Chapter 1

It had been 5 months since Gregor had returned from the Underland, had fought the bane and won the war. He was still living in New York and has been going to school for 3 months. He had missed the first 2 months but managed to get caught up. "Fly you high" echoed in Gregor's thoughts while sitting in class. He was in English class not paying attention. Like usual. He tried to entertain himself by closing his eyes and practicing his echolocation to spot things in the room. As much as he wanted to, he could not rest his head because he would start to day dream about the Underland, and the nightmares he has every night would come to him and he would start screaming. He would be sent to the nurse or sent home and people would be wondering why he had done that and wouldn't be able to give a reasonable answer.

He wasn't paying attention so when the teacher spoke it caught him off guard. "Gregor!" his teacher said. He nearly fell out his chair by the surprise. "Yes?" He said dazed. "Would you like to read the next paragraph? It's going to be an exciting one" she asked. Gregor knew this wasn't really a question. He had no other choice but to say yes. "I watched helplessly as the man struck down my friend and ended his life" Gregor had stopped for a moment. Remembering his bat Ares… And Luxa, he hoped she was alright, he had no way of knowing though. He didn't think he could keep reading, and after a short pause he realized he couldn't. It took all his self-control and a trick to distract yourself his dad had taught him, to keep himself from losing it. "I don't feel so good , May I go to the bathroom?" Gregor asked in a diminished voice, trying not to think of the Underland. "Yes, but be quick. We are starting the Greek gods later" She replied. "Oh great" Gregor thought. Most of the bats Gregor knew in the Underland were named after Greek gods. How was he going to survive that? He rushed out of class and made his way to the bathroom trying to figure out what to do. He was in a separate section at the school so he had to go outside to get to the bathrooms.

He still had all the scars from the previous visits to the Underland. Some were on his chest or thighs, those were easy to hide. But he couldn't hide the ones in plain sight. Because of this people gave him weird looks or whispered things as he walked down the hall. Gregor had made it to the bathroom. He needed time to calm down but before he knew it he had been gone for nearly 15 minutes. Gregor ran out of the bathroom wondering how to explain this to his teacher. Gregor had just walked outside when suddenly he heard a scratch. "Boy, is that you?" The voice asked. Gregor recognized the voice. "Ripred?" Gregor asked in astonishment. "Yes, we need you in the Underland" Gregor looked around the area. Empty. Then looked down at a small grate that lead to what he thought was the sewers and could just see the rats X shaped scars. "Why?" he asked. He wondered if he should go back or not. His family was doing pretty well from the last trip to the museum. "I will tell you later just all you should know is that if you don't come many will die. Including the ones you love" he paused for a moment as Gregor said nothing. "So are you coming or not!?" Ripred was getting restless. And so without saying a word Gregor jumped down the sewer hole.

Chapter 2

When Gregor had landed it was dark, he had to use his echolocation to see. It was just like the other paths to the Underland but looked like it was less used. Probably cause it lead to a school. "What's going on?" Gregor asked Ripred. "I'll explain on the way, overlander. Ride the currents down. Ill meet you at the bottom" and before Gregor could say anything the rat jumped. "Ripred's acting very skittish. That's not like him? Something big must of happened" Gregor said to himself. He then felt a little less uneasy about coming to the Underland, he thought that if the rat was acting this way it must be something big enough that his parents would understand him returning. Just as Gregor was about to jump, he froze. He didn't know why. Then he remembered. His a fear of heights. He got over that fear when he had bonded with Ares, but he was gone, and his fear returned. It took all of Gregor's bravery to jump. It took about 30 minutes to reach the bottom. Those were a horrible 30 minutes.

