The Living Dead

Chapter 1

There was possibly no thing more annoying than the sound of a young child singing. Especially a child who hardly knows how to speak. It was pure torture, really.

That's what Zander was doing at that moment as he followed Luxa and Gregor along down the hall. It couldn't really count as singing, as mostly he was humming a tune while making random noises. It was enough to drive his two guardians crazy though.

Luxa was actively ignoring him though, as they were in public. Gregor knew once they got to the royal wing, she would make him knock it off. They really couldn't get too mad at him either, as they knew to be glad that he was at the least attempting to make words. Or sounds, more like it. He was still improving.

"Zander," Gregor finally groaned when he could take it no more. "Pretend to be a tiger, buddy."

That was all it took to stop the singing and bring on the growling, as well as the faces that the little boy made when he acted as his favorite animals. Luxa gave Gregor a look, but he merely shrugged. It was better than him singing.

"Rawr!" Zander almost ran into the back of Luxa's legs when he suddenly rushed forwards, as if chasing her. "Rawr!"

"Zander." Now Luxa had to address the situation. Looking down at him, she said, "Do you wish to be carried?"

That made him shake his head no.

"Then behave. Now."

Zander looked to Gregor, but he only shrugged, shaking his head. Whining slightly, Zander fell back some, following them though he continued to pout. It was one of his main forms of retaliation when Luxa got too bossy.

"You are coming with me?" Luxa spoke to Gregor then. "Or do you have something else to do?"

"Right now? Nothing," he said. "Later, I have some soldiers I have to train."

When they made it to the royal wing, Zander finally pushed past Luxa and Gregor to run into the sitting room, where he had left his toys. They had just picked him up from the nursery and he was clearly glad to be back home.

Luxa only sighed, following him in there. "He was supposed to clean these up before, Gregor."

"Well, now he has them out so he can play with them right now. He can clean them up when he finishes with them this time."

"Perhaps that is how it works when he is staying with you in your room, but I-"

"What are you going to do, Lux? Take his toys away?" Gregor only shook his head as he went to go sit down on one of the couches.

She gave him a look as she went to join him. "Do not forget, Gregor, that you are a guest, currently."

"Please, babe, I practically live here."

She flicked his head as he only shifted to get more comfortable. They had spent most of the morning together already, in meetings dealing with a current land dispute between the gnawers and, once again, the nibblers. Gregor had to admit, it was kind of nice to be a general and actually be able to speak to Luxa when he wished. Still, being a guard had its pluses too. He really didn't have to think for himself then, which was turning out to be a lot harder than it should have been.

Zander made a loud noise then, looking over at them. Luxa only sighed before leaning against Gregor.

"He cried all night last night."

"Really?"

She nodded. "I wish I had let him stay with you."

"Poor buddy." Gregor looked over at him then. "You let him sleep in bed with you?"

"I had to, Gregor. He would cry if I left."

"He must've had a bad dream or something," Gregor said with a shrug. "I'd stayed last night, if I'd have known."

That was more or less what their life had become. It wasn't horrible, really, but it was definitely different. Suddenly they had to plan everything they did around Zander, who obviously had no consideration for them. When he was hungry, he would cry until he was fed. When he was tired, he wished to go to sleep immediately. When he wanted to play, he would fight you if you tried to take him away from his toys. He was the most annoying, aggravating thing Luxa had ever dealt with.

But seeing as Gregor put up with her every day, he was more or less already prepared.

Zander was singing again then and Gregor about just gave in and let him. It was clearly making the little boy happy. Luxa, however, had not been in a good mood in a number of days and was about tired of hearing his nonsensical babble.

"Enough," she called over to the little boy, who just looked up at her. His vocabulary was rather small, after all. "Stop. No. I mean it."

He didn't understand, apparently, and just went back to what he was doing. Luxa groaned while Gregor only smiled.

"Zander," he called. "You wanna come over here? Huh? Come sit up here with us?"

The little boy might not be able to speak very well, but he knew when he was being beckoned. Jumping up, he took a few of his stuffed animals with him as he rushed over to Gregor. Holding out his toys, he waited for Gregor to pick them up and set them on the couch before moving to climb into the man's lap.

"Yes, Gregor. I wanted him over here. Obviously," Luxa grumbled, shifting away from them.

"Well, he's quieter, at least," he reasoned as Zander snuggled up to him. "And we still need to work on his speech, huh?"

"No. Not me. I have for the past few days. I feel foolish, repeating words over and over again in hopes that he says it back." She stood then, leaving him behind. "I have not felt well for a number of days. Getting no sleep last night did not help. Wake me in an hour, Gregor."

