Chapter 2

Convincing the Parents

Gregor watched as Lizzie walked over to their mom and said, "Hey, Mom, wanna go make cookies? We haven't for a long time." Their mom looked at the clock and said, "Oh, I suppose, but you can't have any until after dinner!" The two walked into the kitchen and Gregor heard the two of them start getting ingredients ready. When Gregor was sure they couldn't hear him, he walked over to his dad and said, "Dad we really need to- will you turn that down?!" The TV was now so loud his dad hadn't heard a thing he said, and to be honest, neither had Gregor. His dad shut the TV off quickly and turned to Gregor.

"Sorry- what was that, Gregor?"

"I need to talk about something really important."

His dad's eyebrows raised. "Oooooooohhhhh, that kind of talk…" he said.

"Yeah, you- Wait, what?!" Gregor said, wondering what his dad was talking about.

"Oh, you know, you met a girl, realized you kinda like her, and you don't know what to do about it and-"

Gregor interrupted him before the conversation got even weirder than it already was.

"Uh, no! This has nothing to do with girls! Well, I suppose there're girls involved, but there's a lot of people involved and-"

His dad just laughed. "I know, son, I was just messing with you," he said. "So, what did you really want to talk about?"

Gregor explained to his dad that Lizzie had gotten the note and they needed to go down.

"-And we need to go now," Gregor said, making sure his dad knew the importance of the situation.

His dad just sat there, looking stunned. Gregor waited a few moments before saying, "So… what do you think?"

He still just sat there, not saying a word, too shocked to say anything. Finally, he said, "What do I think? I try to forget the fact that thousands of miles below us, there's a whole nation in war, I try to keep you and your sisters and mother out of danger from it, and you want to know what I think about going down there- again? What do I think? What do I think?!" Gregor was sure the answer would be a "No-sir-ee, you're never going down there again!" but his dad did the thing he least expected.

"Of course you should go down! They're in danger, there's probably at least one more prophecy about you, and you're the warrior they've been waiting for for centuries! You need to get down there! You'll have a hard time convincing your mother, though…."

Suddenly, Gregor heard a crash that sounded like glass shattering. He and his dad got up and ran over to the kitchen doorway. In the kitchen was Lizzie, backed against a wall, looking horrified at his mother, who was by the sink, her hands cupped, as though they were still holding the shattered bowl at her feet.

"Woah, what happened in here?" Gregor's dad said, looking around at the glass scattered all over the floor. Lizzie started shaking and panting- another one of her panic attacks. She had them often, but only when they talked about something scary. She'd had a major one when she found out her grandmother had passed away, but whenever anyone spoke of the Underland- which wasn't very often anymore- she'd start shaking and panting, exactly like she was then.

"I-I-I tried to t-tell m-mom that they sent a-a-a-a-a-" Now she was getting to the part where she couldn't even talk or breathe anymore. Gregor's dad got a brown paper bag, opened it up, and put it over her mouth and nose. She held it there, still panting, but it was longer pants now. After about a minute, she could somewhat talk again.

"I-I tried to tell m-mom about the note, but she-she froze and she d-dropped the b-bowl and I-I didn't know wha-what to do…" She let out a sob and Gregor's mom let her hands drop down to her sides. She still said nothing, looking shocked. Gregor's dad frowned and wrapped his arm around her. He asked Boots and Gregor to clean up the mess as he took Lizzie and their mom into the living room.

"So, are we going to go to that place? What was it called, anyway? I don't remember," Boots said, getting the broom from the corner.

"Regalia, in the Underland," Gregor said, holding the dustpan as Boots sweeped the glass in. When they finished, Gregor took Boots' hand and led her into the living room, where Lizzie was cuddled against his dad, his mom still looking stunned, but not near as much as she did before.

"So, um… what do you think, Mom? Can we go?" She looked at Lizzie, who looked at Boots, who looked at Gregor, who looked at their dad, who smiled and said, "Of course! If they're in trouble, you need to go down there! Just promise us you won't get killed or seriously hurt or anything like last time, and also that you'll get them outta trouble! That's all we care about- that everybody's fine in the end. Just make sure that "end" is soon, though, 'cause we don't want you to be down there for too long!" Gregor's mom seemed to come out of shock and the look on her face changed quickly from stunned to sad, to worried, to angry, to sympathetic, and back to angry.

"Why the heck would I ever let you go back down there?! You've had enough chances to be killed, we've tried to give you a normal life again, and you want to just toss all we've done to keep you away from those freaks away so you can go on a play-date with them and get yourself killed- again?!"

Gregor was only a little surprised. He'd expected an outburst, but he didn't expect her to insult his friends, the people he loved...

"Mom, I'm eighteen! Do you really think I would go just to get myself killed?! I can take care of myself! And Vikus said we're all in danger, so all of us need to go down, so you'll be able to make sure you know where I am and everything- and you're making it sound like the people down there are psycho serial killers that hate me!"

"I'm not going to lose you again!" his mom screamed, and suddenly, she broke down in sobs. Gregor sighed. She'd been like this before, years ago. When he'd said he had to go down to the Underland, and she'd had to face a bunch of rats trying to break into the apartment building before she'd said yes.

"Mom, I'll be okay. I will make sure nothing will happen to anyone. I'll try my best not to get killed," Gregor said soothingly, sitting next to his mom.

"You know me, Mom- I don't just go into danger for the fun of it or anything- that's the rager part of me. I will try and control it, but you need to understand that if anything happens to me, it's not the Underlanders' fault."

