Gregor

And the

Prophecy of light

Chapter 1

Gregor awoke with a start. He had been having one of his falling dreams again. They had stopped before his last visit to the Underland; when he'd had Ares. Ares, the big black bat who was his bond, had been killed by the monster the Underlanders called the Bane when he and Gregor were fighting to kill him. Even though they succeeded, Gregor still felt like he had lost one of the only things that kept him going. The past month had been so hard on him and his family because their grandmother was in the hospital, in a terrible state, Lizzie in tears because she missed her rat friend from the Underland, Ripred, and the fact that they were poor and needed to watch their savings carefully.

"Gregor, Breakfast!" He heard Mrs. Cormaci call from the kitchen. She had been helping his family out since Gregor had told her about their fascinating trips to the Underland. His mother was still to weak to do much of anything, and his father had unpredictable fevers that came every now and then. Even though Gregor wasn't that hungry, he still went to eat, not wanting to make a big fuss out of something so little.

"Good morning, Gregor! We got some toast and eggs, you hungry?" Mrs. Cormaci asked.

"I helped make toast, Gregor!" Boots, Gregor's little sister, cried. She had only recently started calling him "Gregor", but she still sometimes called him "Gre-go".

"That's great, little girl, it looks delicious!" said Gregor. And it did, too. Too bad he wasn't hungry. He had so much else on his mind. He sat down and picked at his scrambled eggs. Boots waited beside him anxiously for him to eat his toast, so he took a few bites just to satisfy her.

"What's up mister? Are you still thinking about that Underland?" Mrs. Cormaci asked. Gregor just shrugged. "They're getting along fine, if what you said about the agreement between Luxa and Ripred is true!"

Luxa. She was the Queen of Regalia, well, not officially, until she became sixteen. She was what Gregor missed most from the Underland, her smiling face, her attitude, her personality. He knew she missed him as well, her face when he left was unforgettable. It didn't matter, though; he would never see her again. Even though his family had decided not to move to Virginia, because it would have left Lizzie wailing, he still wasn't allowed to go down there again. His mother was scared something would happen, and even though he tried to convince her that there were no more prophecies he was involved in, she still thought they would drag him into another war or something. Having fulfilled the five prophecies involving "the warrior", he had "killed himself" as the warrior. Now he was just a kid again, with the power to kill, and kill many. He barely went outside, because in even the tiniest fight, he could wind up being taken over by his rager senses and really hurt someone.

Many times he had tried to imagine what was going on down in the Underland right now, maybe Luxa and Ripred were arguing over who would be attending some sort of meeting, or maybe they were leading a training session for the younger Underlanders. However hard he tried to keep his head in the Overland, the Underland kept drifting into his thoughts. It was in every member of his family's thoughts. Lizzie was thinking of her code-team friends and Ripred, his father thinking about all of the amazing technology down there, his mother thinking of the medicine they needed for Gregor's scars that could only be found down there, and Boots thinking of her cockroach friends. Boots still didn't understand the fact that they were never going back to the Underland. She was always asking, "We go see Temp?" "We go see mouse babies?" And it pained Gregor to tell her they couldn't, and seeing her confused face when he said no. She walked around saying to anyone she knew that she was a "pincess" and that she flew on "big bat" and rode on "big bug" before Gregor could stop her. They were getting a lot of questions about that, and Gregor just had to pretend it was her overactive imagination.

"Gregor? Hello? Are you okay?" Gregor came back to reality and saw Lizzie standing next to him, looking worried.

"Yeah Liz, I'm fine. Just thinking about how much fun we're going to have at the pool today!" They had been planning to go swimming, since it was still summer and really hot out. Gregor didn't swim much, because when he was in his bathing suit all of his scars showed. Lizzie and Boots were scar-free, so they could swim all they wanted too.

"Well, if you guys are going swimming, then you better hurry up and eat. If you don't get going soon, the pool is going to be really crowded!" Mrs. Cormaci rushed the girls out of the room, and then sat down to talk to Gregor.

"Gregor, I didn't want to tell you this in front of your sisters, but I found this down in the laundry room when I went to was my whites." She pulled a scroll out of her bag. Gregor just stared at it for a minute, thinking that this couldn't be possible. He was supposed to be totally off contact with the Underland, nobody had said anything about sending him anything when he'd left! Then he swiped the scroll out of Mrs. Cormaci's hand and read it.

Gregor,

If you are reading this, you are still in your home and have not moved to…that place. No one knows I am writing to you. Vikus has claimed that I have been slacking on my responsibilities, and although he doesn't know why, I am sure it is because of you. If you do not wish to write back, then fine, but do not expect me to write again.

