Erec gasped, putting it together in his mind. No wonder Aoquesth had known.

The king continued. "I was distraught. I felt helpless, trying to plan for you to come home, yet thinking I wouldn't live to protect you. So when I first felt Hecate Jekyll's spell sink in, after I sipped that cup of tea, I was sure I was dying. I decided to do two things while my scepter was still in my hand. First, I put the castle on its side, to hide the Time Bender from Baskania and other people who might use it for evil. They would destroy the world if they found it.

"And the other thing I did..." He waved the scepter more, gripped it tighter.

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"Yes?"

The king sighed. "I had built this castle, Erec, with magic. It was my final quest. Posey and Pluto built theirs then as well. The old castle that Baskania had once put up was destroyed. We had to use our scepters to do the job, but that was okay, because at the moment we finished that quest we were the rulers, and able to use the scepters then anyway.

"When each of us built these castles, we used much more than just bricks, stone, and wood. A lot of magic went into these walls. Magic that is only attuned to me. This castle is a shield to me, a fortress. I am stronger in it, much more powerful. The magic of this castle responds only to me. That is why, when I was hypnotized for ten years, the castle rebelled and refused to let itself be cleaned. This castle is a part of me, in a sense.

"So I knew when my triplets would finish their quests, when it was time for them to take over as rulers, their final job would be to destroy the castles that exist and build new ones for themselves with their scepters. These new castles will be attuned to each of you, strengthening you, and serving nobody else but you."

The king hung his head, then he looked at Erec with sad eyes. "I was afraid. I thought I'd be long gone before you would become king of Alypium. That is where you are destined to rule, Erec. But what would happen if I were gone? Someone else would take over. You might get stolen, waylaid. There were evil plans floating about; that was obvious after what happened to you and my AdviSeers. So I conjured a quick but permanent spell, something to make sure that no matter who took over, you would end up ruling Alypium one day.

"I put an enchantment on the castle, so that no matter what, an hour after you found out that you were my son, it would self-destruct. And another spell on my scepter, so that at that same time, 364.

it would fly to you and become yours. So you must have gone back in time an hour ago?"

It seemed like ages ago that Erec had used the Time Bender to go back to his childhood. But while he was gone, no time must have passed here.

The king's words sank in slowly. "You put a curse on your castle?"

"Yes. A big mistake, as it turns out. At the time, June was keeping you safe in Upper Earth. And the plan was, until I could bring you back to the castle safely, that she would raise you as a normal child there. You would not know who you are, or your relation to me, so nobody would find you. We made that plan before I put a spell on the castle, but I also used my last second with my scepter to send June a final message reminding her not to tell you who you really were.

"But I also knew that someday you would discover that you were my son, because you came back in time to warn me. I couldn't give the castle to you when you were three, but I thought by age thirteen..."

The king shook his head. "It was crazy, on all accounts. If I'd had time to think it over, I'd have made the spell go into effect years after you found out. But I had only minutes and I was completely distraught--dying, I believed. I made the spell unchangeable, so I can't do anything to fix it. I had to, or someone would have figured a way to undo it, and I couldn't let that happen. So, there you have it."

The king looked sick. "The lengths I went to to keep you from finding this out were enormous. Spreading the word that you had died. I was always afraid that you would hear from someone that 'Rex' was my last name, so I made it taboo in the castle. Luckily, half the people in Alypium probably don't even know I have a last name."

"Why didn't you change my name?" Erec asked.

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"There is a lot of power in your name. You needed to keep the name to keep the power." The scepter was now shaking wildly in the king's hand. Erec could now see his knuckles were white, gripping it. The king could barely hold on to it.

"This will fly to you soon," the king said. "You are not ready for it. I'm sorry, Erec. Try to give it back to me if you can."

That made Erec nervous. "If I can? What do you mean?"

The scepter was yanking itself loose from King Piter's grasp. "I know how the scepter affects you. It will be hard to let go this time, harder than it was before. You've used it too much already, long before you should have. The best chance you have now of learning to control it is to hand it right back over to me for safekeeping. Okay?"

