To anyone who read my other stories, this isn't a new one. I wasn't thrilled with the way it turned out my first go around, so this is the same basic story, but with a lot added (more description and what not). I also wanted to play with point of view, so eventually that will happen. Anyways, I hope everyone likes it.

1

Gregor woke in the car with a start, his heart racing and sweat dampening his forehead. After a few quick looks over his shoulder to check that no one saw, he took some deep breaths and calmed down. Another nightmare. Well a bad dream at least, because it wasn't night at the moment. He hadn't realized he fell asleep in the car, or that his cousin, whom he was traveling with, stopped at a gas station. He blinked in the hot, summer sun, and tried to massage the kink in his neck. He hated the cramps from sleeping in the car. Gregor rolled down the window for some air, and nodded to the one other man in the parking lot. This place was so spacious with its lack of people and abundance of trees. Gregor wasn't sure if he liked it.

He was going to live with his cousin, Wynn, in her family home in Pennsylvania. When Gregor was twelve, his family moved to Virginia to get as far away from the Underland as possible. Gregor's mother had no desire to live anywhere near New York, but the family made her agree to move to Pennsylvania even though it was closer to New York than Virginia. Wynn's parents had recently taken a job in South Korea, and didn't want to leave her alone for so long. Gregor's father knew he could get a job there (the job market was still terrible in Virginia) and wanted to be there for his niece (especially after their falling out years ago when he disappeared), so he had the family move. Though his sisters were a little upset about the move, Gregor really didn't mind. He had a difficult time making friends in Virginia, so he figured he could try again in a new school.

It took a lot of convincing to get his mother to agree to let him go with Wynn as she was over protective after everything that happened three years ago. She had the family move to Virginia, forbade any contact with the Underland, and rarely let Gregor be independent. Wynn finally convinced his mom to let her take him with her a week ahead of when the rest of his family would come up. His family would move when his sister, Lizzie, finished up a Mathlete competition, and his other sister, Maggie (Boots went by Maggie now that she was a big five year old), finished her swimming lessons. That would give their parents' time to pack up the house. This was the first time Gregor was away from his family since he was twelve.

Gregor saw Wynn walking to the car, and quickly tried to look like nothing was bothering him. How long had he been asleep? It didn't matter. He smiled and ran a hand through his messy hair as she walked up. Though she was still wearing the purple dress, Wynn took off her heels at some point, and pulled her hair up sloppily. She picked him up for the drive after she left a formal brunch for something about an internship, but it appeared she was back to her usual, playful self. She hopped in the car with a smile.

"Hey there, sleepy head," she greeted him. "I got you something to snack on. You feeling ok?"

"Yeah I'm fine," Gregor lied. He saw she didn't believe him, but he knew better than to try to explain about his dream. She would think it was his crazy imagination or that he had some serious suppressed emotional issues. Who knew, maybe he did.

"You sure? If you need to talk or something, I'm a pretty good listener. Not that I'm bragging or anything," she said, the smile returning to her face. Gregor forced himself to smile back, and took a bag of chips to eat.

"Yeah, I'm sure. Come on, turn the AC back on. The heat is killing me." Gregor knew he could never talk to anyone about what happened in the Underland, or what currently haunted him in his dreams. He often times wished he could talk to someone, but his family rarely brought it up and a doctor would put him in the looney bin. Besides, he figured it was better not to talk about it so he could eventually forget.

"If you say so, but the offer is still there," she replied with a shrug. "Hey. You want to drive?" she asked excitedly. Gregor blinked at her in surprise.

"Uh, that's illegal, Wynnie."

"Don't you have your permit?"

"Not until next year. I'm not old enough yet."

"It's fine. Those age limits are more guidelines really. Plus we're in a pretty rural area. No one is going to stop us, and it's a great place to practice. Come on," she insisted, jumping out of the diver's seat, "better you mess up with me, than with your mom."

"Well I can't argue with that logic."

Gregor switched places with his cousin. He was actually pretty excited to drive, which may have been the one normal thing about him. He knew that even when he did get his permit, his over protective parents would still be reluctant to let him drive. Wynn directed him out of the parking lot and back onto the road.

"Gregor," Wynn said.

"Yeah?"

"Don't tell your mom. Ok?"

Gregor had to laugh a little at that. "Ok."

Wynn told him that he would drive on this road for a while, so he turned on some music while she checked out the scenery. They didn't talk much, and his thoughts went to his dream. It was about the Underland again, and he was trying to save the people he once knew there, but was unable, just like all the nightmares he had about the Underland. This one had been about Ares, his bond. He was falling into a black pit, and Gregor could do nothing but reach for him and grab air. He shivered, and pushed the dream from his mind.

