The Three Furies (Erec Rex) (66 page)

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"Your inborn
magical
gift. That settles it, then." He looked around, contented.

"Settles . . . what?" Erec said.

"Oh, I'm terribly sorry. The charm picked up on Bethany's magic, which was her special intelligence in math. And when I swallowed it--how dreadful of me to do, but quite fortunate--I must have waved it in the air first. The charm obviously picked up her recent use of her power, and then sent it out again to two different locations. Only, they were both inside me."

"You do sound . . . completely different now," Erec agreed. "Like you're . . ." He hesitated putting it into words.

"It's all right, Erec. You are correct. I believe I have my old self back again. This seems to have reversed the repercussions from that Death Spell that Baskania had once tried to use on me. I was lucky that it didn't kill me. I believe Kyron told you that I held a glass dish in front of me, and it weakened the spell when it passed through so that I could live. But it took away my mind, I am afraid." He smiled. "Your Doubler charm was just what I needed, it turns out."

Kyron was watching, spellbound. He approached slowly, as if afraid he might wake up from a dream. "Dad? Is that really you?"

Artie held his arms open for his son. "It is, Kyron. I'm back, I'm afraid. Come here, boy."

Kyron ran over and gave his father a giant hug. "I can't believe it, Dad. I can't believe . . . Thank you, Erec. Again. Thank you so much."

Bethany's jaw hung open. "What two things did the charm work on? Your mind--your intellect is back. What else?"

"I'm not quite sure yet. Luckily it worked on the correct part of my brain. But I do have a feeling that something else about me is also more intelligent now." He pointed at the Serving Tray. "Do you mind?"

"Of course." Bethany handed it to him.

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Artie asked for a chocolate-chip cookie, then he took a bite. "Umm. Oh, ahhh. Ohhh. Yes." He nodded vigorously, and a grin spread across his face. "Just as I thought. My tastebuds. Another cookie, please."

Erec and Bethany left Artie with Kyron and the Serving Tray. The Smoolie stars were starting to come out now. They were more beautiful than he had even imagined.

"Want to go for a walk?" Erec said.

"I thought you'd never ask."

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EPILOGUE ONE Three Days Later

HE SCRAWNY CAT sauntered along a dark street. The smell of tuna beckoned him ahead. How many lives did he have left? he mused. Despite warnings, he had lost count. There were at least ten, he was sure. It was time to start being more careful.

By the time he had sniffed out the tuna, it had nearly disappeared into a fluffy pink cat. She watched him, grudgingly, and then pushed the remainder of the can toward him.

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Thank you.

No problem. I have all of this I want at home, and more. Go ahead.

Well then, why are you out here? You could run into a dog and lose a life.

I'm not going home until I find my owner. She's been captured. I just don't know where she is.

What is her name? What does she look like?

Bethany Cleary. She is beautiful, with long dark hair that curls, and she loves to pet me and give me treats.

I've seen a girl with that name in Smoolie. Let me trace a map for you in the dirt.

But the pink kitten did not wait for the scrawny cat to make a tracing. She raced off, disappearing into the night.

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EPILOGUE TWO Two Weeks Later

VEN THOUGH DUMPLING Smith and her friends would no longer be breaking windows, and all looked clear and safe in their apartment in New Jersey, June had traced around the building again with the special chalk that King Piter had given her. That should keep them hidden safely, she thought. Never bad to be too careful.

It was calm and quiet at home, and the windows had been replaced. Erec was glad to take a break--although this time if

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Bethany needed him, or even sent a letter, he would rush back in a heartbeat to her side in Ashona, where she was spending time with King Piter.

Days passed before Erec thought to unpack the backpack that he had been carrying around. A large white sheet was stuffed inside, and wrapped in it was a little alarm clock with a bow on its head and metallic arms and legs. He laughed when he set it down, watching it run around on the carpet and do a few handsprings. It was glad to be free.

Then a thought occurred to him. He picked the thing up and brought it to his room, setting it next to his similar alarm clock, the male version, on his desk.

The two devices froze, facing each other. He had not noticed before that the desk was wet, but pools of water sat below the clocks, dripping onto the floor. He realized they were crying.

His clock jumped high, flipping in the air, and landed on its knees before the other. Soon, the two of them were gallivanting, hand-in-hand, through the whole apartment.

Hmm. Was this perhaps who his clock had been seeing, and missing, through the Seeing Eyeglasses?

Erec smiled. The clocks had it right. There was a lot to live for.

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EPILOGUE THREE Five Hundred Years Earlier

T WAS MARCH thirteenth. Everything was set. Thanatos Argus Baskania was on top of the world. Literally. And why shouldn't he be? He had worked long and hard for this day. Next month, on April eleventh, it would be official. He would rule the entire human race.

It had not been easy, of course. But nobody else would ever have been able to do what he did. Any of it. Things had been so dreary before he had his way with the Substance this time. It was his gift: to

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see it, hear it, use it as he pleased, and make its magic follow along the pathways he chose. They called him "ultra absorbent," but he knew he wasn't absorbing the Substance; he was bending it to his own needs.

The Substance had been so useless before he changed it. And he himself had been pathetic too. He had thought it was his friend--a cute, silly notion. Well, he had grown up since then. Those stupid feelings it had given him, its cries and pleas . . . those only were there to weaken him. Of course he would not let himself become weak.