A loud crack echoed through the room. Erec didn't see what caused it, but he knew what was happening. The castle foundation was starting to split. "We have to get out of here," he said. "It's going to come down any minute."

The king's scepter wrenched itself from his grasp. It flew at Erec, straight into his hand. Warm power flowed through it. It felt better in Erec's hand than ever before. His Twrch Trwyth vial grew warm against his chest. Was it making the scepter's power even stronger?

Tingles of energy raced through him. He could do anything. Horror wavered in the back of his mind. He knew that this massive strength was a terrible thing. It would distort him, make him power mad. But those thoughts were overwhelmed by an amazing surge of wonder, the feeling that everything was now fixed and fixable.

"G'day, mate!" The words of the scepter echoed in his head. "Pleased to be at your service again. Anything you'd like me to do right now for you?" Erec had almost forgotten that the scepters spoke to their owners, gave them advice. Queen Posey had told him that only their owners could hear them, except during the coronation ceremony, when everybody could hear what they said.

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King Piter watched him, wary. "Give it back, now. Okay?"

Erec eyed the scepter, unsure what to do. A loud snap and a bang resounded through the throne room, and the floor shook. "Can I use it to fix the castle?"

"No," said the king. "Or I would have done that myself. Unfortunately, the spell I put on the castle is unchangeable. This castle will destroy itself now. Nothing can stop it. Now give me the scepter, Erec."

"But then there will be no castle here," Erec said. "Am I supposed to use the scepter to build a new one now?"

The scepter's voice said, "That's certainly possible, if you'd like."

Erec knew he was up to the job, especially since his Trwyth Boar vial was making the scepter stronger. Using it for such a big task made his mouth water.

"No!" The king looked frantic. "The amount of power and energy that would take is enormous. It would destroy you. Please, Erec. Wait for that. You can always do it later. But now it would completely overwhelm you. You would be just a shadow after that, lost like Pluto."

King Pluto. For the first time, Erec realized he was his uncle. "My own uncle sent me into Aoquesth's cave, knowing I could've been killed in there?"

The king nodded. "Pluto is a good man, somewhere underneath. But that part of him is lost. That is what the scepter, and Baskania, have done to him."

Erec stroked the scepter. It felt so good in his hands. So right. He would never make those mistakes, lose sight of good and evil. He wasn't as dumb and immature as the king seemed to think. "I'll tell you what," he said. "I'll use the scepter just a little longer, and then I'll give it back to you." He slid a finger down its side. "A little more time can't hurt. I don't want to give it up just yet. No, not yet."

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"Sounds reasonable to me," the scepter said.

"Erec," the king said, exasperated, "don't let it steer you." More loud bangs echoed around them, and the walls shook in deep ripples. "There is nothing you need it for now. Let me keep it for you, please."

"You just want it for yourself," Erec snapped. Then he drew back in alarm. What was he thinking? He became aware of the fear racing through him, and his misgivings, and he felt confused. "I thought I'd use it to help me put the five Awen on the Twrch Trwyth, to finish my quest and fix the Substance." That seemed like a good idea. Working with those Awen would be next to impossible otherwise.

"You can't use the scepter to do your quests, Erec," the king told him. "Your quests are for you to do, not the scepter to do. You need to learn from them, and grow."

"But how else can I connect the Awen to the Trwyth Boar vial? The Awen of Knowledge would make me forget what to do."

"Once you have the Twrch Trwyth vial, the Awen won't affect you as much as they did before," King Piter pointed out. "Nobody else can help you, though. Your friends would be helpless with all five Awen there." The king gazed at him with admiration. "So you got the five Awen...and the Twrch Trwyth? That's amazing. I thought the Trwyth vial was long gone."

"It was. Olwen Cullwich hid it for me in the castle when I went back in the Time Bender."

King Piter's brow wrinkled as he recalled something from the past. "Funny, I have a vague memory of you wanting to see Olwen way back then. Strange, I never thought much about it." He sighed. "Nobody else knows why I didn't want you to find out you were my son. I couldn't have word getting around about the castle destroying itself."