"We could come in there with you."

"Do not," was her one warning before she was gone, off for her bedchamber. Gregor only grinned before looking down at Zander.

"You made her go, buddy. You know that?"

He didn't seem to care that Luxa was gone, only going right back to playing with his toys, now sitting in Gregor's lap. In the eight months since the end of the war with the banished, so far, Zander had been a relatively happy child. For the most part. Sometimes he cried inconsolably and did not want either Gregor or Luxa. He figured he was waiting for Usha and Vlad to get him in those times. As time went on though, those moments were happening with less frequency.

Honestly, it was Luxa that spent more time with Zander than it was Gregor. Being a general took up much of his time. It wasn't like when he was head guard and could just follow her around all day. No, it was Luxa that usually woke Zander in the morning, as his technical room was in the royal wing, and it was also her who took him to the nursery. She picked him up there in most cases too, fed him, bathed him. Honestly, Gregor was shocked she had not pawned him off on some sort of fulltime nanny. It seemed like the type of thing she would do.

Not that he told her that. He had a feeling she wouldn't think it was very funny that that was what he thought of her. Not at all.


"Feel better?"

"Has it been an hour already?"

Gregor nodded as he came into Luxa's room. She was just laying there, awake, watching the door.

"Yeah. You okay?"

"Just tired."

Zander jumped from Gregor's arms when he was close enough, easily landing on the bed. Luxa only sighed as he moved up to her head, staring down at her.

"Lucka," he announced, waving to her. She only rolled her eyes before closing them again.

"You got something to do for the rest of the day?" Gregor asked her then.

"Not particularly, no. Everything was finalized in the last meeting today."

"Then just stay in bed, Lux."

"Gregor, I-"

"I can take Zander."

"You are going to the arena. He-"

"He'll be good. I know he will be." Gregor reached out for the toddler, who stuck his tongue out in rebellion. It was not something Gregor liked to admit, that Zander was fonder of Luxa than him, but it was true. It was shocking and completely backwards, but it was the truth. Frowning, Gregor forcibly picked the toddler back up, who took to pouting.

"Gregor-"

"You couldn't sleep last night because of him," he reasoned. "Make up for it now, huh? I'll get you for dinner."

She was wavering. "If you are sure. He is not the best-behaved-"

"He'll be fine," Gregor insisted as Zander started whining. He probably wanted his tiger. They'd bring it with them to the arena, just in case. "Tell Luxa bye-bye, Zander."

He only reached out for her, whining. Luxa gave Gregor a hard look then, but he only grinned before turning quickly, taking the toddler with him.

"You gotta give me a chance sometimes, buddy," Gregor grumbled, stopping only to get the stuffed tiger before heading out of the royal wing. "I mean, come on."

Zander wanted to walk, of course, as he never liked being carried somewhere. And once they were too far from the royal wing for him to run back to it, Gregor set him on the ground, letting him carry his little tiger with him.

When they got to the High Hall, Zander immediately knew who to go to.

"Rawr!" He growled as he came to a stop in front of Aurora before jumping up and down, as if in accomplishment.

"Can you take me to the arena?" Gregor asked as Aurora bowed her head slightly so Zander could pat her nose. "Zander, behave."

"He is fine," Aurora told him before looking at Gregor. "Come then. And have you seen Luxa?"

"She's napping," he said, lifting Zander into his arms before setting him up on Aurora's back. Getting up there too, he said, "Zander kept her up all night."

"Then I shall leave her alone."

When they made it to the arena, Gregor thanked Aurora and she promised to pick him up later. Zander was disappointed to see her go, sticking close to Gregor when he saw all the men that were around. The only time he was in the arena was when he was taking his tumbling class, falling from the backs of fliers. And there were never men training then, as not to scare or harm the toddlers.

"Here, Zander." Gregor sat him down in the stands with his little tiger. "You stay here, huh? I gotta work, okay?"

While Gregor went back over to his men, Zander happily occupied himself by walking around in the empty stands, finding interesting bugs and things crawling around.

Gregor would look back at him at times, just to make sure he was still safe. He was. The toddler had learned to keep himself occupied when he lived out in the Uncharted Lands, no doubt, and could find the simplest things interesting.

Barrett and his men arrived some time while Gregor's were still there. They were using the other half of the arena, so Gregor really didn't plan to say anything to him. Barrett did notice Zander though and went over to the little boy to greet him. As Barrett hung around Luxa so much, Zander rather liked the man and giggled happily at the attention.

"You are never going to survive battle with that sort of stance," Gregor was complaining at one of his men at one point. "Look at the way you stand. Too much of a target. You must-"

"Uh, General?" the man cut him off before pointing behind his back. "Your…kid is escaping."

