Shattered

Chapter One: Birthdays and Banes

"Boots! Hurry up!" Gregor called for the third time.

He had been waiting for over fifteen minutes for his younger sister to leave the bathroom, and despite his legendary patience (how else would he deal with Ripred?), he was starting to get irritated.

Thank God, Boots actually heard him this time, because he could hear the sound of the lock twisting. The door swung open, only to smack Gregor straight in the face.

"Gre-go!" Boots, dressed in the 'pincess' outfit he had bought for her, cried loudly. "I'm done!" She looked around, slightly confused. "Gre-go? Where you go?"

Gregor moaned slightly, clutching his head. "I'm fine, Boots," he said, feeling completely the opposite. "Breakfast is ready, and I need to take a shower before we go to the Underland. Remember, it's Hazard's birthday today!"

"Birthday!" Boots yelled, completely ignoring the rest of what Gregor had said. "Party!"

"Yeah, Boots," Gregor responded, smiling ever so slightly. "There's going to be a party. We bought presents yesterday, remember? But first, you have to eat breakfast, and I have to wash. Okay?"

Boots nodded vigorously and turned, running over to the breakfast table, where Mrs. Cormaci and Lizzie were cooking a delicious meal. Gregor sighed as the wonderful aroma wafted throughout the hallway, but snapped himself out of his daze. He needed to hurry, or else they would be late. He quickly rushed into the bathroom and closed the door, slumping ever so slightly against the door.

To be honest, Gregor was tired. He was tired of his echolocation lessons, tired of living two lives, tired of being a rager and unable to control it properly. Tired of worrying over whether they would move to Virginia or not. For some reason, Gregor was unable to imagine living somewhere other than the Big Apple, where he had lived all his life, and not having the Underland a stone's throw away.

He shook off his rather melancholy thoughts, choosing instead to rub the fading scars on his arms, reminders of the past two prophecies calling for the Warrior. The fish paste, although disgusting to touch and smelly, worked exceptionally well; he could barely make out the suction marks on his arm, and most of the marks from the battle with the cutters had faded entirely.

Why was he so distracted today? And why on earth did he feel as if something was off, like something was supposed to happen but didn't? Gregor asked himself that question, and tried to answer it as he took a warm shower. He tried to answer it during breakfast, as Mrs. Cormaci handed him a camera and instructed him to take lots and lots of pictures, as he wished his dad good-bye, as he took Boots' hand and walked down the stairs to the laundry room.

By the time Nike had come to pick them up, he still didn't have an answer.

XXXXX

As they walked into the arena, Gregor took a sharp breath. Luxa had gone all out with the decorations, and it showed. The entire place was covered in bright cloths, with long banquet tables covered in food (Gregor absentmindedly noticed shrimp in cream sauce, and immediately though of Ripred). Fifteen musicians played cheery music, whilst flyers, crawlers, and many other friendly creatures walked about and mingled with Underlanders.

"Gregor!" Hazard yelled, dashing up to them. "You came!"

"Of course we did, buddy," Gregor said, ruffling up Hazard's hair as he did so. "We wouldn't miss it for the world. Boots?"

Boots happily extended the present they had bought, shouting, "Happy birthday!"

Hazard unwrapped the present, a plastic disk adorned with figurines of animals that talked. He was so engrossed in the present that after five minutes, Luxa was forced to gently remind him that he had guests to attend to.

After everything had settled down and most of the guests had arrived, Luxa announced that it was time to dance. Gregor, not being such a hot dancer himself, quickly rushed over to his mother and sat down, striking up a quick conversation.

"Hey, mom," he said, smiling. It had been so long that he had seen his mother, who had been stricken with the plague, standing, let alone attending a birthday party. "How are you?"

"Oh, Gregor," Grace replied, her eyes shining. "I'm feeling absolutely wonderful." Still, though, Gregor noticed the slight tremors in her hands, and the way she would cough every so often.

She was not cured, yet. But she was getting better. And that was all that counted.

