The Three Furies (Erec Rex) (57 page)

474

Fates were perfect. They showed him how to save Bethany, didn't they? Up until now, they sent him only on quests he could handle, and they had always been right.

So . . . what if he didn't do the quest? They would all die then, anyway? But if he gave himself up to the Furies, maybe everyone else might survive.

"Erec, I don't like that look on your face. Stop thinking about it, okay? Let's . . . I know. Let's go to the library and look up information about the Furies. Maybe we'll find clues that will change--"

"Erec? Bethany?" A familiar voice called into the room.

Erec jumped to his feet. "Who is it?"

Jack wandered in from the hallway. "Hey, guys. I went to Jam's Aunt Salsa's to find you, and they said you went to get another quest. I'm glad I caught you here. Just used her Port-O-Door." He thumbed over his shoulder.

"Come in, Jack." Bethany patted the couch. "Did you talk to Oscar?"

"That's what I wanted to tell you about. He wouldn't see me. But I kept trying to get messages through. Every day I went to the Green House and caught him on his way in, but he just snubbed me. I was afraid to give him his eye back in front of people, or even before I talked to him. He might have just handed it back over to Baskania and turned me in as a thief. I don't know. Anyway, I wasn't giving up, so I kept going back every day.

"This morning one of the secretaries told me that he just quit. He said he had to do something, and he might return and work there again, or maybe not."

"Do you think I should try to find him?" Erec said. "Maybe we need to see each other face-to-face. Where do you think he went?" Erec had a bad feeling he knew.

"Oh, no!" Bethany exclaimed. "He's figured out how to take revenge on Rosco, hasn't he?"

475

"I don't know," Erec said, although he had a sinking feeling that she was right.

"Where else would he go? I don't think he's off searching for us. Getting revenge on Rosco has been all he's talked about since he went into hiding. Rosco killed his father; he ruined his life. I'm just afraid what he might do. He can't get too far if Rosco can read his mind. This might be the end of him, Erec."

"I should go find him, if I can."

"I don't know," Jack said. "Isn't that what we've been trying to avoid? If Oscar sees you somewhere, then Rosco will know where you are, and he'll tell Baskania. . . . Remember how every time we were with Oscar lately Baskania appeared a few minutes later? I think it's too dangerous."

"Chickens,"
a familiar voice spat. "Too
dangerous
, isn't it? You all don't know one thing about dangerous." Oscar walked into the room, his face as red as his hair. A black patch was strapped across one eye. "Long time no see,
friends.
Good to know you're still sitting around in comfort together, while I've been out there learning about life the hard way."

"Oscar!" Bethany rushed over to him, but he pushed her away.

"Give it a rest, beauty. I'm onto your tricks. Don't think you can suck me into believing in you again. Little-miss-nice-girl is just a sham. Turns out you're only out for yourself, like your friends here. Not a kind bone in your body. You all make me sick." He stuck his chest out, hands on his hips.

"Oscar, what are you doing here?" Erec said. "Listen, you have to believe us. Baskania's been lying to you. He doesn't care about you." Erec looked around the room fearfully, wondering if Baskania was going to appear.

"That's right." Oscar smirked at him. "Be afraid. I hope the Shadow Prince does show up here. I'm not hiding out anymore for

476

your sake. I'd be thrilled if he showed up and blasted you all right now."

"No, you wouldn't," Jack said.

"Oh, yes, I would. And as far as Baskania lying to me, I don't doubt that at all. Why wouldn't he lie to me? I like him. He's been the only one nice to me, the only person that understands me. Nobody else treats me right. First my own dad ..." He wiped his eyes and stopped talking. When he went on, his voice was tight. "And then Rosco, who
really
took advantage of me, completely ruined my life. Then you, my best and only friends. So why not Baskania? Believe me, I don't trust anyone anymore."

"Then why can't you believe me? Those letters that Baskania showed you weren't real. He made those up! We've always been on your side."

