Eyyyy, back at it with the chapters.

"There may be people that have more talent than you, but there's no excuse for anyone to work harder than you." -Derek Jeter

I met with Vikus the next morning in the council room. "Gregor," He waved me into a seat next to him at the head of the east side while Luxa headed up the west end. "We wish to discuss the prophecy."

I sat, shifting in the stone chair with my dad's sword on my hip. "Did you want to talk about the actual prophecy?"

He nodded. "I know Nerissa has given you a copy, what do you think of it?"

I took out the rolled parchment and looked over the now familiar words. "Just one thing that I couldn't quite pinpoint... Something rises from the gloom To make the Underland a tomb. Hear it scratching down below, Rat of long forgotten snow, Evil cloaked in coat of white Will the warrior drain your light?"

The council was quiet, but from the neutral expressions they all wore, it was obvious they had heard the words hundreds of times. "Something dangerous is coming." I started when it remained silent. "Something deadly."

"Not just coming, it is here, and has been for some time. The gnawers have done well to conceal it, even from their own." Vikus shook his head solemnly.

"A...white rat?" I frowned at the words.

"The color of long-forgotten snow." The old man nodded, his gaze became unfocused as if he was visualizing a winter wonderland. "We do not get snow in the Underland, though I imagine it to be very beautiful."

I did my best to smile at him, deciding to keep the gross imagines of gray slush in the streets and puddles of dirty water splashing up by the fast moving cars to myself. "It is. Now, the rat…?"

"It is of legend," Another council member sitting close to Luxa piped up. "Sandwich knew tales of the white rat even before we travelled to the Underland. Historically, one will appear every few centuries and gather other rats around it to create a reign of terror."

"It is remarkable in cunning, strength, and size compared to the other gnawers." The woman next to me picked up.

I swallowed. "Size?"

"Considerably larger," Vikus nodded. "As for the legend, the only thing that stands between this creature and the Underland's future is you; the Warrior. You are a threat to it, and that is why the gnawers wish to conceal it, they do not want you to find it. The prophecy also reveals your vulnerability."

I looked back to my copy of the prophecy. "What could turn the warrior weak? What do burning gnawers seek? Just a barely speaking pup Who holds the land of Under up."

"Do you know of which it means by 'pup'?" The man across the table from me asked.

I nodded. "Ripred called Luxa and Henry pups when they wouldn't listen to him." I muttered, thinking about the old rat and if he knew anything about this white rat. Vikus said the gnawers concealed its presence from their own, was he one of the species that knew, or didn't?

"I am sure he said it sarcastically to remind them he was in charge; for rats, a 'pup' is a baby. The only baby we know of that is close to you is Boots."

"So they think, if they kill Boots, something will happen to me." I had to take a deep breath after saying it, the idea was almost as bad as the real thing.

Another man took over and I felt like I was being bounced around like a ping pong game. "It will break you emotionally, and if it happens, the rats will surely overtake us all."

I ran my hands over my face and through my now short hair. "You're sure it's Boots?"

"As sure as we can be. Your closeness to her is well known, that you sacrificed yourself by leaping rather than allowing King Gorger to kill her, and this has made an impression on everyone. Which brings me to matters of retrieving your sister." Vikus motioned to the door and Temp scurried in, his antenna still bent from the accident during the quest. "The crawlers have been watching your family to make sure they are safe, but they fear the rats will make their move against them soon."

I frowned for a moment. "You mean, the little ones?"

"Yes, they communicate with the larger ones here, but the rats watch them as well, waiting for a moment to take your sister's life." He looked to Temp for a moment. "She has been close to the gateway above the Waterway. We fear that soon enough, they will find out a way to reach her."

I sighed. "Any word from my dad?"

Vikus nodded and looked happy for the first time. "He has confirmed a trip for Boots to the gateway they left the Underland through months ago. They will arrive tomorrow."

I paused. "They?"

"Your father is not crazy in accompanying your sister." Luxa spoke.

I turned to her, slightly surprised to hear her speak after so long. "If he comes down here, he's going to want to go on the quest."

She shook her head. "Yes, and we will not allow it. If he fights this, we will send him back to the Overland."

I ran my hands over my face in frustration. She sounded so confident, but no matter how many time she told my dad he couldn't go, as a parent, he wouldn't just back down because a royal seventeen year old told him no. "Fine, you get to tell him then."

We held each other's gaze for a minute, neither of us wanting to be the first to look away; Luxa was far too stubborn and I too frustrated with her to let her win. "Gregor," I recognized Ares's voice behind me. "It is time for training."