When he landed Ripred didn't give him time to take in his surroundings. "Quickly get on my back, we must travel fast. I'll inform you on the way" Gregor was surprised by the offer. Although he did not object and climbed on the rats back. He had only ridden Ripred once before, in the jungle. He didn't think he would ever get used to it. "I'll tell you right now so you don't worry. Luxa is ok. She hasn't been herself since you left though. A little less talkative, then again that could be because she dislikes me" The rat gave a laugh. "But she is excited to see you" Ripred said. "Ok, good" Gregor said being very relieved. "Not good that she hasn't been herself but that she is ok and wants to see me" Gregor thought. He didn't know what he was going to do when he saw her. Hug her, kiss her? Maybe she had found someone to replace him? And was just happy to see me like as a friend.

Ripred didn't give him much time to discuss this in his head as the rat started telling Gregor why he was needed. "Do you remember the treaty? At the arena?" "Of course I do" Gregor replied. How could he forget that? Luxa and Ripred had bonded. It was a historic day. Gregor had even killed himself. "Do you recall when I talked about the cutters? Being on my border?" Ripred asked. "Yea. But that was just a lie. Wasn't it? Gregor replied confusingly. "It was just a half lie. The cutters never really posed any threat. But now their numbers have been increasing, and moving closer to the border day by day. They have been purposely hunting down my rats outside of our border and killing them." Gregor didn't have a normal 12 year old reaction. A reaction he would have had a year ago. He was somewhat surprised by that. It was strange though. He almost felt… Happy. Happy that he had a reason to be back here. A reason to fight, if that's what they needed him for. "Ok so were going to fight them right? And you need me because?" Gregor asked unaffected by what he just heard. "Guess that whole peace thing didn't work out too well" he thought. "We wouldn't call you down here for just any fight. We can take care of our own overlander. The reason for summoning you, is that there is… An ant version of the bane.

Chapter 3

"WHAT!" Gregor yelled. "Be quite boy! We don't want to have a run in with some ants" Ripred whispered "Sorry, but what do you mean an ant bane?" "We are almost to Regalia. Vikus will explain it to you much better than I" "Ok, fine" Gregor didn't try to argue with Ripred to tell him. Ripred wasn't lying. Even he thought Vikus would be able to explain it better. So he just pondered the thought through his head and they didn't say a word the rest of the way. After about 20 minutes they had arrived to the gates. The guards recognized them and let them pass without any exchange of words. But Gregor could tell they have never seen a human riding a rat before.

He could see regalia as soon as he passed the gates. It was as beautiful as ever. He remembered why he loved it here so much. The lights shining the perfect spots of the city. The amazing walls that could keep anyone out. The architecture of it all had always amazed him. "I should ask Vikus who designed the city" Gregor thought to himself. He had the feeling of never wanting to leave. And maybe that would happen. Who knows what's going to happen this time in the Underland? Regalia felt like home to him. Which was a feeling Gregor had not felt for a long time. "Were here. You get off me now" He said. "why'd I agree to picking him up. Why couldn't they just send a bat?" Ripred mumbled. Gregor and Ripred made their way up to where Vikus was going to meet them. He didn't run into anyone he knew very well on the way up. Just a few maids and doctors who had cleaned his wounds in previous visits. He said hello and continued on.

"Where are you living Ripred?" Gregor asked. He honestly never knew where the rat lived. Ripred didn't seem like a rat that would settle down. But he must have a house or a place to rest? "Well since I became the rat king" He said with all his pride. "I have a fancy hole in the rat territory. I don't go there much as I'm needed 24/7. Here and back at my home." "A fancy hole?" Gregor thought to himself. He wondered what that could mean. How could a hole be fancy? But he just accepted that as an answer and they continued up. In no time they were in the councils place. Gregor could see Vikus in his wheelchair, smiling. He had had a stroke last time he was here and lost function of half his body. It seemed it wasn't getting much better. Ripred went straight to the food. He guessed Ripred was promised food if he had gotten Gregor. "GREGOR!" Vikus yelled from across the room. "You returned!" "Hi Vikus! It's good to see you" Gregor replied. "How was your trip? I hope Ripred didn't give you too much trouble. Just all the bats were busy, and we wanted someone you knew to pick you up" Vikus said "Hey! He was the one giving ME trouble. Wouldn't stop squirming on my back. He's like a child" Ripred said. Gregor ignored him. "Yes my trip was alright. Other than learning theirs an Ant bane!" It sounded so stupid, so unreal to him.