Oscar laughed bitterly. "That's just what the Shadow Prince said you'd say. Of course. But he showed me more than your wonderful letters, great as those were. You didn't know, but he recorded you talking to him. And you too." He pointed at Bethany. "I know everything. And I know what kind of lies you're capable of, both of you. You two would say anything to get what you want. Or just to make me suffer for your sick amusement. And you." He pointed to Jack. "I used to think you were a good guy. I actually think you really
were
a good guy, until these two influenced you. That was one thing that Rosco was right about. The three of you never included me. Notice I'm the only one here who never was on a quest with Erec. Rosco was right about that, too, wasn't he?"

"Look." Erec put his hands up, showing he meant no harm. "Calm down. It's not like that, okay? We have something for you. I see you have an eye patch on. Well, I know why."

"It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure that out. I'm in with the Shadow Prince now. And don't give me any of your holier-than-thou

477

garbage about that, either. You all wish that he'd take you in too. But you know nothing about the man. It turns out, funny enough, that he's the one with the principles, not you all. I wanted to help out with his causes, because I understand what it's like to really care about things." He shook his head in disgust. "You all have no idea what I went through for you, living in hiding, just so I didn't accidentally see you, so Rosco and Baskania wouldn't come find you. Not one of you would have done that for me." He laughed. "Now I know why Baskania wanted to get rid of you so badly. It turns out he was right all along." He shoved his way past Jack farther into the room.

"Wait! Look, we can prove to you that we're on your side. We have your eye, in a jar. I stole it back for you from Baskania! Jack was trying to give it back to you. We're your friends, Oscar. Why would I lie to you?"

Oscar looked at Erec in disbelief. "You won't stop at anything, will you? Now I'm supposed to believe that you magically stole back the eye that I gave to Baskania? As if I even wanted it back? As if he wasn't ten million times more powerful than you? He would never let you take it from him. You
will
say anything." He shook his head with disgust.

"Look! I'll show you." Erec rooted around in his backpack, then he remembered that he gave the eye to Jack. "You have Oscar's eye, don't you, Jack?"

"Oh, yeah!" Jack searched his pockets, but he turned up nothing.

"What about you, Bethany?" Oscar faked a sweet smile. "Are you going to claim to have it now too? And maybe you have my father somewhere, safely tucked away for me? You saved him from Rosco? Go ahead. This is actually starting to get funny." He looked around. "Where is Baskania, anyway? I wonder what's taking him so long. It would be really nice to see him destroy all of you right now, before I finish my mission."

478

"What's your mission?" Bethany said. "It's not just to sic Baskania on us?"

"Get real, Bethany. As if I'd waste one more second of my precious time on you losers. And I mean that in every sense of the word. Baskania will be here soon enough, I bet. I'll leave you to him. Now, if you don't mind, I have something important to do." He shoved past them, kicking rugs and chairs out of the way. It looked like he was searching the floor. "I know it's around here somewhere."

"What are you looking for?" Jack said. "Can we help you?"

"Can we help you?"
Oscar imitated him. "No, you can shut up and wait to be killed by the Shadow Prince."

Erec himself was wondering why Baskania had not appeared yet. "Why are you here, Oscar? What did you come for?"

"Revenge. What do you think?"

"I thought you said you weren't wasting any time on us," Bethany said. "Am I missing something?" She crossed her arms, annoyed.

"What?" Oscar's jaw dropped in mock horror. "The math brain is missing something? Impossible. Better recalculate, Bethany." He shoved a desk aside and stormed into another room, kicking rugs away as he went. "It's got to be here somewhere."

Erec, Jack, and Bethany followed him from a distance. Oscar continued to search the floors, room by room, until finally he said, "Aha!" He yanked a small rug from the side of the dining room, revealing a trapdoor in the floor. "This has to be it." Oscar yanked on a slit in the side of a plank, and the door lifted on hinges, revealing stone steps going down into lit tunnels.

Erec stepped back in shock. So here was the entrance to the catacombs that were under the Castle Alypium. His father had built this house to cover them after the castle disappeared. Something valuable was hidden in these catacombs, and all four of them knew what it was.

479

The Novikov Time Bender. King Piter's time machine.

That had to be what Oscar was heading for. Erec had caught him down there once before, studying the Time Bender. He remembered it like it was yesterday. Erec had asked him why, and Oscar had said, "I had to see it again. I just had to. Can't explain. I've been thinking about it, that's all. I had some ideas I needed to talk to Homer about." Had Oscar ever talked to Homer, the golden ghost who was guarding the Time Bender?

