"Don't tell me…" Gregor said quietly.
The family stood there in shock, and already knew what it meant.
"Let's open her up," Gregor's dad said anxiously.
And with that, he undid the knot and opened the letter up. Gregor's dad read it aloud.
Dear Gregor and Gregor's Family,
The Underland is in a state of deep shock. We have recently discovered a new prophecy we have not known of previously. Overnight, it mysteriously appeared upon the floor of the prophecy room. We know you have left the Underland for good, and may not wish to return, but the fate of the Underland is rather questionable at the moment. Please come to Regalia as soon as possible. Go to your laundry room at midnight, and we will send a messenger up to bring you down. And please bring Boots as well.
Sincerely,
Vikus
"….I'm going back?" Gregor said in shock. He sounded sad, but inside, he was actually happy to go back. He wanted to go back and see Luxa, Vikus and Ares and everyone else. But then it hit him again. Ares was dead. He still couldn't get over it. "I guess," his dad said in confusion.
"Oh no you aren't," Gregor's mom said in a serious tone. Gregor frowned without saying a word. But then Gregor's mom started to remember about the rats that forced them to go during the Prophecy of Blood. Then she changed her mind. "Actually, on second thought, you can go," she said with a fake smile.
"But bring dad," she added.
Gregor's mom gave the news to Mrs. Cormaci. Mrs. Cormaci came in and gave Gregor a lightweight, blue backpack.
"Had this handy just in case you had to go back," she said with a wink. With that, she tossed it over to Gregor, who caught it. It was hard and tough. He opened it and gasped. Inside, the backpack was filled with batteries. Somewhere in the pile of batteries were a few flashlights. It also had a few granola bars.
"Wow," Gregor said, smiling.
"Thanks!" was all he could add on. He wanted to say more, but he was too shocked to say anything else. Mrs. Cormaci always had something to give to Gregor.
"Well, I know you need light. And the energy bars there are just in case you get hungry," She said with a smile. Gregor's parents thanked her and Mrs. Cormaci gave a few hugs and kisses to everyone, and then went out the door. The clock read 11:51PM.
"Oh man, we better get going," Gregor said. Boots could interpret what was happening.
"We go see Temp?" she said, excited. Temp was her best friend. The crawlers thought of her as a princess, and cherished and worshipped her. She was always with Temp.
"Yeah," Gregor said with a slight laugh. Gregor kissed his mom good bye, and then saw Lizzie, who was about to have a panic attack. She was breathing heavily.
th us?" There was a moment of silence. And then her breathing calmed.
"I thought you'd never ask," she said with a smile.
And with that, the four headed to the laundry room.
The four just sat on the floor in front of the grate, waiting. As soon as the clock struck midnight, a furry face broke through and popped the grate open. Lizzie jumped. Gregor smiled. Boots was sleeping.
"Greetings, overlanders!" the bat said. Gregor examined the bat. It had black and white stripes.
"Oh, hey Nike!" Gregor exclaimed happily. Boots immediately woke up to Nike's soothing voice.
"Hi pwincess!" she shouted. Lizzie was shivering in fear, still shocked from her popping open the grate. Gregor felt air pushing at his face from the grate. The currents.
"Hello, princess Boots!" said Nike with a giggle.
"Well, long time no see, overlanders! But we really must be going. Vikus is waiting!" The bat dropped down into the darkness. They heard her voice come through. It was slightly muffled.
"Drop, overlanders," they heard her say. Boots, eager, went first. Then Gregor's dad. Lizzie was about to panic.
"C'mon, just jump, the current will carry you," Gregor said to calm her down.
He jumped, and said "Wheeee! C'mon, try it," to get her motivated. And with that, she jumped.
Despite falling, and Gregor hated falling, he was overly excited. He had not seen the Underland for months. He was anxious to see Luxa. In a minute or two, everyone was on the ground. Nike then managed to get everyone on her back to fly to Regalia. Boots was in Gregor's lap, and Lizzie was in her dad's lap.
In minutes, they flew over the stadium. But the stadium was empty. Gregor expected something to be going on, but then decided everyone must be waiting in the city. In a few more seconds, they were flying over Regalia. Gregor couldn't help but smile. The scent of the city was inviting. "Just like old times," he thought. He familiarized himself again with the intricate tapestry on every corner of the city. People all over the ground were forgetting whatever they were doing and looking up in awe and shock, screaming things like "The overlander is back!" Boots couldn't help but respond.
"Hi, you!" she shouted down below in excitement.
Lizzie and Gregor's dad were smiling too. And before they knew it, they were flying into the high hall again. There, on the ground, was Vikus. The group ran into his arms as a warm greeting. Gregor felt great to see Vikus again.
"So you have returned," he said happily.
"We thought you may be in Virginia," he added on.
"We decided to stay," his dad said with a smile.
"Tonight, after we feast, I will tell you why you are here," Vikus said to Gregor.