Turning, Gregor found that Zander had gotten out of the stands and was running off, looking up at the sky. Err, not sky, but what the sky technically would be considered. Looking up as well, Gregor knew that Zander must have seen something he recognized to be yelling and running the way he was.

Sure enough, there was Nike's striped belly flying over head, one of the most recognizable there was. That must have been who Zander had seen. Sigh.

When Gregor got to the boy, he immediately picked him up, though Zander tried to fight him.

"You are going to be in trouble later if you don't behave," Gregor grumbled as he took the boy over to the stands once more.

"Overlander," Barrett called then, gesturing to him. Gregor only glanced at him though, annoyed. "Come here."

Changing his path then, he carried the wiggling Zander over.

"I am busy," Gregor said simply. "What-"

"Let me see the child."

"What?"

"The child. Let me see him."

"Why-"

"To help with training, yes?"

Gregor held the wiggling toddler tighter. "What are you going to do with him?"

Barrett gave him a look. "Do you truly think I would harm Luxa's child?"

It was odd hearing Zander called that. Luxa didn't call him that. She normally just called him annoying.

Still, Barrett did have a point. So Gregor just held out Zander to the man who took him before signaling for his bond, Eos, to come down from where she was circling above the arena.

"Today, we will be playing rescue, yes?" Barrett spoke to his men, turning to go put Zander on the back of Eos. "When I was a boy, there was a great siege of the city. Some guards and soldiers had betrayed the crown and the army head. It led to the loss of King Lennox and the Prince, as well as both of their wives.

"Does anyone know what the main fault was? No one planned for it. A gnawer siege had not happened in so long, so very long, that they all got complacent. No one thought that guards, generals, and even a few fliers, would turn on Regalia. Would lose faith n the crown. But they did. And we cannot let that happen again.

"Now, the game we are going to play right now, with the Overlander's men if he is willing, which I am certain you will be, is us, the soldiers, against them, the gnawers." Barrett nodded at Zander, who had taken to petting Eos as if she were a cat or something. "The objective is to rescue him, yes? Obviously without injuring the Overlander's men…too seriously."

Gregor knew, of course, that his men would have to be the villains. It was just how it had to be, obviously. Still, Barrett did have a pretty good idea. It was rare that different divisions trained together, but it was still a novel idea. Like playing war.

"Most importantly," Barrett reminded them all loudly. "Do not kill the kid. Please. I might just lose my job, if not life."

Though Gregor's men were obviously the enemy, he still instructed them as if otherwise. After all, Luxa always told him that he was truly a rat.

Zander, for his part, had a wonderful time being flown through the air on the back of Eos. A few times he tried to jump off her and she had to adjust to make sure that didn't happen. Gregor knew that he was just trying to do what he had learned in class, which was to jump off a flier so they could catch you. It was an attempt to teach children not to be afraid of fliers and heights, under the assumption they would always be caught. Always.

Problems typically arose when a child as young as Zander went flying on a parents' bond and decided to show off what they had done in class. In Regalia, there were always fliers around. When traveling, however, there were not.

Still, eventually Zander got bored with attempting to jump off and finally decided to just enjoy the ride. Randomly he'd call down to Gregor or up to the fliers that flew over the open arena. At least he was having fun, though, so Gregor really couldn't complain.

All and all, the training went well on both side. Barrett was able to help his men and Gregor his own. When it was all said and done, Gregor let him men off while Barrett just went back to regular practice.

"You got all sweaty, buddy," Gregor commented to Zander not soon after they returned to the palace. The little boy just kept chewing on his tiger though, unconcerned. "Well, anyways, let's go wake Luxa up, huh?"

She was still in bed too, when they got to the royal wing. Zander just clambered up onto the bed with her, rubbing his stuffed tiger in her face. That got her up, rather quickly.

"Zander," Gregor sighed as she sat up quickly, surprised out of sleep. "Sorry, Lux."

She didn't even look at him, only frowned at the toddler before snatching his toy from him. Zander frowned at that, as he had only been trying to awaken her and didn't understand that he had done wrong.

It only took a few seconds for his crying to start.

With a groan, Luxa shoved the tiger back in his hands to shut him up before looking at Gregor. He only grinned, coming closer.

"You stink," was the first thing she said.

"Yeah, well," he responded with a shrug. "You're still going to let me sit on the bed, huh?"

He wasn't so certain and was very cautious as he went to get into his side of the bed. Luxa only continued to glare at him, however.

"I'm guessing you're still not feeling well?"

"I feel fine, Gregor," she told him. "I'm just…tired of…Alexander."