"Ah so he told you… ok well you must have a lot of questions about this" Vikus said "uhh yea. You think?" Gregor said it with an attitude. He felt bad about being rude to Vikus. Gregor was just so furious. But he quickly stopped being rude, remembering how much Vikus had helped Gregor in the past. "Ok, I will ease your mind. So. After you left we thought we would never see you again, and there were no more prophecies about you either. Or so we thought" "or so you thought?" Gregor repeated. "Yes well the Prophecy of Time, it was written twice. We wondered why but it was missing certain parts of its final copy, which had been written bigger. We just figured that sandwich was trying to figure out what was in his head and that was a rough draft" Vikus explained. "But you were wrong" Gregor finished his sentence for him. "Yes" Vikus replied. "Ok" Gregor said, accepting what he just heard. "I want to see it". "Not now Gregor. It is late. We will let you calm down and show you tomorrow. Plus I'm sure there are people you would like to see" Gregor's face turned bright red, and he left the room without saying another word. Not wanting to be embarrassed any further. Especially with Ripred being in the room.

A servant told him where his room was and he made his way to it. Another bane… Gregor couldn't believe it. He had already fought one bane and it had almost taken his life. He remembered Vikus saying that some parts were missing. He wondered if the part of the warrior dying was there. It wasn't like he died last time, so he wasn't too worried about that part. But still something about it made him uneasy. On his way up he couldn't stop thinking about what's going to happen in the days to come. He wondered why he wanted to come back so badly. Then as he turned the corner of a hallway, he remembered why.

Chapter 4

There she was. The person Gregor had missed the most and was the reason he wanted to come back. Luxa. Luxa had a regular Underland shirt and pants. Her white hair was around the height of her elbows. She was a little taller than the last time Gregor saw her. They both studied each for a couple of seconds, wondering if what they saw was real. Gregor had though he wasn't going to ever come back here and Luxa thought that same. After a short time of being frozen they both ran down the hallway to each other. Without saying a word, knowing neither one of them could stop thinking of the other while Gregor was gone. They kissed. It was their longest kiss so far. After they finished they just hugged. "When did you arrive?" Luxa said. "I just got here 10 minutes ago" "I've missed you" Luxa said. "I've missed you too" They eventually stopped hugging and talked.

They told each other about what's been happening in these 5 months. Gregor told her that he was still living in New York and that schools been rough. Since Gregor had gotten back from killing the bane he has been very quiet in the Overland. He doesn't really have any friends at his school because of it, and because he has scars all over his body. Luxa has been ruling, and told him its been rough as well. The ants have been coming close to the rat territory and they are looking to her for guidance. But she doesn't know what to do. "Well it seems both are lives have been bad since you left" Luxa said. Gregor laughed a little bit. "Do you know why you're here?" "Yeah, Vikus and Ripred told me about the Ant bane" Gregor said. "Have you read the prophecy?" She asked. "No not yet. Vikus said to wait till the morning to read it" "Ah. Ok. Very well, it is late and I was just about to go to my room to sleep but I need to show you something" "Okay, lead the way" He said.

Luxa grabbed his hand and speed walked down the hall. They went down a few floors and eventually came out to the arena. "Why'd she bring me here?" Gregor wondered. "Ok, Gregor. I have a surprise" Luxa said joyfully. "Uh ok? What is it?" "Aurora!" Luxa yelled. Shortly after Aurora showed up. She landed and Luxa went over to her. "What's the surprise?" He asked. Just after he said that. A bat poked his head out behind Aurora. "Who's that?" He asked. "That is Deimos. Ares and Aurora's son" Gregor just stood their frozen. "It is true" Aurora said. "You and Ares. Had a kid?" Gregor asked. "I know it seems hard to believe but it is true" Luxa said.