Balthazar Ugry soared into the room out of nowhere, a swish of 368.

black cloth through the air. "I told told you, sire," he steamed. "He should have been locked up. Now look what he's done." you, sire," he steamed. "He should have been locked up. Now look what he's done."

Ugry's icy stare and his smell chilled Erec to the core. Ugry pointed his carved wooden walking stick toward Erec. Waves of green light shot from its end. Erec watched, horrified, as the rays reached toward him, then bent in the air around him, circling him. He didn't feel anything, but they terrified him, still.

"It won't work, Balthazar," the king said sadly. "You can't do it."

Erec realized then that Ugry was trying to stop him with those rays, but he was too powerful for them. Smirking at Ugry, he shot a blast of rope toward him from the scepter, to tie him up. The rope shot straight through Ugry, though, and fell to the floor.

The king cleared his throat. "This is not helping, Balthazar. Please. I need to speak with Erec alone, not rile him up."

Ugry scowled, looking back and forth between Erec and the king, then swept from the room.

The king scratched his chin. It seemed like he was trying to calm Erec down, keep him talking. "I thought I was being so careful. Homer was guarding the Time Bender. One point I don't understand. I knew you had gone back in time to warn me, but I thought that would change, since I made sure you didn't know I was your father. I thought that would keep you from going into the past. It never connected that going back there would let let you find out I was your father." He thought awhile. "I was sure you already knew you were my son when you went back. Why else would you have come to help me?" you find out I was your father." He thought awhile. "I was sure you already knew you were my son when you went back. Why else would you have come to help me?"

Erec said, "I went back to warn you because I wanted to fix everything that happened starting then. And I found out who I was when I got there." The king looked smaller now, hunched in his throne. Erec remembered that he was five hundred years old. He would die soon without the scepter. Erec closed his eyes. He knew he 369.

was not ready for it yet. Let the king have it awhile longer.

But he felt so strong now, so incredible. What should he do?

Then it occurred to him. He would let himself have it just awhile longer. But he'd put a spell on it to make sure it would return to the king before long. He'd get the king out of here. Put him somewhere safe, close to where Erec was headed. That would make sure the scepter would go back to the king soon.

He closed his eyes and said aloud, "Stay with me, scepter, until we see King Piter next. Then fly back into his hands and work for him."

A surge of power tore through the scepter, streaming through Erec's body, blossoming from his fingertips. He felt like he was flying, on top of the world. Then the feeling ended.

"Erec, no!" King Piter was reaching to him, upset.

The power of the scepter surged through Erec, making him invincible, perfect.

"Put it down, Erec," the king pleaded. "Give it back to me, son."

"Son"! How dare he call Erec that now? Now that he wanted something from him.

But Erec did not want to give the scepter back. It was taken care of. The king would get it back, one of these days. It was time for Erec to enjoy it. He could make better use of it now. It was his turn, finally. And he would use it as he wished. He let the buzz of electricity take over his mind, washing away all other feelings.

The king pointed a finger. Erec knew he was working magic on him. Or trying to. But not this time. Erec was the strong one now. He tipped his scepter and the king disappeared. Give him a nice little visit with the druids in Avalon, Erec thought.

He strolled outside to the castle gardens, enjoying the immense electric energy of the scepter. Crackles snapped in some bushes behind him. When he turned he saw a flash of red hair, then heard 370.

footsteps running away. Oscar again! What was he doing here?

In a few minutes he heard a noise. Loud cracks and crashes echoed and the ground began to shake. He turned to see the Castle Alypium caving in before his eyes. He tilted the scepter and told it to clear everyone out from the castle so nobody would get hurt. Its power surges rocked him, dazed him.

He stood, gripped by fear and surges of power from the scepter, and watched the Castle Alypium fall apart.

371.

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

The Battle Between Love and Hate.PEOPLE WERE RUNNING in every direction, screaming. Mass panic filled the air. People who had been in the castle were standing in awe outside, watching it implode. The noise of the splitting foundation and crashing towers was deafening. Several of the turrets were starting to shake and topple, crashing in through the roofs.