The children (and Luxa) danced to a multitude of songs, some reminding him of Overland nursery rhymes. When he asked his mom about it, she replied, "That's because they are nursery rhymes. Don't you remember? I used to sing them to you all the time!" Gregor, astonished, simply nodded and continued to fulfill Mrs. Cormaci's instructions by taking the most pictures he could.

Finally, when the time came, Luxa came over to him.

"The next dance requires a partner, Gregor. Would you be mine?" she asked quite politely. Still, Gregor could pick up the faint traces of a blush; the pale skin didn't help much with concealing it.

"Uh, well, you see Luxa, I'm not really a great dancer," he managed to stutter out. His mom, who had caught the conversation, slapped him in the back of the head, albeit rather weakly.

"Gregor!" she scolded. "She just asked you to a dance!"

"But, mom," he tried to protest. "You know just as well as I that-"

"No buts, mister," she said in a tone that promised pain if he did not comply.

Needless to say, Gregor took Luxa's outstretched hand and headed out to the dance floor.

"Do not worry, Overlander," she whispered in his ear, as the dance was about to start. "This dance is relatively easy to follow. Simply do what the words say."

He nodded in response, and the song began.

XXXXX

Gregor had made his way around three times, switching partners until he came back to Luxa. The final verse began, and as he danced with her, he realized something.

Something very important.

He liked Luxa. A lot.

Or... loved?...

As they bowed to each other and straightened up, both of their cheeks red from laughter and merriment, Gregor was in inner turmoil. He knew that, as princess (and future queen, when she turned sixteen), she would be courted by many nobles and higher-class Underlanders. On the other hand, he was naught but an Overlander. But, he was the Warrior.

What did that matter, in the end? They were completely different. She was too high-up, and he was too low, for a relationship to work out, or even be approved. He should just give up, while he could.

But, as Gregor stared into her eyes, and saw the slightest hint of feeling, the same feeling he had recently discovered...

He was suddenly hopeful that it would all work out in the end.

XXXXX

Three days later, Gregor headed down the stairs to begin yet another echolocation lesson with Ripred. Oh, how he dreaded them. Standing around and clicking at the wall, hoping to "see it," whilst Ripred berated and insulted him, was not how Gregor wanted to spend his summer. No, he would much rather spend time with Luxa...

He clawed at his head in frustration, grabbing great tufts of hair. Luxa, Luxa. He really was in love with her, wasn't he?

As Gregor walked down the stairs and into the room that they used for echolocation, he was suddenly accosted by a rat before he had time to draw his blade.

"Pathetic," Ripred growled. "If I were really out to kill you, you would be dead ten times over."

"What are you doing?" Gregor hissed at Ripred. This wasn't how their lessons normally began.

Ripred gave him a sideways glance, looking around before responding.

"Look, Gregor. I need your help."

"With what?" Gregor snarled, trying to get Ripred off of him. After all, the scarred rat was heavy. Very, very heavy. Just how much shrimp in cream sauce did he eat when he visited Regalia?

"I've brought the Bane here today. I need you to get a lantern and a blade. He's restrained, I've made sure of it." As if on cue, a snarl echoed through the small room, along with the sounds of struggling.

"I still don't know why you need my help."

Ripred moaned in frustration, gnashing his teeth together.

"Isn't it obvious? I need you to kill the Bane. Today."

A/N: Alrighty! First chapter over!

You're probably a bit confused as to what's happened. This story takes place at the beginning of "Gregor and the Marks of Secret." However, it's AU. The big change is that Gregor's encounter with the Bane happens after Hazard's birthday party. As such, no nibblers have been attacked yet, Ripred hasn't gone missing, etc.

Other minuscule changes include Gregor going shopping for presents a day earlier, no Hokey-Pokey (didn't feel like including it), and Ripred's immediate request for Gregor to kill the Bane, instead of first introducing him, and then asking to help the next day.

Hope you enjoy this story! Please read and review on what I could improve on!

A/N 2: Oh yeah, I forgot to mention. I know the title doesn't make much sense. It will be clearer after the next two chapters.

A/N 3: Damn. This is just saying that future chapters won't have as much author's notes, and more story. Next chapter will probably be tomorrow, or the day after.