The bat skipped away from his mom so Gregor could get a good look at him. He was big. About the size of Aurora. He had pure black fur except for a brown outline around his face. He could see Ares in him. "Hello Gregor. I am Deimos. It is an honour to meet" The bat said to Gregor. "Ye-yeah you too" "If you excuse us. Gregor is very tired and must sleep. We will talk more tomorrow." Luxa said. She grabbed Gregor who was still frozen and dragged him out of the arena. "Deimos was born shortly after you left. I always thought our bats liked each other, but even I didn't expect this" This was a lot to take in for one day for Gregor. Luxa walked him up to his room, kissed him and said goodnight. Gregor didn't know what to do. He had so much on his mind. He ended up getting a bite to eat and went to sleep.

Chapter 5

As any other day would start he woke up screaming because of his nightmares. This one was especially bad because he was back in the Underland which brought up old memories. Gregor got up had some breakfast and made his way to Luxa's room. "This is the first time I've been here without boots" Gregor thought to himself. Every other time he's been to the Underland he's always had boots with him. "I wish she was here" but then he remembered all the times he had almost lost her and realized it was probably a good thing she wasn't.

He thought about what happened yesterday, if it was real. Did Ares and Aurora actually have a child? They did, his name was Deimos. "I wonder if I offended him.." He thought. When Gregor first met him he didn't say much to Deimos. He realized he had been rude and next time he saw Deimos he would apologize. On his way up to Luxa's room he came across the Hospital and thought about how Howard's doing. He decided to go in and see him. It took him awhile to finally tack him down but after about 10 minutes he found him. "Overlander! You return!" Howard yelled as he came down the hallway and gave Gregor a big bear hug. "Haha yeah I do" He smiled and Howard took a step back, he studied him. "My you have certainly grow since I last saw you." He said. It was true. Gregor had been gone 5 months, and in those 5 months had been eating more than usual. He guessed he grew about 5 inches since his last visit. "Yea, I haven't really noticed" Gregor said feeling pretty happy. Howard let out a little laugh. "So, how has the overland been?" Howard asked. "It's alright. I don't feel as at home as I do here though" Gregor said with a smile. "Oh you don't mean that" Howard said with a little laugh. It was actually the truth. Gregor's life in the 'real' world hadn't been that great. He'd been getting weird looks for his scars that would never heal, and his friends had gone to different schools so he didn't see them that much. Gregor thought if he should tell Howard it was the truth, but didn't feel like getting into such a heavy conversation right now so he just replied with a little laugh and "ya". "SO.. do you know why im here?" Gregor said wanting to change the subject. "Yes, I was informed of the return of the bane and the prophecy" Howard said in a serious tone that came out of the blue. "Have you seen it?" Gregor asked. "The prophecy? No, we didn't figure this all out till about a week ago. We sent for you after we were 100% sure it was true." Howard said. "I really want to see it. Check what parts of it are still there…" Gregor quietly said. "Well I was informed that we are all going to see it soon. We just have to go meet up with Vikus. I was actually supposed to find you and tell you but you found me first." "Okay when are we going?" Gregor replied. "I think we can head down now. The others must already be there." "Alright lets go."

Gregor couldn't keep his mind straight on the way to Vikus. He kept thinking about the prophecy and the last time he was here. "Gregor?." "Oh what?" Gregor said snapping back into reality. "Were here" Howard replied. "Now theres going to be a lot of people you haven't seen for quite some time in there, some of them thought they'd never see you again, so you may get swarmed. You ready?" Howard asked. "Ready as I'll ever be" Gregor said.