Even though I was content in staring the royal down, I stood from the table and wordlessly mounted my bond, not meeting her gaze as he flew me out of the room. We flew silently for a moment before I let out a growl of frustration. "Gah, she just makes me so mad."

"Luxa means well, but she is as stubborn as the day she was born." Ares gave a small 'huh' of laughter as we landed and I took a deep breath as Mareth approached us.

The soldier smiled, clasping my forearm in greeting and started walking. "Are we going to hit something? Because I really need to hit something."

He laughed and brought me over to an open area with straw dummies. We spent several hours working through attacks and defences, thoroughly destroying a couple dummies. When Mareth broke for water, I was out of breath and sweating hard. We both ditched our shirts a while ago, and it felt so good to pour the cool water straight over my head.

The soldier joined me at the woven basket full of water. I nodded at the other side of the arena where a group had finished doing something with cannons. "What's going on over there?"

He glanced over and grinned. "Another exercise, I believe you will do well with it, if you are ready to move on."

I nodded, the statement sounding a little like he was tempting me. "Yeah, let's go." We jogged over and Mareth waved off a few guys that had begun to roll the cannons away. He tossed me a red ball the size of a golf ball, it was waxy and the liquid sloshed around inside. "What are these?"

"They are blood balls, we use them for sword training to work on speed and accuracy."

I scrunched my nose up. "There's blood in here?" I didn't even want to know who was the lucky donor.

He laughed. "No, water and dye, but it simulates blood. This way it is easier to tell which ones have been hit and broken."

Mareth directed me into the middle of the three cannons so one was directly across from me while the other two flanked my right and left. "So, how many do people usually get on their first try?"

"Not many, three or less." He called for two other Underlanders to join him and they loaded five balls into each, taking spots behind the other cannons. "Now, Gregor, this is your first day of sword training, do not be too frustrated with the outcome; it is just an exercise."

I nodded and took the ready stance Mareth had showed me earlier, my dad's sword out in front of me. Anxiety started to make my heart beat a little faster, and I told myself to relax just as Mareth gave the order to fire.

As soon as the first balls left the cannon's barrel, everything around me faded and grew unfocused; the Underlanders that gathered to watch, the bats flying overhead, the arena, and even the cannons themselves. All I could see were the small balls of red flying towards me.

It was like I lost control of my actions. I could see and feel my arms moving but where they went seemed almost too fast for me to comprehend. The polished metal of the sword sliced through the delicate wax and its contents sprayed in all directions. I vaguely felt some of it hit my face, then it was all over.

Everything rushed back and I blinked. My heart was going a mile a minute. I looked down and saw the broken shells of fifteen blood balls.

Mareth shocked me out of the daze by hitting my shoulder and congratulating me. I nodded and thanked him, still kind of wrapped up in everything that just happened. "That's not too bad, huh? How many people have gotten all of them?"

He laughed. "Not many. Only one."

"Really? Who?"

He wave it off. "Go get cleaned up, we have more work to do."

I nodded and stumbled to the basket. I gripped the sides with white knuckles, looking at my reflection, seeing where all the red liquid had splashed my face, arms, chest, and bits on my legs was making my head spin. Taking a shuddered breath, I began to calm down. I took the washcloth from the side of the water basket and dipped it in, wringing it out and began wiping the 'blood' from my body.

I had finished my face and arms when Luxa suddenly dropped from above on the other side of my basket. "I had to see it for myself." She said, her voice was excited but struggled like she hasn't quite forgiven me for earlier and didn't want to be too happy. "You hit all fifteen blood balls."

I nodded, not answering her because I hadn't forgiven her for anything yet, either. She was silent as I washed my chest and legs until it became too much for her. "Gregor, we need to talk."

I sighed and placed the cloth back on the edge of the basket, grabbing my shirt from the bench. "You know, I have a lot of training to do, big quest coming up and all."

Luxa frowned at me as I slipped my shirt over my head. "Meet me in Ares's cave in two hours."

"Look, your highness, I know you aren't really use to being told no, but I'm busy. So, no."

I turned to walk away, not bothering to see her reaction, but I had only gotten two feet when her soft reply came, almost so quiet I didn't hear it. "Please." I stopped and squeezed my eyes tight, but didn't turn. She sounded desperate and beaten. Even though I didn't confirm it, when I walked away, I had the feeling she understood I would go.

Mareth released me from the arena an hour later with high praise and a request to bathe. Ares brought me to the baths and I told him about meeting Luxa. I finished quickly and changed into fresh clothes.

