Chapter One

Wishes, Tears, and Questionable Flashlights8

Gregor was wishing. Wishing hard. He wished he was down there, he wished he was with his friends, he wished Ares was alive. Ares and all the others who had died. Hamnet, Frill, Mange, Cartesian, Thalia, Pandora, Twitchtip, even Solovet. He wished all those innocent people had never had to die in the crossfire, or readily give up their lives as soldiers. But most of all, he wished he was with her. Luxa. He knew his pain in his chest, the one on the inside, was caused by the Underland.

"Gregor? Gregor? Earth to Gregor. You need to eat! Lunch is almost over. And who is that?" asked Gregor's friend Larry. "Huh?" Gregor looked down. He had absently taken out his picture of Luxa again. "It's nobody." Gregor said miserably. But it was somebody, and Larry and Gregor's other friend, Angelina, could see that. "Gregor, we don't want excuses any more. We want to know what really happened." Gregor started. He had thought about telling them about the Underland, but never really considered it. "Meet me in Central Park after school." he replied quietly. He stood and exited the lunchroom.

Gregor, Larry, and Angelina were standing outside the rock in Central Park. "Gregor, what's going on?'" Angelina asked, wondering if her friend had taken leave of his senses. It was the middle of December, and snow was floating down in white tufts. Gregor didn't respond. He just continued staring at the rock, as if he were trying to burn a hole in it. He knew what was down there, but they didn't. He needed to tell them now, but all the memories of the Underland flooding his mind, free after being suppressed for almost two months, made it impossible to talk.

Earlier that day, when he had talked to his mother about doing this, she was a mess. "NO NO NO NO NO! ABSOLUTELY NOT! THERE ARE GIANT CREATURES AROUND EVERY CORNER TRYING TO EAT MY BABY, THEY ARE ALWAYS AT WAR, AND THEY ARE LED BY A THIRTEEN-YEAR-OLD GIRL! THEY THINK YOU'RE SOME KIND OF SUPER SOLDIER, USING YOU FOR EVERY WAR THEY CAN FIND YOU FOR, AND THERE IS ALWAYS SOME CRAZY PROPHECY PREDICTING YOUR UNTIMELY DEATH! AND YOU'RE ALWAYS SNEAKING OFF, USUALLY WITH LUXA TO GO ON SOME SUPPOSEDLY DARING, BRAVE, HEROIC MISSION, BUT IS REALLY SOME STUPID, IDIOTIC THING YOU FEEL SOME FALSE OBLIGATION TO DO! NO NO NO NO NO NO! AND THAT IS FINAL!" "Mom, they are at peace with everyone, and there are no more prophecies. Besides, the warrior is dead." retorted Gregor. "JUST FORGET IT MISTER! THERE IS NO WAY YOU WILL EVER GO THERE AGAIN! YOU BELONG UP HERE!" Gregor's patience had broken there and then. Couldn't she see that he didn't fit in here anymore, or how depressed it was making him? "Well that sucks for you mom, because I'm going down there and taking Larry and Angelina with me!" She had broken into tears at this point. "P-please don't-go!" she begged " I- c-couldn't b-bear it- if I- lost you!" she said between sobs. "I'm sorry. This is just something... something that I need to do." He left for Central Park then, as he couldn't see his mother like this and know it was his entire fault.

Gregor returned to the present and said to his friends, "This is a big secret I'm about to tell you. You must tell nobody, even if you think they won't believe you. Just remember that." Gregor took a deep breath and pulled off his shirt. Larry and Angelina gasped at what they saw. Scars crisscrossed his body like some horrific epic poem. Most prominent were the three stripes on his chest, left by the Bane's claws. As he told them the story of the Underland, he pointed out scars from each prophecy. His voice broke as he talked about Ares and Luxa, but he held back tears until the end of the story, as he had held them in for months. Then he sat down and cried. When he had regained control, he noticed Lizzie had joined them." I want to go back. I want to see Ripred and Daedalus and... and Hazard." she finished, and then flushed a deep scarlet.

"For the love of everything Under and Over! I thought you wouldn't want to back there after... after last time." Gregor said, very confused.

"Well I'm coming!"

"No one ever said you weren't."

"It was implied." Lizzie replied dryly.

Larry said then, " Well, we'd better move this rock before we freeze! Right-o, Greggy boy, help me here, and put your back in it! Use some of that new muscle!" Together they pushed the rock, and slowly slid it away to show an opening big enough to crawl down. "Ladies first!" chirped Larry, and Angelina and Lizzie descended into the dark. Reaching into his pack, Gregor pulled out three questionable looking flashlights. Gregor threw one flashlight to Angelina, another to Lizzie. The last one he handed to Larry. Larry asked, "Why don't you have a flashlight?" "I can find my way around by echolocation." said Gregor. Larry went down, and then Gregor. As he left light behind, he slid the rock over the entrance.

The Underland adventure starts again.