Food. Man, was Gregor hungry. But before they could do anything else, they were sent to bathe. They had to have the overland stench off of them. After bathing, they were given fresh new sets of Underland clothes.
In an hour, they were done bathing and met in the old Nursery where the nibbler pups were being housed last time Gregor was here. It had been remodeled. New carpets were placed and new furniture and toys were on the floor. Gregor couldn't help but notice that scary turtle statue on the wall that he had snuck through a few times before. Dulcet was already waiting. Boots immediately ran into Dulcet's arms. Dulcet was the nanny that took care of Boots a few times, and one of the nicest underlanders Gregor has met.
"Greetings, overlanders!" Dulcet said happily. After exchanging some questions with Gregor's family, she and Boots sat down to sing some nursery rhymes. Lizzie decided to join them. Gregor's dad walked around the room, examining the rhymes on the walls and the beautiful pictures.
"Where's Luxa?" Gregor said anxiously. He tried not to sound weird.
"Oh, I had forgotten! Forgive me. She is waiting for you in her corridor," Dulcet said with a smile.
She then resumed to her singing with Boots.
"Thanks," Gregor murmured back to her.
Gregor quickly ran out of the room and ran as fast as possible to the royal residential corridor of the palace. He passed many familiar faces on the way. He waved to Miravet, Solovet's sister.
Solovet…the mean old lady who would do whatever it takes to keep Gregor down here. She was never nice to Gregor. But she didn't deserve to die like that.
Pretty soon, Gregor had found Luxa's little home. Gregor was smiling with anticipation. He slowly walked in, and saw her room hadn't changed a bit. There were still those two other rooms linking off. As he stepped in, he could see Hazard jumping off a bed in one of her bedrooms and immediately coming out to greet Gregor.
Hazard. The sweet halflander. The son of Hamnet.
Hamnet. The rogue of Regalia. Hazard's father. Killed by the cutters.
"Hey Gregor!" said Hazard with a grin on his soft little face.
"How ya doing, Hazard?" Gregor said happily. Hazard threw himself into Gregor's arms. Ever since Hamnet had died, Hazard had been living with Luxa as her little brother.
"So, where's Luxa?" Gregor asked.
"Oh, she's in her library over there," he said, pointing to the other doorway. Gregor told where Boots was, and Hazard ran off to go see Boots and Lizzie.
Gregor laughed a little, and then took a deep breath. He was alone. And about to see Luxa again. Smiling, he stepped into her library. He had never seen it before. It was covered in bookshelves from wall to wall, with tons of books on multiple topics.
And then he saw her. Over there, in the corner, was Luxa, wearing her usual clothing, reading a book. As soon as she heard Gregor's voice, she tossed the book away and ran into his arms. Gregor never wanted to let go. He wanted to be there for eternity, cherishing every moment with Luxa.
As they let go, the two were smiling.
"Gregor the overlander! How are you doing? How is your family?" Luxa asked, with that elegant smile of hers. Gregor was happy to see her again.
"We're doing fine. How's the Underland?" Gregor responded.
"Not good. Much has been going on," Luxa said with a frown. "Huh? I thought you guys were allied with the rats," Gregor said, confused.
"Yes, but there's an occasional outbreak every now and then," Luxa said.
"Oh, how's Ripred?" Gregor asked. He almost forgot about Ripred. Ripred and Luxa had bonded the last time he was here. "He is doing well. He misses you," she said with a thoughtful smile.
"Wow," Gregor thought.
Ripred wasn't a person you'd see showing lots of sympathy. He'd usually be talking trash or insulting Gregor, but he couldn't believe Ripred was actually missing him. There was a moment of silence. The two then sat down and Luxa showed the library to him. There were books on war, on science, on history, and even books on health. The Library was such a small room, little bigger than the dungeon, yet it housed so many books. Then a certain book caught Gregor's eye. It had a piece of paper on its spine marked FOR GREGOR.
"Hey, what's that?" Gregor asked Luxa.
"Oh! Yes! That is for you. Go ahead and take it out," she said with a grin.
Gregor brung the book out. It was a scrapbook. Mainly of Hazard's birthday.
tos of Gregor, Luxa, Hazard, Boots, and many more Underland friends. Gregor couldn't take his eyes off the one with Gregor and Luxa dancing. He smiled.
And then he saw the one with Thalia. Poor Thalia. The innocent, young bat that loved to laugh. She had never done anything wrong in her life. Yet she was killed so quickly by the volcano called "the queen". Gregor remembered how one time she was crying and sobbing and Gregor told her a joke, and then she started to laugh in the midst of crying.
"Poor thing," Gregor thought. Luxa stared at some pictures with Gregor, reliving precious moments of their lives. They laughed and cried together. Gregor couldn't wish for a better place to be.
Vikus walked through the doorway.
"Supper time," he said.
