The Secret of Ashona (50 page)

R
OSCO STEPPED BACK
when he saw the look on Erec’s face. “What happened to you?”

“I know where to find Bethany’s brother. We need to protect him. Let’s go straight to Ashona so I can talk to Bethany first. She needs to know this. Then we all can help hide him.”

“I’ll go with you. We should hurry—who knows how long it will take the Shadow Prince to figure it out too.” He opened the Port-O-Door, and Erec followed him inside. “Take this Port-O-Door back
separately from me if you need to. I have other ways I can get around.”

In another minute they had checked in at the desk and were walking through the big doors into the beautiful Castle Ashona. Erec led Rosco, with Spartacus following, to the suite where his family was staying.

June was surprised to see them when they opened the door. She rushed over and threw her arms around Erec. “How are you? I’ve been so worried. . . .”

He hugged her back. “I got my old memory back, from the Memory Mogul.”

She pulled away and looked hard at his face. “You remember everything now?”

“Mostly. I mean, if I give it time, then it all comes back.”

She hugged him again, and ruffled his hair. “That’s a lot to take in, I guess.”

“Luckily it’s not all pouring into my head at once. It comes in spurts. But there is one thing I found out—who Bethany’s brother is.” He threw her a meaningful glance, and she started to stammer. But Erec held a finger up. “I have to tell her.”

June shook her head. “That’s not a good idea. He’s safe now. Let it be.”

“Well, he won’t be safe for long. Baskania has the same memory that I do, and it’s just a matter of time before he comes and gets him on his own. We need to hide him. But Bethany has to know what’s going on.”

June looked stunned. She took a breath and nodded. “She’s in the library. It’s down the hall and to the right—”

“It’s okay. I know where it is, Mom.”

“Come back when you’re done and we’ll all figure out what to do. I’ll talk to King Piter.”

Rosco let Erec go into the library alone to talk to Bethany. She
was the only one there, so she was easy to spot. “Hey, Bethany!”

She took one look at Erec and came running. She started to throw her arms around him, but then stopped short. “You’re not a ghost again, are you?”

“Nah.” He grinned. “Go ahead.”

She gave him a hug, and then pulled him into a chair next to her. “So, you were with Baskania? How did it go? Oh, I’m
so
glad that’s done now. We can celebrate! I want to hear every detail.” She stopped and looked into his eyes. “I was so mad at you for leaving. And I was scared every day that I’d never see you again.” She took a breath, thinking about it. “I thought that when I finally saw you, I wouldn’t even speak to you. But now that you’re here, it’s all evaporated. I’m just so glad that you’re back.” She hugged him again, and then looked into his eyes. “What’s wrong?”

“I’m so sorry, Bethany. I didn’t mean for you to go through all of that. It hasn’t been fun for me, either.” He wanted to tell her about the Underworld and his meetings with Baskania, but that could wait. There was something else that could not.

She put a hand on his cheek. “What’s wrong?”

Erec choked up for a minute, and then he cleared his throat. “I found your little brother.”

Her eyes flew wide open. “My
brother
? Where is he?” She grabbed Erec’s shoulders and jumped up. “I have a brother! I can’t wait to meet him!”

He bit his lip. “You already have.” Erec could feel his eyes well up with tears.

Bethany looked concerned. She held Erec’s hands and sat down next to him again. “I have? Where is he? What’s his name?”

It was hard to get the word out of his mouth. Erec tried to speak, but he had to shut his mouth again. Then he managed to say it. “Trevor.”

They sat for a moment in stunned silence. Bethany’s gaze drifted
into the distance in disbelief. But then they snapped back into focus. “You mean his name is Trevor? Trevor what?”

“Trevor, my brother.”

She shook her head. “No. That’s not possible.” But then she glazed over again. “Is it?”

Erec nodded. “I got my old memory back. Remember Connor, that crazy kid in the contests in Alypium who was always saying that he was really Erec Rex? He had my early memories.”

