A/N: Well, hi there!

This is what's been plaguing my mind ever since I started rereading the Underland Chronicles again. I'm glad I get to brush up on my prophecy writing skills.

I actually haven't read many UC fics, so I have no idea if this is an overused idea, or what, but I hope I'm not stealing anybody's fic. I'm not gonna stop now.

Enjoy!

Boots couldn't sleep.

Why can't New York City ever be quiet?

She knew that she always told people she was from New York instead of the small town in Virginia that she'd grown up in, but honestly, this was getting ridiculous. Every five seconds, there was a siren, car horns, cat howls, people yelling, loud music…the list went on and on. At least in Mineral, Virginia, she could get some peace and quiet.

Besides that, she'd only lived in NYC for the first 3 years of her life. She didn't even remember it that much. A flash of her sister sledding with her, a glimpse of cockroaches-only, they seemed a lot bigger than usual. When she mentioned that to her mother, she'd been told that bugs in NYC were a lot bigger than in Virginia and she'd been a lot smaller then. Other than that, all she could remember was growing up in Virginia near her grandmother's old farm. She'd left it to them in her will. They'd moved there right after she died.

They were only in New York now for Lizzie. Now, at the age of 19, she was moving out and going to college at Cornell. Boots had always known that her super smart sister would be accepted in an Ivy League school.

Boots, her mother, and her father were staying at her older brother's house, which was only about 15 minutes away. Gregor had moved to New York as soon as he'd turned 18. Boots had only been 9 at the time, but she vividly remembered the argument it had caused. Their mother wanted him to get an education and to stay away from New York, but Gregor adamantly refused. They didn't speak to each other for the whole week that Gregor packed up his things. Then, once he was walking out the door, did is mother break down and hugged him till he was gasping for breath. They made up then. Boots later overheard her mother talking to her dad about how Gregor had moved into their old apartment building. Boots hadn't understood what the big deal was, but the look her father had on his face when he heard that was unmistakable. But they didn't speak of it again.

Now they were here again, and Boots even remembered bits and pieces. She'd gone in and gone straight to the door of her brother's room. Gregor had laughed.

"You know, Boots, that used to be your room. Only room in this old house with air conditioning. You, Grandma, and Lizzie would sleep there. No wonder you go straight for it." He'd laughed again, turning to their mom. "Guess she remembers a bit of New York after all."

Their mother had positively steamed at him, giving him her trademark 'say one more word, mister, and you're grounded' look. But Gregor had just chuckled again and stepped into the room.

Boots was sleeping in the room where Gregor had slept when they'd lived there. Although, calling it a 'room' was being generous. It was an oversized closet with a mattress shoved in. and she wasn't exactly sleeping.

Thinking enough was enough, Boots stood and opened the door quietly. She tiptoed out to the kitchen and glanced at the time. 2:46 AM.

She glared at the city out the window in the living room.

"Shut up," she muttered.

The city ignored her.

Sighing, she opened the front door, planning to go on a bit of a walk in hopes of tiring herself out.

Once she was outside the building, she took a deep breath, and regretted it. The air in New York didn't taste the same as the cleaner, fresher air in Virginia. You couldn't see the stars, but the full moon glinted dully off of her golden brown curly hair.

She ventured down to the building's laundry room. It felt vaguely familiar to her, and she turned around the room, looking for something without knowing what. She saw out of the corner of her eye that there was a grate on the wall, just large enough for someone to fall into. Its cover was unlocked, and Boots glanced at it from a few feet away, curious. It seemed to go down, but according to Gregor, the laundry room was the bottom of the building. She stepped forward and felt a slight breeze emanating from the hole. Maybe it's just an air vent, she thought, still leaning towards it.

All of the sudden, she lost her balance and tripped over, just catching herself on the wall. She paused a moment to get her breath back. What if she'd fallen?

And then the breeze coming out of the grate picked up and she felt herself being sucked into the hole, the grate closing behind her as she fell.

Boots was too busy screaming to notice.

She screamed her head off. She'd never been afraid of heights or falling, but when she couldn't see anything in the blackness of the hole, it set her off. What was worse, the breeze, which had been very faint outside of the grate, had picked up and seemed to push her down faster. This realization only made her scream more, but it felt like the sound of her screaming was being carried down with the breeze. She reached out with her arms to try to touch the walls of the hole, but they didn't seem to exist. And for that fact, she thought, where's the bottom? She imagined falling all the way to the center of the earth and being burned alive at the earth's core.