"Luxa-"

"Well, I am."

The little boy was sucking on the ear of his tiger then, staring up at Luxa with sad eyes. He didn't understand why she did not like his wakeup call or why she had taken his tiger away.

"You're upsetting him."

"Good, Gregor."

"Lux-"

"If you never let him know that you are displeased, how do you stop him from doing the things that cause you displeasure?"

"I don't know. I just…look at him."

Zander was still watching her, awaiting her to tell him how well-behaved he was or to compliment him on not making loud noises. She wasn't gong to though.

"Are you going to bathe before dinner?" Luxa asked Gregor then, frowning at him still. "You are covered in sweat. Honestly, Gregor, you-"

"I didn't plan to, no."

"After?"

"Nope."

"Then you are not sleeping here tonight."

"Who wants to anyways?"

"You're disgusting." With that, she stretched once before getting out of bed. "Come, Zander."

He glanced at Gregor before crawling over to the edge of the bed before jumping down to follow Luxa, taking his tiger with him.

Well then.


Since becoming a general, it was almost customary that Gregor ate dinner with Luxa. It was almost like when they were kids again, really. It was nice to put the guard status behind him, honestly.

It really was.

Zander had become accustom to getting steady meals and always knew when it was time for the next one. That did not stop his hording of food, however. Quite a few times, Luxa found him stuffing a biscuit in his pants or down his shirt for later. She always reprimanded him, just like she did when he would try to overstuff himself, which still happened on an at least weekly basis.

Another point of interest in meals were that it was mostly just the three of them then, less Luxa invited someone else. Nerissa was not doing so well and spent most of her time in her room once more. They were continuing to drug her, which only furthered her hallucinations. Gregor made sure to spend as much time with her as possible.

Not two months after all the banished business was complete, Vikus had passed in his sleep, so he was no longer present. Luxa locked herself away for no more than a day that time. Though she was still very obviously effected from the loss. Or at least Gregor knew she was. Of course she was. Now she had no grandparents and no parents.

She really was an orphan.

Then there was a matter of Hazard, who had decided to stay in the Fount as planned. He was most disappointed that Gregor would not be joining him, but stayed regardless. Gregor made him promise to write Luxa weekly, which he usually stuck to. A miss here or there, but then Hazard was growing up. They couldn't keep an eye on him forever.

Luxa missed him probably more than anyone. Vikus was dead and she knew that, but it had to hurt worse, having Hazard leave. He was really the only person Luxa unconditionally loved. Even Aurora and Nerissa came with stipulations. And Gregor most certainly had some. Hazard though, he could do just about anything to her and she would still protect him. She really loved him, more than anyone. More than anything. More than she had…Henry, probably. And it hurt her that he seemingly didn't have that same affection for her.

"Zander," Luxa sighed halfway through dinner when he began licking his by then empty plate. "You are not still hungry. Stop that."

He looked up at her and smiled though Luxa did not return it. Gregor knew that it was draining on her, taking care of Zander. No matter what child they took care of, it would have been, but it did not help any that Zander was far behind in development. Usha and Vlad had clearly neglected him enough so that his speech was horribly delayed for his age. He did not even recognize words when he heard them. You had to be patient when dealing with him, something that Luxa never was.

Never.

After dinner, when she tried to take Zander to be bathed like usual, Gregor spoke up and said he'd do it. He needed to bathe anyways. He made it very clear, however, that it would not become the norm for them. He bathed Zander very infrequently and planned to keep it that way.

Having a kid was great. He really did like taking care of Zander. But the day to day maintenance of it was Luxa's domain. It was just a given.

Still, he could tell that she wasn't all there and knew that if either of them had tried to reason the complications of a child being added to their lifestyle it was here. She had tried very hard to get Zander sent to a more capable couple, but he had resisted. So usually when he saw her struggling, he stepped in to take over for her. It was the least he could do, really, considering she had so much going on all together. Taking care of a child would never be one of her strong suits.

That night, after he put Zander to bed (which included about five stories and then laying there with him until he fell asleep), Gregor went off looking for Luxa. This was harder than it should have been, as she was nowhere to be found in the royal wing. As horrible of a headache as she had had, he figured that she would be in bed, but she wasn't. She wasn't anywhere.

He found her eventually, in the war room. She was seated at the table, going over some sort of scrolls while moving around the markers on the map spread across the table.

"Thought you had people to do that?"

She didn't look up as he came in. "I still do not trust my scouts. Not since-"

"It's been months. All of the traders have been smoked out and justice has befallen them."

"I trust no one. I should have been doing this myself for years. Scouts, guards. There is no loyalty. Servants either."