She thought hard for a minute, then drew in a breath in shock. “You are
kidding
!” She clapped her hands together. “I always thought that he was insane for saying that. That explains a lot.”

“We talked him into giving my memory back to the Memory Mogul, and I have it now.” He smiled for a moment in victory, but his smile faded fast. He wanted to wait a minute before he told her the bad news. It wasn’t fair to give her a brother, and then take him away one minute later. If only it were different.

“So . . . you got your old memories back, and you remembered that Trevor was my brother?”

He laughed. “Yeah. I never thought about how we used to know each other when we were little. But it makes sense. We both lived in the Castle Alypium, and our parents worked together.”

“Wow.” Bethany’s cheeks turned pink. “Did we like each other then? It’s weird to even think about that.”

“I’d say we did. You were more friends with my sister. You know, Princess Pretty Pony.” He laughed.

Bethany frowned. “Do you think you could remember the names of your missing triplet brother and sister?”

“I did! They were Elizabeth and Edward.”

“All
E
’s. Like your father, Pluto, and Posey are all
P
’s.”

“I guess so.” Erec felt like he was putting off the inevitable, but he couldn’t tell her about the danger yet.

“So, Trevor is my baby brother,” she said in wonderment.

Erec laughed again. “You didn’t like him so much back then. You know, the jealous sib thing. You and I were planning a big mission to go throw the baby in the trash can.”

Bethany clapped a hand over her mouth. “Are you kidding? I can’t believe that we were fellow adventurers even back then.” She giggled. “I’m glad we didn’t hate each other.”

Erec looked down. “I just hope that you don’t hate me now.”

“Why?” Bethany pulled a knee up to her chest and wrapped her arms around it, shivering. “What is it?”

He shrugged. “It’s not good.” Erec pinched his lips together tight, not wanting to let the words out. He wished that he hadn’t even brought it up—although that was the reason that he was here. Bethany had been so upset for so long, because of him. Now he was going to ruin her first few decent moments.

“Is something wrong with Trevor?” She began looking around as if wondering where he was. “Does he know yet?”

“I wanted to tell you first. You’re going to have to hide him. And not tell me where he is. I had to let you know as soon as I found out, but Baskania isn’t through with me yet. I have to go back there. And . . . he has my memory too.”

“You mean . . . he knows about Trevor?”

“He will soon. He took the same memory from Connor, and he’s looking through it to try to find out who your brother is. They have whole teams of people there working on it. You have to hide Trevor before Baskania finds him. And it could be soon.”

“Why can’t you help me? I trust you.”

“I don’t trust me.” Erec closed his eyes.

“I don’t understand.”

“There was something that I saw when I looked into my future before. I was working for Baskania . . . and I handed Trevor over to
him. I didn’t even know then that he was your lost little brother. It was bad enough that I was giving my
own
brother to him. Now it’s even worse. Trevor is the kid he needs for all of his awful plans.”

Bethany slumped into her chair, eyes wide with shock. Then she looked at Erec sharply. “Why would you even believe you’d give Trevor to that monster? I know you, and that is the last thing you would do. Either the vision was wrong, or you’re going to get possessed. Maybe we should hide you, too.”

“I wish that would work. But I have to go rescue those souls still. I’m going to learn a spell to stop time, and then I’m going back to Alsatia. . . .”

Bethany stared at him a moment, then shook her head, uncomprehending. “I don’t even know what you are doing anymore. It’s like you’re living a whole new life. . . . Okay. I’ll go find Trevor and hide him. If you think it’s safer I won’t tell you where he is. I just can’t believe he’s my brother. . . .” She paused. “You know what? He does look like Pi, now that I think about it, with his red hair.”

“I thought so too. And he was named after your dad.”

“Tre?” She looked sad. “I wish I could remember my dad.”

“Maybe someday we’ll find your old memories too. But having them is almost worse. I miss everyone now that I never even knew about before.”