As we glided into Ares's cave, I saw Luxa sitting on a rock next to Aurora. Neither of them noticed us for a moment until the golden bat's ears perked up and she glanced up, notifying her bond as well. I let out a heavy breath of anticipation as Ares swooped down and I climbed off but stayed next to him, leaving a good fifteen feet between us.

Luxa stood and took a few steps before hesitating. "I was afraid you would not come."

I crossed my arms. "I shouldn't have, but I did, so what did you want to talk about?"

She frowned and the tiny bit of relief she showed at my appearance dissolved, her typical stern expression returning. "Your behavior of late has been unacceptable."

I almost totally flipped. My eyebrows jumped and my mouth flopped a few times before I could get my thoughts together. "My behavior has been unacceptable? What about you, Luxa? You've been avoiding me, and if we do end up in the same room, you leave! Last night was the first time you spoke to me in almost two months!"

She shook her head. "I have had my lessons, but when I am free, you are never available because you have been distancing yourself. We must work together on this next quest, and I cannot have you acting on your own without communicating with me."

I couldn't believe what she was saying, she was accusing me of everything she's been doing. "I'm so sorry that I'm doing what you told me to do, Luxa. I've been in the city, getting to know Ares, training; I'm sorry that I didn't lock myself in my room after you rejected me!"

Luxa's neutral face fell and she looked at the ground, her crossed arms became limp and fell to her sides. I was still fuming and couldn't help but continue. "I've been alone for years, then I come here, and finally find my place, and I met you. I thought I wouldn't have to be alone anymore, and then you tried to be all high and mighty with me. So, I'm sorry that it's taken me longer than two months to get totally over that heartbreak."

She shook her head, still looking at the ground. "You know why I had to push you away."

I threw my arms up and scoffed. "Right, because my blood isn't pure, because I'm from the Overland, because being with me would mean you have to give something up. Yeah, I do know."

Luxa shook her head and I thought I saw tears. I blinked and relaxed my tight muscles, watching her hands ball up into white fists with a little bit of regret for my words. "I wanted nothing more than to listen to you speak of the future, Gregor. I would have given my crown to live the simple life you described, but you could not understand having to care for thousands of people; the stress, the sacrifice behind it. I am the Queen, that means I do not have a choice, I am all my people have left."

Her words were hard to accept, I saw the pain of shouldering incredible responsibilities over all these years, not to mention Henry's recent betrayal. I realized I was only making her situation worse and my anger deflated. I struggled to find words and Luxa remained quiet as well. The tip of Ares's wing touched my arm in a subtle way of support and I saw Aurora do the same for Luxa.

Five minutes probably passed before I could muster my voice again. "I'm sorry I said those things, you're right, I couldn't understand your situation. I was just hurt, and I took it out on you. I know I can still trust you in battle, we can work together on the quest."

"You were right as well, I should not have distanced myself as much, especially with the quest coming close." She looked up at me, her eyes moist with unshed tears and her expression evening out. "I am glad you met Serenity, she and I were very close friends as children."

"Were?" Serenity had mentioned they stopped talking when her dad moved out of the palace and Luxa's parents died, but it sounded like she didn't quite understand Luxa's side of it.

She sighed. "My parents died and I spent very little time with anyone other than Aurora. When I was able to move on enough to seek her out, her family had returned to the city, but I could not bring myself to walk the streets yet. After so many years, I thought she would hate me for neglecting her that I could not force myself to visit her again."

I stepped forward and placed a hand on her shoulder. "You should, she misses you. I haven't got a chance to see her since yesterday, but I'll invite her to dinner when my dad and sister get here. Talk to her, you'd be surprised how long friendships can last."

"Thank you, Gregor-" Her words were cut off when Ares and Aurora suddenly stood at attention, their ears rotating as they listened. Luxa took less than a second to jump on her bond's back and they were gone in a golden flash.

I looked to the black flier. "What was that?"

"A warning, we must go." Ares said in a rush and I did as he asked.

"What's it a warning of?" I asked as we sped through the tunnels.

"It means gnawers have entered Regalia."

So there's the next installment, hope you enjoyed it.

In case anyone didn't catch on, the 'red mark' on Gregor's neck is a hickey lol it means he and Serenity got a little frisky by the lake haha. I included it because I didn't want to overdue it with their scenes and possibly take away from the actual story. I want Serenity to be a presence but the last thing I want, especially as a reader, is for an OC to totally take over.

If there's anything you see wrong totally feel free to point it out (shout out to the reviewer that pointed out I spelled 'flyer' instead of 'flier'). I look at these chapters a million times and sometimes I miss things, and I want to make sure that it's as perfect as it can be for you guys!

Always,

Artemis.