"What are you going to do?" Bethany squeaked. Erec could tell she was worried for Oscar's sake, although Oscar wouldn't see it that way.

"Something I've been planning for a long time." Oscar ran down the stairs, and the other three followed him. "It took me a while to get all the information I needed, but now I'm ready. And
nothing
is going to stop me. So don't get in my way."

Something struck Erec as familiar when Oscar said that. Nothing will stop him. Where had he heard that before?

Wait a minute. It was in writing. He had read it somewhere.
Nothing can stop Oscar.

"If you think you're going to use the Novikov Time Bender, give it up," she said. "Homer will never let you."

"He let Erec use it to go back in time to when he was a kid. Of course he'll let me. He has only one rule, remember?"

Erec did remember. Homer would only let people use the Time Bender if their motivation was pure. Would that include Oscar? Pure hate and revenge shouldn't count, Erec thought. Anyway, he couldn't be up to any good. If Homer didn't stop Oscar, then he'd have to.

Nothing can stop Oscar.
Then he remembered. Months ago, he had experienced the Awen of Knowledge, which let him know the truth of everything that existed. For a short time it gave him a complete understanding of his past, present, and future. Before all of that knowledge disappeared, he wrote a letter to himself, giving himself
480
advice. The letter had read like a list, saying things like "forgive your father for his mistakes," "tell Jam how great he is," and "trust yourself." But one of the lines that he had not understood before jumped out at him.

Nothing can stop Oscar. It's written in the fabric of time. So just help him.

A vague memory of writing that hovered around him, although he had no idea why he would have said it. But everything had fit together then. So, he was supposed to help Oscar?

Oscar led them straight into the room. Homer, the golden ghost, hovered in the air like a cross between a man and a golden cloud.

The room was bare except for a tall, thin box made of solid gold, with windowed glass doors that opened on the front like a telephone booth. A small television screen extended from its side. The Novikov Time Bender. The last time Erec had seen it was when he had used it to travel back into his early childhood. When he had stepped back out of it, Oscar had been looking at it, planning something.

But how could Oscar use the Time Bender for revenge against Rosco?

"Welcome back, Erec, Oscar, Jack, and Bethany," Homer said. "So good to see you all here." Something in his voice made it sound like he knew perfectly well what was going on. He smiled contentedly.

"I need to use the Time Bender," Oscar announced. "I have to travel back in time. It's very important."

"I know." Homer smiled. "And your motivations are pure, Oscar. But, as you must imagine, the results will not be happy ones. Are you sure this is the choice that you want to make?"

"Positive." Oscar sounded resolute. "There is nothing for me here anymore."

481

"I don't get it," Jack said. "Are you staying there? How far back are you going?"

Oscar swung around, a wild look on his face. "How come you guys are still bothering me? What's wrong with the Shadow Prince--isn't Rosco telling him where you are today? All right, then. I'm going back to when Rosco was a young kid. And I'm going to fight him to the death. Don't bother thanking me, I wouldn't expect any of you to show any gratitude. But you'll all benefit too, you know. Once I do this, it will be like Rosco never existed. You won't be bothered by Baskania anymore--now or in the past, I guess. However it works out, I'm sure it will only help
you
all."

Erec was stunned. "Wait, don't do this for us. I don't want you killing anyone--"

Oscar laughed bitterly. "Don't worry,
King
Erec. I'm not doing anything for you. Believe me, this is revenge for my own sake, pure and simple."

Bethany turned to Homer. "You heard that! Are you letting him go back in time to get revenge on someone? That shouldn't be allowed."

Homer floated gently toward the Time Bender, not at all disturbed by the conversation. "The truth is more complicated." He sighed. "Oscar is quite upset with you, and the way he is wording things makes it sound like revenge is the main reason for his trip. But he is being quite noble, I assure you."

"Noble?" Jack said. "He's trying to go back in time and kill someone."

Oscar spun around in a fury. "
Yes
, Jack. Noble. Thank you, Homer. Obviously none of you have ever understood me one bit. You don't think it's ever noble to kill someone? What about the knights in the old days? Weren't they noble?"

"I don't know." Jack hesitated. "But killing someone is not right."