There has been plenty going on since you left, one thing which has gotten all of Regalia in confusion. The Palace guards have recently discovered a doorway under Regalia, deeper into the corridor where you and Ripred had your echolocation lessons. The door seems to be giving off a luminous glow, one that we are not familiar of. It is not the same glow as the streams give off, nor a torch. It is much brighter. The door will not open. Have you ever seen this door before, possibly during your echolocation lessons? I would be so pleased if you write back.

Fly you high,

Luxa

Luxa! The message was so full of…her! Her attitude, concern, feelings, and just herself seemed to be concealed within the message. It was so good to hear from her, but it only reminded Gregor how sad it was to be cut off from being truly with her.

"So? Who's it from?" Mrs. Cormaci's voice brought his eyes away from the scroll.

"Luxa. She just wanted to talk again." Gregor was sad and happy all at once, and Mrs. Cormaci could see that.

"Do you want me to take the girls swimming? I can see you need some time to yourself." asked Mrs. Cormaci.

"No, I can do it. I've been looking forward to it too." said Gregor. He rounded up the girls and said goodbye to Mrs. Cormaci.

"Gregor, do we bring frogs?" Boots loved her little poison dart frog toys, even after she had almost been killed by one in the Underland jungle.

"I'll get them." Lizzie offered, and then ran to their room to find the frogs. Then they walked to the New York public pool. He had slipped a paper into his pocket, figuring he would write back to Luxa while his sisters were swimming. The whole way there, all he could think about was Luxa. Her letter had been great, but the whole thing about the glowing door was a little bit bizarre. Was it another one of Sandwich's crazy actions? Or a plot that could wipe out the humans forever?

He had no clue.

"I made big, big splash, Gregor!" Boots cried. She had jumped into the shallow end of the pool. She swam with little water wings on. "I can swim like a dinowsaur!" Boots was thinking of the big sea-serpents they had encountered on their quest to defeat the Bane.

"Yeah, that's…great Boots." said Gregor. People were looking at them now, thinking that that was a strange thing for a toddler to say. Lizzie was just swimming around Boots, with a faraway look in her eye. She was watching Boots, though, so Gregor thought it would be okay to take his mind off Boots and write back to Luxa. He had a hard time deciding on words, but he finally wrote a letter that he thought explained how he'd been feeling, better or worse.

Luxa,

It's awesome to hear from you! I thought I'd never talk to you again! If I had moved to Virginia, what would you do if someone else found this message? My parents, Mrs. Cormaci, and Lizzie keep telling me that I've got my mind in the Underland. Why didn't you tell anyone you were writing? Would they be mad?

How is everybody down there? Are Hazard and Howard okay? Does Aurora miss Ares too? And what about Ripred? Lizzie wants to know. Things have been okay here. I still can't totally block out my rager sensation, and it's got me watching what I do all the time. Boots is good. Guess what? She can finally say my name! Lizzie still is upset about Ripred, but she's calming herself by doing more puzzles.

About that door thing, it sounds a little strange to me. I've never seen it before. Has Ripred? Probably not, because you wouldn't be asking me about it if he has. Is there anything else that glows in the Underland? Maybe that's behind the door. I'm not really sure.

Anyway, I got to go. I hope you find out what the door is. You don't have to write back, because your probably really busy. I hope you're okay, and I miss you!

Fly you high too,

Gregor

His handwriting wasn't that great. In fact, it stunk. But he couldn't help that. He was anxious to get back home and put the letter in the grate, but the girls were having a good time swimming. Just then, a shivering Lizzie got out of the pool. He wrapped a towel around her, and she sat down on the bench beside him.

"What's that?" Lizzie pointed to the folded up letter in his hand.

"Oh, that's just an over the summer school project I have to do. Nothing interesting." Gregor said. He didn't want to worry Lizzie.

Then, Boots got out of the pool. "Gregor, I'm c-cold!" She shivered. He wrapped her princess towel around her. That was the only towel she used since she became a "princess".

"You guys ready to go home? I think Mrs. Cormaci made some sandwiches for us." said Gregor. The girls nodded and put on their shorts and t-shirts over their bathing suits. Gregor tucked the letter into his back pocket and they started back to the apartment. On the way back, they passed Central Park. Boots pointed.

"Gregor, we go to see Temp?" she remembered when the roaches had taken her down to the Underland through the entrance in Central Park.

"No, we can't Boots. No more Temp." Gregor said sadly. He saw a tear run down Lizzie's cheek. He decided to talk about more cheerful things. "Boots, maybe Mrs. Cormaci made you a jelly sandwich!" Jelly was Boots's favorite.

"Yummy! Let's go!" She ran off, Gregor and Lizzie following. They got to the apartment building and took the elevator upstairs. Mrs. Cormaci had made a jelly sandwich for Boots, and she ate it up right away. After lunch, Gregor told everyone he was going for a walk, and bolted downstairs to the laundry room. The grate, as usual, was closed, but it was rattling. He rolled up the letter and was about to slip it in when a big golden head popped out in front of him.