/Authors Notes: So I checked my email and saw someone followed and liked all my stuff so I felt inclined to write another chapter. I don't know how many more chapters I'm going to write but don't expect another one right away. Thanks for all the support, the reviews really boost my confidence as a writer. Thanks and enjoy :)

Chapter 6

The door swung open and he saw all his friends from the Underland. Plus some. They were all sitting at a large rectangular table made of some fancy wood Gregor had never seen before. Vikus was seated at the front with Gregor's friends along the sides. Everyone's head turned when they saw him. "Welcome Gregor!" Vikus said. "Please have a seat next to Luxa" Gregor was stopped by everyone on his way to his chair. He didn't think he would ever make it. Once he sat down and talked with Luxa and others for a bit Vikus said to Gregor "Ah it is so nice to have you back. But as always it seems you coming back is not by chance. I believe you have been told a little of what has happened?" Gregor nodded. "Okay. And the rest of you?" Everyone seemed to nod except for this young kid that I couldn't remember. Vikus started to explain what was going on to him. "Luxa" I whispered. "Who is that?" Pointing to the child. She giggled "That's Hazard!" Gregor's face went surprised. The boy had grown so much. And now looking closer he could see his eyes were different. Half lander eyes. "Oh right, I see it know. My, he's grown a lot!" "Yes, I haven't mentioned this but you have grown a lot as well" Luxa said. "Oh" Gregor blushed. "That's a good thing right?" He asked. "Yes" She smiled. "I'm sure I'm still stronger then you" She said quietly. "Oh really! Well we'll have to see about that" he replied. She gave him a smile and kissed his cheek.

It has been a long journey between Luxa and Gregor. Luxa was so cold to Gregor when he first arrived. And now, somehow, Gregor had won her over. They were still so young, but have seen more than many Overlanders do in a life time. They were both very mature but they still had that kid spirt in them, which they could only show to each other because the world needed them to be leaders. "So the prophecy was written twice?" Hazard said, starting to understand what was going on. "Yes" Vikus replied. "Okay I think I get it now. When are we going to see it?" "Just after we eat" Vikus said. As if like magic, just after Vikus spoke. Servant's came out with dishes of the finest Underland food. Gregor's eyes widened. He could smell all of it. He started to eat the instant his plate hit the table. He forgot how good the food was here. "Slow down. You'll make yourself sick" Luxa said. Gregor had done as she asked. He had eaten to fast before and knew quite well what would happen.

After eating as much as his stomach could take and talking with his friends Vikus issued everyone to make their way to the prophecy room. "Can you come to my room real quick? I'd like to get changed into something more comfortable" Luxa asked Gregor. He nodded. Gregor hadn't realized before but Luxa did look quite fancy. He had never been one for looks so much. Actually Gregor realized he has never complimented her appearance. That he can remember. They got up and walked out of the dining hall and through the halls. They walked in silence for a little while. Gregor actually enjoyed it. It gave him time to think. He thought he'd never see her again. Or any of the Underland for that matter. But now here he is again. But yet there's another problem. It seemed every time Gregor came to the Underland it meant something was wrong. He wondered if people were scared to see him. That it always meant something was going to happen. "Gregor?" Luxa said snapping Gregor out of his trance. He must of given a funny face cause she let out a little laugh. "I'm going to go change. I'll be right back." She said as she opened the door and closed behind her. After a little while of waiting Gregor could hear footsteps coming down the hall, slowly and then faster. Gregor looked in the direction and to his surprise saw Dulcet. "Gregor!" She yelled coming towards him. She stopped in front of him, studying him, as if she was searching for something. "Where's boots?" She asked alarmed. "Oh I came on my own this time" Gregor said. Dulcet gave a frown. "Aw that's a shame" She said. "Be sure to bring her next time you come." "Okay I will". She gave him an unexpected hug and continued on her way. Gregor thought about what she said. "Next time I come?" What was he going to do? He was so happy in the Underland, but his family…

Gregor heard the doorknob move and the door swung open. Luxa was dressed as her usual self, which had a very nostalgic feeling to him. He smiled. "You ready?" "Yep. Lets go" She said.

Chapter 7