Nobody could use the Substance like he could. Especially before he changed it, which also let others use it better. That had been his greatest decision, his coup de grace. For so long he had kept its powers to himself. It felt good to be the only one to work its "magic." But then he realized: If others could do what he could--to a lesser extent, of course--he could control teams of powerful sorcerers. What was better, acting alone, or having an army of magic under you?

So he had done the unimaginable. He changed the Substance completely, changed the way the whole world worked, to make it possible for his underlings to use the Substance as well.

Once only very "absorbent" people like shamans, witches, and druids used to be able to perform magic, and only when they quieted their minds and focused. They'd had amulets, talismans, some spells that worked with practice, but nothing like there was now. He had made the Substance usable. It did his bidding. He had actually kinked the Aitherplanes with his own mind, to keep it from flowing freely, and made it more accessible, more workable.

The change had not been easy. The Substance had protested the whole way. He had ignored its cries, of course. Useless whimpering. The only problem now was that a few others were growing a little too strong for his liking, all from the changes he himself had made. Some were serving under him, but others were against him. They

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were leaching the power that he had created. That would not do. He would have to keep a tight thumb on them all.

So this, what he was doing today, at this moment, was a stroke of genius. The Kingdoms of the Keepers. He had created magic, the way it worked now, so he should decide who got to use it and who did not. Simple. Only those he deemed worthy would have a place in his kingdoms. Everyone else in the world would lose all of their magic--and even their memory of it.

Twisting and pulling the Substance into the dominions of Alypium, Aorth, Ashona, and Otherness was like scaling the steepest slope of Kilimanjaro bare-handed, but Baskania had loved every minute of it. Wrestling the forces, dominating his will over the motions of the world, was pure glory. He could not remove Substance entirely from Upper Earth without killing everyone there, but enough to sharply limit what they could do.

The Substance did not go happily, though. Its wailing was driving him mad. After his coronation next month he would spend a few years in Upper Earth just to get away from its noise.

It was snowing terribly today in the mountains. He had not expected it--it had been so sunny for the last few weeks. This sort of change would not do in his new kingdom. There should be something to protect it from the elements. A shield . . . a dome of golden haze over his prized city of magic. He walked out of the castle that had been built for him and gazed at the skies.

It would be a big job, but that only made it more enjoyable. He raised his hands and called to the Substance around him, making it move, create, change . . .

He felt it form, and suddenly the snow stopped falling around him. He could not see the dome he had just created, but he knew every particle of it in his mind. The weather in his Alypium would always be beautiful now.

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One of his blind followers leaned out through the front castle doors on his cane. "Shadow Prince! Come quickly! There is a seer in the throne room. She is causing a stir."

Baskania shoved by him. The seer's face was hidden under the makeshift hood of her sackcloth coat, which reached to the floor. But a swatch of cloth near her feet glowed in a shocking red. Crowds gathered around her, shouting questions.

"Here he is!" someone shouted. "The Shadow Prince is here. Ask him if it's true!"

One of his followers looked at Baskania, trembling. "Did you ...
do
something to fix our weather today, my prince?" He bowed nervously.

Baskania frowned. "Yes. I did, in fact. Just now. To protect all of us here from the elements, I created a dome around Alypium."

Shouts and screams rang through the room. "She was right!"

"She predicted it!"

"She knows everything!"

People were begging the seer, each wanting her to help them, tell their futures. But her voice rang clear. "I came for one reason today. I have a prophesy for you, and gifts. Listen carefully to what I shall foretell.

"King Philibert and Queen Yolande, the rulers of Cyprus, Jerusalem, and Armenia, are coming here to live. Their lands will soon be taken over by the Venetians."

Baskania sneered. So, this was just a feeble attempt of someone he had left in Upper Earth to sneak in here. Clever, he thought, sending a "seer" to announce it, so it would be harder for him to turn them away.

Her voice rang out again. "They will have babies eight days from now, on March twenty-first. The children of this royal couple will be triplets, named Piter, Posey, and Pluto. These three babies are the next rightful rulers of these new Kingdoms of the Keepers."

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What nerve!
Baskania was not sure if he was more angry or amused. The seer pulled a few items out of her sack. Baskania could not see what they were. "These are gifts for your kingdom. They will show you who your true rulers are. This stone comes from the edges of the Earth, where the strongest magic exists. It is called the Lia Fail. You will hear it scream during any coronation when your rightful rulers are near to it. And these are the scepters of your next rulers. They will work only for those destined to be kings and queens. Keep them here until your coronation ceremony next month."

Baskania could not believe his ears. A tide of rage raced through him. How
dare
she? Who was this person, and how did she have the audacity to say such things. Triplet babies destined to rule the kingdoms that
he
created? Did she really think she could sway his own people against him? He pointed a finger at her to stop her in her tracks. But she seemed aware of him, dodging and darting behind the crowd until she disappeared.

His eyes narrowed. Someday, if he found her, she would pay. In the meantime, no real harm was done. Scepters, a screaming stone. All hogwash.

The more he thought about it, she was quite amusing. In fact, he would not stop this King Philibert and Queen Yolande from coming here if they chose to. No, not at all. A few pathetic Upper Earth rulers could do nothing to frighten him. Better to see what they were planning, and make them pay, slowly and painfully.

So, if three babies showed up at his coronation expecting to take over, well . . . it would not hurt to show his graciousness toward them. And if an accident happened to befall them all one day, then so be it.