His dreams always switched between different Underlanders, some of which he barely knew, yet their purple eyes and pale faces would appear in the night. He thought about those he missed the most now. Vikus must be pretty old, and Gregor hoped he had recovered from his stroke. Howard would be around twenty by now, and probably working out to be a great doctor. How was Mareth doing with his prosthetic leg? How was Nike and Aurora? Ripred was probably was still as sharp tongued as ever.

Then Gregor's mind turned to Luxa. He always tried not to think about her. He had become such close friends (he would never admit to more) with her, and it was very difficult saying goodbye. She would be 15 by now. Almost 16, when she receives official power as Queen of Regalia. The thought was strange to him. Luxa was working up to becoming a leader, while he was still in high school. Suddenly his life felt painfully mundane. As far as Gregor was concerned, that wasn't a bad thing.

"Gregor, pay attention," Wynn interrupted his thoughts. He had zoned after driving for so long, and didn't notice that he let the car drift into the oncoming traffic lane. He quickly swerved back into his lane, thankful that there were no other cars on the country road. He took note that driving required more concentration than he expected, at least while he was still learning.

"Sorry," he told his cousin, "I got distracted." He felt bad about it, and cautiously glanced at her, hoping she wouldn't be angry.

She shrugged and sighed, "It happens. Just don't wreck my dad's car." Gregor assured her he wouldn't. "I guess I should expect a teenage boy's thoughts to drift away now and then," she said, a coy smile forming across her lips. "No doubt, he's thinking about some girl." Gregor knew she was asking him a question, but he refused to talk to her about girls.

"Real mature, Wynnie," Gregor mumbled. He wasn't amused. Wynn laughed, and told him to turn left. Twenty minutes later she had him make a right onto a dirt path that hardly looked like it could pass for a road. Gregor had lived most of his life in New York, so he really wasn't used to all this rural stuff. He held the steering wheel tightly, hoping he wouldn't run the car off into the trees.

"I'm taking you in through the back of the property. If you keep going up that road you can avoid this path and get to the front, but I want to show you something," Wynn explained.

Gregor slowed way down as he entered the woods. The path was just big enough for the car, and the leaves on the trees cast a shady pattern on everything. He had to go slow to avoid hitting the bumps too hard, and the occasional branch scraped a window. As they continued, Gregor noticed a cave up ahead, and Wynn instructed him to pull up in front of it. She immediately hopped out of the car with her bag and grabbed two flashlights from the back seat. Gregor turned off the car, set the keys in the cup holder, and sent his mom a quick text that they had arrived safely, were looking at a cave, and he would probably not have signal out here. He didn't want to forget to text her later and get in trouble with her. She got worried so easily now.

"Are we going in there?" he asked as he followed her. Gregor already knew the answer. Of course they were. Wynn loved archeology, and was currently in school for it (Two years ahead. She was naturally smart, very much like his sister, Lizzie). Gregor suspected she found something interesting in there, and figured it would be a good distraction to get his mind off his nightmare.

"Yep," she replied, and took a deep breath. She hated small places and the dark. After all his experience in the Underland, this didn't really bother Gregor at all. He didn't even need the flashlights, because he was still able to use echolocation. "I found some weird cave paintings in there, and I thought you might like to see them. I can't tell if they're real or some kind of elaborate hoax," she explained. "Not to mention, if I allow my fear of enclosed spaces to continue, it could turn into a phobia," she said in a jokingly dramatic and breathy voice. "We don't want that now do we?" she gave Gregor a big smile, and started walking in.

Gregor wondered if a dress and sneakers were good for cave exploring, but figured this wouldn't be that adventurous. He was just glad to go someplace cool since he made the stupid decision to wear jeans instead of shorts when it was humid as hell out. He followed his cousin into the cave, which declined at a slight angle. They turned on the flashlights when the cave entrance left their sight, and Wynn mostly checked the ceiling with hers. As they got deeper into the cave, the air got cooler and damper, which was so nice after the summer heat. They soon came to the back of the cave, which opened up into a sort of circular room. It was about 25 feet in diameter, and eight feet high. Gregor shined his light onto the walls, and saw that they were covered in cave paintings. Seeing cave paintings would have been enough to impress him, but these scared him.

"Isn't it amazing?" his cousin asked. "They look old. I researched what Native American tribes lived in this area, and the style matches. But I think it's fake, because look here," she said pointing to one painting. It was of a large rat, with a human next to it for scale. "This rat is clearly bigger than the person, but the tribes would have known proper proportion in art by this time. Maybe symbolic of…"

Wynn continued talking about the paintings (she could really rattle on just like her uncle, Gregor's father), but Gregor just stared at the paintings, feeling slightly dizzy. They clearly depicted the creatures of the Underland and people interacting with them. Is this an entrance? He was almost sure it was, and he knew he had to lead his cousin out of there. He couldn't let her learn about the Underland. He turned off his flashlight, trying to look uninterested. He sighed loudly like he was bored. When that didn't get her attention, he tried something else.