"Yes, but I don't want to lose anyone else I love! I have been trying to forget about the Underland, and you suddenly want to go back down there?"

"Mom, do you trust me with Boots' life?" Gregor said, knowing the answer.

"Yes, but-"

"Do you trust me with Dad's life?"

"Of course, yes, but-"

"Do you trust me with my life?"

"It isn't a matter of trust, it's because you're just a kid and-"

"Ha! First of all, you didn't answer my question! Second of all, I am not a kid! Not anymore! I'm eighteen, and I'm not a kid anymore! Now, do you trust me with my life?"

Gregor knew he'd gotten his mom worked up, but it'd been about an hour since Lizzie had gotten the note, so the Underlanders could be in serious trouble now. He needed to get down there, whether his mom liked it or not. And right now, he had a point to make.

"Sweetie, I trust you, I just don't trust the things down there. I'm okay with the Underlanders, it's just that there're so many times you could've been killed, and I don't want that to happen again, and-"

"I know, Mom. That's what I'm trying to say. I trust the Underlanders. You trust the Underlanders. And I won't go out without anyone knowing. But I need to get down there. People I love are down there. Do you understand?" His mom sat there, torn between letting her son go get himself killed, or keeping him there while everybody below them died or something. If there was one thing his mom was worried about, it was how Gregor felt. She couldn't stand to see him sad or alone, but she didn't want him killed, either. All this flashed across her face.

"-Er, well, I don't- I-I need to- I don't- I want- I don't want you to die and- well- Boots- Gregor, I-I think you- Er- you have- um- I- fine!" she finally screamed, making everyone in the room jump.

"Now get your things ready, before I change my mind!" She stood up and walked into her bedroom, slamming the door.

Gregor's dad grinned.

"Hey, kid, you did it! You got her to say yes! Even I don't have that kind of power!" he said, slapping his hand on Gregor's back. "Well, we better get packing!" Gregor's dad said.

"Yeah. Wait-we? You guys are going?" Gregor asked, wondering why his dad thought they should go.

"Well, yeah- Boots can help with the roaches, and Lizzie is on the code breaking team, so if they need either of them- we're not leaving without you."

"Yeah, okay, whatever," Gregor said, wanting to get a move on.

They packed quickly, wanting to get down as soon as they could. Gregor packed himself two extra outfits, 3 flashlights, a pack of batteries, and a first aid kit his mom had given him for when he was babysitting his sisters. It had an ace bandage, a bunch of band aids, a tube of some sort of ointment, and some pain relieving pills. Lizzie finished the cookies her and her mom were making and packed a bag. Gregor didn't know what she'd packed, but there was a corner of something sticking into the side, threatening to tear it.

"Here, I'll fix your bag, Liz- it looks like it might tear," Gregor said. As soon as he moved towards it, Lizzie freaked.

"No! You can't- um, well, I can fix it, Gregor," She said. Gregor looked at her, wondering why she freaked out about it.

"Oh, okay," was all he said.

Gregor helped Boots pack some extra outfits and a bunch of little kid flashlights with princesses on them. He gave her some of his batteries and asked Lizzie if she still needed flashlights. He had mastered echolocation, the ability to see with your ears, so he no longer needed flashlights. He always took a few just in case, though.

"Oh, yeah, I forgot we'd need light," Lizzie said when Gregor offered her a flashlight. He handed her a flashlight and a handful of batteries. Then, he stood up and looked around.

"Do we really need anything else? Lizzie, did you pack everything you need?"

"Yep!"

"Then let's get going," Gregor said. "Dad, are you and Mom ready?" he asked his father, who was just going back into the living room from his bedroom.

"So… let's get going," Gregor said to the rest of his family, who was waiting by the door. They went out of their apartment into the hall, where they found Mrs. Cormacy, their neighbor, waiting for them. Wondering what she was doing there, Gregor said, "Oh, hi, Mrs. Cormacy! We need to go, um, run some errands for Mom-"

Mrs. Cormacy cut him off, waving her hand, saying, "Oh, don't give me all that, darling, I know where you're going- you need to go back down to that Underland place, don't you?"

"Um, yeah, but how did you-?"

"Oh, don't worry about that, now sweetie- I just wanted to give you this, since you'll probably have to go on another one of those quest type of things," Mrs. Cormacy shoved about half a dozen containers into Gregor's empty hands. Gregor opened one of them and found a sort of casserole. He closed it, saying, "Food?"

Mrs. Cormacy nodded, saying, "Yeah, I thought- since you said before that there were many times you almost starved to death down there- that I'd give you a little extra food to take on your little trip with your sisters."

Gregor looked down and saw Boots was running around, singing a song Howard, an Underlander from the Fount, had taught her.

"Two tiny rows,

Of five tiny toes,

Give Boots ten reasons to wiggle her nose,"

Boots went "Whew," for that was the part of the song during which Howard would normally put her foot up to his nose and lean back, making a noise and pretending that they stank.

"Wiggle your nose,

At eight, nine, ten toes,

Then give them a bath so each tiny toe glows!"

Gregor felt a smile creep across his face, but he shook his head and said, "Come on, Boots, we have to go! Thanks for everything, Mrs. Cormacy!" Gregor grabbed Boots and Lizzie by the hand and started dragging them down the hall.

"Anytime! Good luck!" Mrs. Cormacy called down to them, waving her hand in farewell as they made their way out of the building, following their parents.