"You have been in quite the mood recently," he commented dryly as he went to stand behind her chair. "You trust me then?"

She didn't answer for a moment before finally asking, "What do you want, Overlander?"

"I just came to check on you. I know you were tired today, so I thought you'd be asleep. But here you are."

"Here I am."

"How long are you going to be here then?"

"Late." She looked up at him then, not moving when he leaned down to kiss her.

"All alone?" he asked after he straightened.

"Guards filter around," she told him. "Leave, Overlander. I am fine."

"Overlander," he mocked. "Are you mad at me today?"

"When I do not call you it, you are upset. When I do call you it, you get annoyed. What exactly is it that you wished to be called then, Gregor?"

He only leaned up against her chair then, reading the scroll over her shoulder. "Lot more than a land dispute going on there, huh?"

"It is merely fodder that the gnawers discuss. And do not read over my shoulder, Overlander. This is none of your concern."

"A new king brewing for the gnawers then?"

"Stop reading-"

"Oh, come on, Lux, you'd have told me eventually."

She only shook her head before getting back to the markers. "Your favorite little gnawer hasn't shown his face recently. No one's seen him. Even other gnawers are wondering where he's at."

"Maybe he's gone underground." Then Gregor thought. "More underground than usual."

"Perhaps he picked a favorite hole and is now rotting in it."

"Luxa-"

"He's old, Gregor. And wickedness will only keep you alive for so long." She laughed slightly then. "I always wanted to be the one to kill him."

"He's your bond."

"Yes," she said slowly. "I am allowed one mistake in my life, yes?"

He rolled his eyes. "You know, sometimes you could just admit that you're concerned about someone."

"Concerned," she repeated, as if the word was unfamiliar to her. "The only thing I am concerned with is your job status, should you continue to bother me."

"I just wish you would go to bed with me, is all."

"I am not going to. I already slept."

"Fine." He only shook his head. "I will be waiting for you."

"Do not be. I do not wish for you to-"

"I don't wanna leave Zander alone in the royal wing, Lux."

She paused at that before nodding slightly. "Fine."

He didn't leave then though, only continued to stand behind her. She was ignoring him quite well, however, and he figured she'd continue to.

"Do you wish for me to help?" he asked finally. "Is that what you want?"

"I do not want anything. Why must I want something?"

"There's clearly a reason that you plan on spending your night doing this instead of going to bed with me," he remarked. "I would just like to find out what the reason is, is all."

"There is no reason, Gregor. I only-"

"Then I shall sit here, huh? And-"

"No. This business is of no concern of-"

"Over here, eh?" He sat at the end of the table, far away from her. "I can't read a thing all the way over here. Out of the way."

She narrowed her eyes at him, but he only smiled at her, as if pleased with himself. Shaking her head, she went back to her scrolls.

"So…do I have to sit here quietly or-"

"You do not have to sit here at all. If you must though, then yes. Sit there quietly."

He knew what she was doing. Now it was a game. Who would break first? Who would leave first? Well, fine then. If she wished to play a game, he would play her game.

And he did play her game. For a long time. Then, eventually, he started to get tired.

When he first laid his head down on the table, it was with the intention of only resting his eyes. Of course, many people knew of that this technique never quite worked the way it was intended. It always failed. Always.

It was late when Gregor awoke. Someone, no doubt Luxa, had taken all of the torches from the room and he was in darkness. Great. She could be so loving at times. Too bad those times were far and in between…

When he finally made it to the royal wing, he found Luxa already asleep, but alone. Zander must have stayed the entire night in his own bed. Huh. He must have really been tired.

"You're lucky I love you so much," Gregor complained to Luxa as he stripped himself of his clothing before getting into bed with her. She was truly asleep though and did not move towards him in the slightest.

He laid there for a long time too before she awoke. And even then, it was just with a sleepy moan before moving to lay her head on his chest.

"Are you going to apologize?"

"No," she yawned, snuggling against him. "Are you mad?"

Sighing, he said, "No. I want to be, but no."

After laying there for a moment, she said, "Gregor?"

"Mmmm?"

"There might have been more on those scrolls than I told you. Or the other generals. More than just land disputes."

"I know. I knew it. I could tell."

She would have rolled her eyes and accused him of lying, had she felt better. As it was though, she only whispered, "Gregor?"

"Mmmm?"

"…I think we might have to fight another war."

He should have been shocked. The land dispute was nothing, really. Just the gnawers needing to be put in their place once more. Whatever else she was getting from her scouts must have been pretty major. Still, he only shut his eyes before kissing her head.

Softly, he told her, "What else is new?"

She swallowed before saying, "I think we also might have another prophecy."