"Uh, Wynn. Maybe we should just go. I don't know how safe it is to wander into random caves." It was the best excuse Gregor had. He didn't bother hiding his wavering voice, though it wasn't being in a cave that bothered him. He was actually shaken from discovering the paintings about the Underland. She just frowned.

"You weren't worried before. Besides, it's not that far underground."

"Yeah, but you know. It could still collapse or something. You know people always say to stay out of caves and stuff."

"Ugh. Why did you have to say that, Gregor?" She shivered and shined the light to the ceiling again. "Alright, now I need some air. Let's go." She took a step toward the exit, then froze. There was a low sound, as if something cracked beneath them. Gregor felt his stomach drop.

"Oh no," Wynn whispered. Gregor saw panic spread across her face. "Gregor, you need to leave." He was standing next to the exit, but she was across the cave on the other side.

"Calm down, Wynn. I'm not going anywhere. Just try to take another step," he said as nonchalantly as possible, which was difficult considering he was becoming more afraid by the second. He felt his entire body tense as he waved his cousin to move closer to him. Wynn took another step, and a louder crack echoed through the cave.

"Gregor go," she said firmly.

"No!" Gregor didn't mean to say it so loudly. As the echo of his voice faded, the floor broke away first under his cousin's feet, sending fractures across the entire cave floor. In just seconds, the floor under his own feet had fallen away. They were falling into darkness.

Wynn let out a scream, but Gregor just held his breath. For a second he was sure he would hit the ground and die, but then something familiar happened. He just kept falling. Wisps of air, like from his laundry vent in New York, rushed past him. They continued to fall. Wynn was panicking, but couldn't form words to talk to him. She had let go of her flash light, and it was spiraling down next to them, making shadows spin around them. There was nothing he could do to help her now, so he just waited until they would inevitably land in the Underland.

Gregor hit the ground with a thud, but he wasn't hurt. He heard the flashlight land somewhere, and it clicked off. The darkness was suffocating, and Gregor scolded himself for not keeping on his flashlight. He clicked his tongue and used his echo location to find it

"Gregor?" his cousin called out in the darkness with panic in her voice. Gregor knew she was hyperventilating because he had experience from Lizzie's panic attacks. Funny how Maggie was only two, but was calmer than Wynn.

"Gregor are you there? Are you alright?"

"Yeah I'm fine, just try to stay calm." The flashlight didn't turn on right away, so Gregor hit it a few times with his palm to make it flick on. He shined the light in her direction, and found her on her hands and knees a few yards from him, her eyes wide in fear. She looked a little crazy with her hair falling in her face. Then again, Gregor guessed he didn't look much better.

"What do you think I'm trying to do? Panic?!" Wynn snapped back. "Of course I'm trying to stay calm." Gregor started to worry that calming a two year old would be easier than calming an "adult" down here. He tried not to be annoyed by her tone, remembering how horrifying falling into a hole could be. "Why are you so relaxed?" she demanded. To Gregor's surprise, now that they had landed, he was relaxed. His heart beat normally, his breathing was fine, and he was actually thinking clearly. He was scared and worried about his cousin, and knew he had to get help somehow, but he wasn't freaking out.

Gregor thought a moment. "I don't want to get into detail, but I think I know where we are… Sort of." She stood, her whole body shaking as if she was cold (which was a possibility considering their summer attire wasn't doing much in the cold, damp air. Gregor was already starting to feel the cold through his t-shirt.), and started to say something, but he shushed her. "Do you hear that?" Wynn listened with him. It sounded like yelling and metal clanging. It was so familiar to Gregor. Battle. It was faint, so the fighting must not be too close. If there is metal, then that must mean humans. They're the only ones with swords. If we find humans, they may be able to get us to Regalia.

He looked back to his cousin. She was ripping at a layer of her dress. Gregor watched her pull a notebook and pen out of her bag while holding her flashlight in her teeth. "You know where we are, so tell me what to write. In case your family can find this," Wynn instructed him after he made her repeat it without the flashlight in the way. Her voice shook, but she sounded determined, which was a relief to Gregor. Maybe she wouldn't be too much trouble after all. He wasn't sure what she was doing, so he told her a simple note.

Wynn and I fell in a hole in a cave.

We landed in the Underland, but we're safe.

We'll try to get back as soon as possible, don't

come looking for us.