Bethany looked upset. “So, you’re leaving again, then? And I guess I can’t come with you?”

“I’m really sorry, Bethany. If there was any way it could be different, I would love for you to come. But the only way you can even get to Alsatia is by dropping onto a huge spike and dying. . . .”

“You’re going to
die
again! Erec—you can’t do that! You’ve gotten really lucky twice now, but I just know that if it happens again it will be forever. Last time—”

“There’s another way. I can get in to Alsatia without dying. It’s the
same way that I got out of the Underworld—by turning into a soul.”

“You went to the Underworld? And you can turn into a soul? Is this some new magic you learned? I don’t know anything going on with you anymore.”

She was getting more upset, and Erec could understand why. He decided to fill her in on everything, starting with his first meeting with Baskania.

At the end her mouth was hanging open. “You poor thing! You need a break. And you need help! I wish I could go back with you to Baskania, and then to Alsatia.”

“Knowing that you are safe here helps me the most.”

She thought a moment. “Not that I’m trying to talk you out of this . . . but I actually feel bad for the three Furies. I mean, it’s horrible that they have all of those innocent souls as prisoners. But sending the Furies back to Tartarus . . . I mean, they’re going to be miserable there for eternity. Plus they’ve really been helping you—and they aren’t waging war on the Fates and destroying humans now.”

“You’re completely right. I’ve been trying not to think about that, because I feel so bad for those trapped souls. I was in there with them and I can tell you the pain they are in. But the Furies
have
been great to me. I’m a total traitor sneaking in there and sending them back to Tartarus. They’ll be suffering there forever.”

“Yeah, and you know what would happen if they escaped again? They would kill all of humanity in revenge. I don’t think they’d like humans so much anymore.”

“You know, I wasn’t thinking about that. But there’s something worse. Once Baskania finds out that they’re in Tartarus again, he’ll be thrilled. He’ll gather up three thousand people right away and retry his plan to free the Furies—for a price.”

“It would put us all right back where we started again—about to die because the Furies will be set loose by Baskania. They
would be released soon to serve him and destroy the world.”

They both sat in silence, absorbing this. Erec had no idea what he should do now. His whole plan seemed ridiculous. As much as he could not stand seeing three thousand souls suffering forever, what could he really do about it? Maybe they were fated to be there forever, sacrificing themselves in agony for the sake of the rest of the world.

“I’m really glad I talked to you,” Erec said. “I would have made a horrible mistake if I sent the Furies back to Tartarus. By the time I realized that, it would have been too late.” He smiled. “Good thing you’re so smart.”

She winked back. “You’re not too bad yourself. We’re just better as a team.”

“I guess I shouldn’t go back there, then. The only thing I don’t understand . . .”

“What is it?”

“My quest is still not done—the segment on my Amulet of Virtues isn’t lit up. I know that’s what I’m supposed to do. And why would the Fates have talked about me freeing those souls? They’re the ones who first said something about me sending the Furies back to Tartarus. If I wasn’t supposed to do it, then they would have said that. It just doesn’t make sense.”

“When do those Fates ever make sense?” Bethany laughed.

Erec did not say anything, but he didn’t agree. They might not make sense at first, but before long they always were right. At least Trevor would be okay. Erec was so relieved that he had figured out who Bethany’s brother was before Baskania did. Now he would be safe. “I have an idea. The last time I looked into the future, I saw myself giving Trevor to Baskania. I’ll try it again, and this time I’ll see what will happen to Trevor when you hide him and don’t tell me where he is. I want to make sure he’ll be safe that way, so we’re not taking any chances.”

“Great idea. I still think there is no way that you would ever really give your own brother—or mine—to Baskania though.”

Erec, on the other hand, had no doubts that his visions of the future were correct every single time. But things should be different now. He asked himself,
Show me what will happen if Bethany and my family hide Trevor somewhere safe, and they don’t tell me where he is. Show me Trevor’s future then.