen Posey gave me my own little bungalow that’s attached to her castle. It overlooks a coral reef—we can watch the fish play outside. And there’s a porthole that we can go through to swim outside when we want, with our Instagills. We can even talk to the fish!”

“Awesome!” Zoey looked excited. “I want to go! Mommy—can we go?”

June smiled. “Let’s do it! Everyone gets to pack one light bag, quickly. Then we’ll pay King Piter a visit.”

Erec stuffed some clothes into a bag. In the back of his closet he found a pair of shoes that he had not used in a while: his magical Sneakers. They let him move soundlessly and smoothly, no matter how fast he ran. If he stamped them on the ground they threw sound elsewhere to distract anyone looking for him. He put the shoes on, and also threw his MagicLight into the bag. It had been a prize when he was in the contests in Alypium last summer. Similar to a flashlight, it left beams of light hanging in the air until it was shut off.

Bethany told him that he didn’t need much because they had everything he could want at the castle. Zoey took her favorite dolls. Only Jam brought a lot of things—he loaded a huge duffel full of supplies. He also brought a bag for the lifelike objects that June had bought from a Vulcan store online: a toothbrush that walked, with little arms and legs, an alarm clock that used to like to wake Erec up by throwing things at him—and its female companion clock that Erec had found in Baskania’s fortress, as well as a toaster oven that
liked to shoot burnt toast at people. June put an arm around the final animated object—a walking, juggling coat rack. They all walked into the Port-O-Door, including the coat rack, and shut the door behind them. Erec doubted they would ever come back again.

Erec had never even looked at the Ashona map in the Port-O-Door. He was surprised that it was not one continuous area like a large city, but rather was a network of underwater islands connected by tunnels and long slides. It was located on the ocean floor, but an elevated part contained coral reefs and plateaus. The largest area in the middle was Ashona Central, and this was where Queen Posey’s castle was located. June tapped the castle on the map. The only place accessible from the outside was the front entryway.

The Port-O-Door opened into a huge arched stone entryway. Before them thirty-foot-tall oak doors stood wide open. Behind them a clear barrier showed straight through into the ocean.

“Look!” Zoey ran over to see it up close, and Bethany and Erec chased after her. Nell followed slower, with her walker, along with Trevor.

“There’s an octopus!” Bethany pointed. “Did you see it going into that cave? We can go out there later and swim around. They have scuba equipment here for anyone who doesn’t have Instagills.”

“I would love that!” Nell looked excited “This is like a family vacation!”

Bethany looked wistful. “I’m glad you’re like my family. I wish I had one of my own to go on vacation with. Pi is always traveling with the Springball team, and he’s it.”

“You have another brother.” Erec immediately regretted reminding her of that.

“I know. I think about him all the time. Doesn’t help that I don’t know where he is.”

Erec completely understood what it was like to have missing siblings, but he thought it best not to mention it.

“This seems like a safe place to stay.” Jam looked around approvingly.

A guard in the doorway took information and approved entry into the castle. June walked over and he cleared his throat. “Can I help you, ma’am?”

“Yes. This is Erec Rex, King Piter’s son, and his family. We’d like to see King Piter and Queen Posey, and stay here awhile.”

The guard sat up straighter. “Oh, yes. Of course, ma’am. Well, just a second.” He tapped a screen in front of him and a woman’s face appeared. “Yes . . . they claim that they are related . . . Erec Rex. I see.”

Then he looked up with a smile. “No problem, the cameras have identified you all. Come on in.”

If Erec had thought that the entryway to the Castle Ashona was beautiful, he could not believe how amazing the inside of the castle was. The tall walls of the rooms and hallways were wavy instead of straight, with bright blue moving lights giving them the look of waves. Delicate aqua curtains fluttered around giant windows that looked everywhere onto the underwater reef.