Gregor and Wynn

She wrote it down without question, and hurried on. Gregor watched as his cousin quickly fashioned the fabric she had ripped into a parachute for the folded note. She tied it together with loose thread, then, after a few tries, sent it floating up the wisps of air rising to the Overland.

"I don't think it will make it up, but it's better than nothing," she said. She looked at him. "Now tell me what's going on. I know you know something. You should be freaking out about falling down a huge hole and surviving, but you're not. Why?"

"That's… a long story. We need to start heading toward the noise." This wasn't good enough for Wynn. She grabbed his arm to keep him from walking away.

"Gregor, you need to start explaining right now," she demanded. He shrugged her off, and started down a tunnel toward the battle. He felt bad for being so cold to her, but he didn't have time to explain everything nicely. They wouldn't last long alone, so he needed to find humans fast. It was a pretty big tunnel with a high ceiling and a floor packed down as if it was often used for traveling, so he hoped Wynn wasn't feeling too claustrophobic.

"Gregor," she hissed, but she followed mumbling insults at him in another language. Gregor was too busy to care which one. "Why are you so comfortable down here, and why are we walking toward the scary noises?" She was waving her flashlight around, trying to check every dark corner as if something was there while she whispered to him. Man, she is freaked out. He decided to give her a little information. Maybe that could help calm her, though he doubted it.

"A few years ago, I fell down my laundry vent with Maggie. Turns out there are creatures and people living down here, and I got roped into their business. We are going to the scary noises, because hopefully that is where we can find some humans."

Wynn just stared at him, her blue eyes wide in confusion, as they walked on. "There are so many things wrong with what you just said, that I don't know where to even begin."

"Shh," Gregor said.

"Don't shush me."

"Shh." Gregor pressed against the wall of the tunnel, which had gotten a little brighter from what appeared to be torch light (another sign of humans), and gestured that she do the same. He peaked around the corner to look at a large cavern, and could just make out the battle in the darkness. He saw that there were humans and bats fighting spiders, but that was about it. Darkness and smoke kept him from seeing detail, though he could clearly hear all the sounds of battle.

"Well this is new," Gregor muttered to himself. Fliers soared and dove around freely in the huge cave, while giant spiders crawled around the floor, wall, and ceiling. Wynn peaked around too. Gregor didn't think she could see any detail, like what the humans looked like, but she was alarmed by what she could see. She clamped her hand over her mouth and slammed back into the wall.

"Are those spiders?" she whispered.

"Yeah," Gregor responded, his mind racing. "Ok, listen. I need to go find some help. You stay here. I'm going to go out there, then I'll be right back."

"What?" Wynn scolded him in a harsh whisper, and punched him in the arm. "Are you crazy? I am not letting you go out there."

"I can handle it. I've done this before. Besides, I'm just going to try to talk to them," Gregor said, trying for a confident tone and a smile. He knew that was in no way convincing, so he decided to just turn and leave before she could object. He ignored her calling after him, and brushed off her hand as she tried to pull him back.

Gregor ran into the battle, completely unsure of himself. It had been years since his last fight, and he never once practiced his rager abilities. People were fighting on bats from up above, but there were also plenty of soldiers on the ground. Gregor had to find someone he knew. He looked around quickly, then saw a sword on the ground that had fallen from the hand of the dead soldier next to it. He ran and grabbed it just in time to block a spider leg that came down to impale him. Gregor had had sword lessons in the past three years (thanks to Wynn helping him get some without his mother knowing), so he hoped he could rely on that and not his rager instincts.

He hacked away at spider legs. These things are huge, he thought, and tried to push down the fear welling up in his chest. He couldn't get close to the abdomen, so he stuck to cutting at legs. A few chops with his sword could cut through one, and he figured he was doing it right because that's what the other guys were doing.

He finally got away from some of the fighting after some time for a breather, crouching near a boulder. He looked around him for anyone that would be able to help. Most of the people were too busy to even notice he was an Overlander. He was about to rush through the fighting again when he saw a familiar sight. A huge bat with a black and white stipe pattern flew over him. Gregor felt his hopes raise as he tried to keep her in sight, and he stepped out to wave.

"Nike!" he called out. He doubted she could hear him over the noises of the battle. A spider leg came from behind him, and narrowly missed his head. Gregor ducked, and another leg came down. He fell all the way to the ground. Crap. How could I have let my guard down like that? He prepared to be stabbed with another leg, when a person dropped in from up above. He landed on the spider's head, and drove his sword deep into its eye. The man jumped down to the ground, and cut at two of the spider's legs causing it to stumble and fall to the ground twitching. When the man turned around to face him, Gregor was overjoyed.

"What are you doing here, Gregor?" he exclaimed, but he smiled broadly as he helped Gregor up.