It was like deja vu, standing here, feeling what he was feeling now. Erec had been here so many times in his mind, looking at his 372.

future in the little dark room. He was sure that someone else had been destroying the castle, when he was really to blame all along. He cringed as it caved in before his eyes.

So Oscar had been out here. Just like he had seen in his visions. Well, he knew why now. Oscar had been moving slow, hiding, and keeping his eyes down. It probably took him this long to get out of the castle from the catacombs.

Could Rosco not have told Baskania about the Time Bender? It seemed that was the case, as Baskania had never showed up. Did Oscar actually stop him somehow? Rosco had told Baskania, "It's time for the Castle Alypium to come down." He knew from Oscar that the castle was crumbling. But nothing about the Time Bender. Erec wondered why.

He knew that if he walked around the corner, he would see Balor Stain and his brothers. Balor would be holding his whistle, laughing with glee, just having loosed hordes of bronze ghosts to help finish the castle off.

The last person he wanted to see now was Balor. Or Baskania, who would be showing up soon. Thinking of him, Erec ran into the woods near the gardens and watched the castle tumble down under a stand of tall trees. With each step he bounced high into the air. His magic Sneakers were stronger now that he had the Twrch Trwyth, he realized.

Then a worry flashed into his head. Where was Bethany? She was probably safe. She couldn't be in the castle anymore. But she'd be upset and not know what was going on. With a tip of his scepter Bethany stood before him, staring around her in shock.

"Are you okay?" Erec asked.

"How did I get here?" She looked out at the collapsing castle, confused. "Look at that." They were quiet awhile, watching the destruction continue. "I don't understand anything today," she said.

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"Maybe this is all a dream. I was finishing a new proof, a really big one, to tell me which foundation of math I should base the latest book I'm writing. And then the walls started to shake. I thought it was an earthquake. And then Jam appeared on a flying carpet!"

Her face was glowing, remembering her adventure. "He said the castle was caving in. He saved me and Cutie Pie. The carpet was really big, and I dumped all my important things, magic things, the druid's gifts, my money, and my math work on it. Then," she told him proudly, "we went to your room and grabbed your MagicLight, your money, and everything we could find before it all fell apart. Jam got Wolfboy out of his doghouse, so he's safe too. And he flew us far away. Then I appeared here with you." She stared at the castle as it crumbled before their eyes.

Erec noticed the six huge statues in front of the castle quivering, wiggling from the cracks running through them. Then he blinked. Maybe it was his imagination, or the angle he was watching from, but it looked like the statues were running, galloping away.

Bethany sounded dazed. "I just hope King Piter is okay. And you...thank goodness..." She gasped, noticing Erec's scepter. "What...what happened? How did you get that?"

"It's all going to be okay, Bethany. I got the Twrch Trwyth, and I'm going to the Isle of Man again to attach it to the Awen. King Piter is waiting for me in Avalon." He did not feel like going into the details of how the king had gotten there. Erec could imagine her disapproval. "I went back in the Time Bender, back to when I was three," he explained. "That's how I got the Trwyth Boar from Olwen Cullwich. And King Piter programmed the castle to collapse when I found out.... You'll never guess what I found out there."

Bethany looked dazed, like his words weren't fully sinking in amid the chaos around them. "What?"

"I'm one of the royal triplets. King Piter is my dad."

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Bethany stared at him in horror. "But...no. That's not possible. He's--"

"I know," Erec said, scowling. "You'd think he'd have bothered to tell me by now. But I guess he couldn't, because his castle would collapse when I found out."

Bethany looked back at the castle falling to pieces. "You...you did this?" Her lower lip trembled. "You're King Piter's..." Her face flushed and she clenched her fists. "You ruined everything! I hate you!" Tears sprang to her eyes and she ran away.

Erec's head spun. It was so hard to think straight after all that had happened. Why did Bethany have to blame him? He was only trying his best. He didn't know the castle would collapse. She didn't have to get so mad at him.

Surges from the scepter raced through him, as well as waves of dread. He had to go to the Isle of Man and finish his quest. King Piter would get his scepter back, and everything would be fine again. Erec would clear things up with Bethany later. She'd forgive him for ruining the castle. She'd have to understand that it wasn't his fault really.