Great, she thought. I'm gonna die at 15.

But suddenly, she slammed into something. At first, she thought that she'd finally found the bottom of the shaft, but then, she realized that the 'ground' was much too…furry.

Boots sat up, panicky. She was riding on something large and definitely furry.

"Greetings, Overlander," purred a voice. Boots looked around, but saw no one. "You're lucky that I heard you screaming, for the currents are not survivable at the moment."

At last, Boots noticed the wings and recognized the shape of the animal. It was a bat, a huge one, the size of a horse. And it was talking to her.

"I'm dreaming." she said. "I finally fell asleep and now I'm dreaming."

"No, you are most assuredly awake," said the bat.

"Sure, sure," muttered Boots. She was much more confident now that she knew she was asleep. You can't die in dreams. "So where are we going?" she asked the bat a while later.

"To Regalia. You will meet the Underlanders there. I am she called Theia. Who are you?" it –she- answered.

"You should know. You're part of my subconscious, a figment of my imagination." Boots said dejectedly. At the moment, this dream was rather boring. They'd been flying for probably 5 or 10 minutes now and nothing but dark tunnels had appeared.

If bats could sound exasperated, this one did. "I promise you, you are not sleeping!" she exclaimed.

At that moment, they flew out of a tunnel and into light.

Boots gasped. They flew over a beautiful stone city. It glittered with torches that threw dramatic shadows over stone carvings on the sides of everything.

Theia was flying as if the city was nothing to be noticed. Boots craned her head around to try to see everything, heedless of falling off. Somewhere in her mind, she knew that the bat would catch her long before she hit the ground.

Boots could every once and a while glimpse violet eyes and pale people in the city. They all seemed vaguely familiar, as if she'd had this dream before. She remember a snippet of what must have been the dream –her waving at the people and saying hi; only a few people saying hi back. It had been a lot harder to see then, and she was sitting on someone's lap.

Soon, a large wall came into view. It was slick and handhold-less. They flew over it with ease.

Theia went into a landing in a big room where no one was. No one, but one man, waiting for them. He looked almost…familiar, with his grey hair, strange clothes, and warm smile.

"Who is that?" Boots asked Theia. The bat answered with a simple "Vikus."

The name brought back a rush of memories of the nice man with a warm smile who was always present and talking to Gregor. Once, she'd been riding something and she'd seen Gregor looking not very happily at the man and Boots had been worried that Gregor was angry with the nice man, but then Temp had distracted her.

Temp. Where had that come from? The name was very recognizable. It made her think of the large cockroaches that her mother told her lived in New York. And a lot of riding, and clicking. A dark haired boy clicking with them.

Boots shook her head. She'd have to think of this later, because Theia had landed and was waiting patiently for Boots to get off. The man named Vikus was talking with Theia, asking her where she'd found her and how she got down here. Then, Vikus turned to Boots.

"You look rather familiar," he said, sounding puzzled. Tell me about it, Boots thought. "What is your name?"

"Me?" asked Boots. "My name is Margaret. But you can call me Boots."

"Boots‽" the man exclaimed, looking shocked.

"Yeah," she said self-consciously. "My family calls me Boots 'cause when I was little I used to take everyone's boots in the wintertime and because of this musician my dad liked…what?"she demanded. Vikus was staring at her like she'd invented a time machine.

"You do not recognize me?" he asked in astonishment. Boots was a bit taken back.

"Uh, well, a little, but I figure I've just had this dream before, or maybe you look like someone I used to know…." She trailed off, unsure of her dream theory now.

Vikus chuckled. "My dear, you are not dreaming. You are back in the Underland."

"Back?" she asked, completely thrown now.

"Yes. You came as a baby, only 2 or 3 years old. We've much catching up to do. It's a wonder you don't remember it. It was quite an experience. You and your brother had many dangerous adventures," he assured her.

"My brother?" She felt like she could do nothing but repeat his words. It was slowly coming back.

"Yes, Gregor. Our Warrior. He visits often now that he's moved back to New York." He chuckled again. "Luxa was certainly pleased."

A flood of memories came back to her. Of the Underland. Of Gregor fighting. Of Luxa and Temp and Hazard, and Howard, and Aurora, and Thalia, and Ares, and Vikus.

It was then that she decided she wasn't dreaming. And then that she passed out.

A/N: Sooooooooo? Whatcha thinkin'? Tell me by clicking the big green button beneath the text.

(It's right here)

V