The Power of Five Oblivion

he’s got you to look after him.”
    “Actually, I think it’s the other way round.”
    “Scott!” Jamie had seen his brother walking towards them and ran forward to greet him.
    But even as Scott appeared at the bottom of the hill, Matt could see that he was lingering. He had probably thought twice before responding to the sound of the bell and had only come because he had to, because if he wasn’t there, Pedro would tell them what had happened. He was still reluctant to join the group. Matt glanced at Pedro and saw him turn away, deliberately avoiding having to look Scott in the eye. Matt tried to force what he had read out of his thoughts. He wasn’t the only one with problems. This adventure was going to hurt them all.
    Pedro was his friend. Without him, Matt would never have survived Peru. He rested a hand briefly on his shoulder. “Hello, Pedro.”
    “I am happy to see you, Matteo.”
    “I’m glad to see you too.” He went on quickly, keeping his voice low. “Don’t worry about Scott. I know what’s happened and it’s going to be all right. Don’t say anything to the others.”
    “But Scott—”
    “I know. But everything’s happening the way it’s meant to. What matters is that we’re together again. The Five. It’s all going to work out.”
    They talked for a few more minutes. Scarlett was amazed to learn that Lohan was now with Matt. She quickly described the civil war in Egypt and the death of Tarik, killed by his own bomb. She still couldn’t believe what Richard had done.
    “He only did it because there was no other choice,” Matt said. “That’s the way he is. He says he doesn’t want to be part of this but he’ll do anything to protect you.”
    Then Jamie described his time in the village in England, his escape on the canal boat. “I guess I’m still there right now,” he said. “With Holly and this guy – the Traveller. It’ll take us about a week to get to London and we’re just going to have to hope that St Meredith’s is still there.”
    They were all so glad to see each other that they didn’t notice that Scott hadn’t bothered to tell anything of his story. He was almost silent, making sure he kept his distance from Pedro. They hadn’t spoken a word to each other.
    “I was going north,” Pedro said. He was choosing his words carefully. Scott was listening and Pedro was concerned. He might repeat everything he heard here to Jonas Mortlake. He wondered why Matt had stopped him from warning the others. “There was a volcano eruption … in Naples. I still don’t know what happened. I was on a boat and then I was here.”
    And that was what mattered most. They were finally together … even if these were only the dream versions of themselves. From now on, it would matter less that they were thousands of miles apart in the real world. All they had to do was fall asleep at the same time. They would meet each other again.
    “We ought to get on with it,” Matt said. “Lohan is going to wake me up at any moment and we have a long drive ahead of us through the jungle in Brazil. What’s important is that the five of us know what we’re doing and how this is going to work out. Let me tell you straight off that it’s not going to be easy…”
    Not easy. Not easy at all .
    “You probably guessed that much already. The Old Ones have stolen ten years from us and somehow they’ve stretched those years and made them much longer. The whole world has changed. But we’re still here – the Five – and we can still win. We were born for this time and we have to hold onto that, no matter what happens now or in the future. I always thought this sort of thing was meant to be fun … becoming a hero and saving the world. But it’s not going to be fun. Remember that. Maybe not all of us are going to live. But we don’t have any choice except to go on because that’s how it has been written.”
    Written .
    “We need to get to Antarctica, to a place called Oblivion. Chaos is there, surrounded by his armies, in a fortress built out of ice and stone. He’s waiting for us and that’s where we have to go.”
    “But why?” Scarlett said. “That doesn’t make any sense, Matt. All we have to do is meet. Isn’t that it? So we should go as far away from him as possible.”
    “It has to be Oblivion, Scarlett. There are things you don’t know, things I can’t tell you.”
    Alone among the Five, Pedro understood what he meant. Scott had left Naples with Jonas Mortlake