Well, here's chapter three. Thanks again to everyone who reviewed! I'm glad you like my story! Yay! So, here's chapter three! Oh, and a quick note. I think that the council died in the war in the last book, but I don't really remember for sure. I'm going to make reference of their death, but if they didn't die, well, it won't make much a difference because there is a new council.

Ok, disclaimer. I do NOT own The Underland Chronicles; it would be sweet if I did, but I don't. The only things I own in my stories are the plots and any characters that I add myself.

Chapter Three

Luxa was stuck at another boring council meeting. At first after the war, the one thing that relieved her somewhat was that there was no council. It saved a lot of waiting for important decisions, and they also were against many of the things she wanted to do, like visit the Overland one day, for instance. But now, there was a new council elected. She despised this one even more. They seemed even stricter and cold hearted than the last one. They had her busy almost every wakeful hour of her day with her queenly duty and such.

They kept talking about trade and economics with the spinners, nibbles, and gnawers. Of course, this was of little interest to Luxa; they had a steady flow of trade with the spinners, trading handmade goods that only humans could make, for their silk, which was made into bandages, clothing, and any other cloth like material needed there. The gnawers and the nibbles didn't have much trading with the humans, but they did what they could to help keep their treaties strong. Luxa had little interest in this frivolous talk.

As soon as the meeting was over, Luxa gave a sharp, high pitched whistle and waited a couple minutes. Aurora came shooting in through a window near by. Luxa mounted Aurora and they headed up to one of the entrances to the Overland. They made daily trips up to that rock to check for a response from Gregor. Luxa feared that he had moved to Virginia and wouldn't get it, but today as they carefully peeked at the corners of the rock, her heart skipped a beat. There she saw a folded piece of paper. She quickly grabbed it and read it to herself. Aurora waited patiently while Luxa read it. Luxa first was extremely happy, and then her face turned to concern and disappointment, then finally to deep thinking. "Well?!" asked Aurora, still waiting to see what it said.
"Oh this is not good, we must think of something" Luxa mumbled to herself.

"Um… Can you read it to me?" asked Aurora a little timidly.

"We need to find an excuse for him," Luxa mumbled to herself, nervously twirling a strand of silver hair.

"Just read me the damn letter!" screamed Aurora, sick of waiting

"Oh, excuse me? My apologies, Aurora. It tells that Gregor is still in New York City, for now. He would like to visit us, but cannot, for his mother would never allow him to come back. Especially because there is a prophecy involved," said Luxa sheepishly.

"Oh… why do you not try to get his mother to let him come down for 'The Day of the Nibblers'?" Aurora replied, calmed down to her normal self.

"That is a wonderful idea, Aurora!" Luxa exclaimed. The two set off back to the castle where they could right another message on a scroll to Gregor about their idea.

Gregor spent the last day thinking of some sort of excuse he could use to get down to the Underland, but he couldn't come up with one. Well, he couldn't come up with one that his mom would buy. She had always been stubborn when it came to the Underland.

Gregor almost forgot to check the rock after school, but he took a quick glance at it as he walked by. He spotted the gray edge of a scroll under it and rushed over to grab it. There were still a lot of people around, but luckily, he did not embarrass himself this time. He decided it would be best to take it home to read like the last note. When he got home, he found a note on the fridge from his mom saying that she went with his sisters to buy some clothes from the GoodWill. Gregor's dad was asleep on the couch so Gregor quietly tiptoed across the living room to his bedroom, being sure not to wake him up. When he got in his room, he practically tore the scroll open to read it.

Dear Gregor,

I am glad to hear that you fare well and are still in New York. I have an idea that you can use to try and convince your mother to let you come visit. In five days, we are having "The Day of the Nibblers" festival. Ripred said that it is what you Overlanders call a holiday. It is a very simple festival; young children are out in the arena playing games with the young nibblers and the older ones talk together with the older nibblers. There will also be a huge feast. I will have fliers waiting at this entrance all throughout that day if you can come. I hope you can come, because there is nothing I would love more than to be able to see you again.

Love,

Luxa

Gregor was excited when he first read the letter, but after he thought about it for a while, he knew his mom would never go for it, even if it was just for the day for a holiday. It was better than any other Excuse he could come up with, but she didn't like or trust anything or anyone in the Underland, but he decided that it couldn't hurt to ask her anyway. He decided to wait until after supper when Lizzie and Boots went to sleep. He didn't want them to try and go too; that would only hurt his already tiny chances of going.

Supper seemed like hours and hours to Gregor, and worse yet, the movie "High School Musical" was on, and Gregor's parents let Lizzie and Boots stay up half an hour later than they usually went to bed.

Finally, Boots and Lizzie went to bed, so Gregor went over to the TV room to talk to his parents. He went up to his mother and started. "Hey mom…. I need to talk to you about something."

"Sure. What is it, baby?" Grace replied.

"Well, it's just that…" Gregor took a deep breath and decided to let it all out in one go. "MomIgotthisnotefromLuxayouseeandshewantedtoknowifIcouldgodowntotheUnderlandforadayforaholidaytheyholddowntherecalled
TheDayoftheNibblerandIjustwantedtoknowifIcouldgopleaseplease?"

Mom I got this not from Luxa you see and she wanted to know if I could go down the Underland for a day, for a holiday they hold down there called 'The Day of the Nibbler, and I just wanted to know if I could go. Please please?

Gregor took a deep breath after getting all of that out. Grace just sat there wide eyed for a moment. His father had a worried look on his face, then looked at Grace.

Finally Grace spoke "Gregor…. I'm sorry, baby, but th-," she stopped mid sentence as she saw the look on his face. She thought for a moment and then said this with a frown, "Listen, Gregor, I'll let you go down under one condition."

Gregor's face showed pure surprise as he answered excitedly, "Sure! Anything!"

Grace took a deep breath then said, "I'm going down with you, and you're not allowed to leave my sight. Okay, Gregor?"

"Sure!" he replied, hiding the disappointment he felt. There was no way he could help the Underlanders with the prophecy with his mom following him everywhere, and more importantly, he wouldn't be able to be with Luxa alone. "But still," he thought, "at least I can still go down and see all my friends."

The next five days were the longest in Gregor's life. They crawled by in what seemed second by painful second. He would lay awake in his bed every night, unable to sleep. School was the worst. He couldn't stay focused at all and kept spacing out. He had almost gotten a detention from a teacher for it. His homework took forever because he couldn't focus. Finally, it was the night of the fourth day. He stayed awake in his bed for hours thinking about tomorrow. Finally sleep took him over.

When Gregor woke up, he was all set for the day, he had set out a nice pair of clothes (not too nice, just in case they needed to be burned or got ruined). Grace had made a big breakfast and made him eat his slowly and carefully even though he almost choked from eating quickly when she wasn't looking several times.

They made their way down to the park and found the rock. They had to wait a while, making sure that there was absolutely no one near by, and then they opened the rock and started stepping down. There steps were surprisingly neat and similar. Obviously they were crafted and not natural. The walls were blank with the exception of a few touch holders that hadn't been used in ages. Gregor turned on the flashlight that he brought, mostly for his mom since he could use echolocation. They made their way down the path a little ways until Gregor saw a golden bat he recognized standing on the path. And in front the bat was a young Underland girl, with beautiful flowing hair, that seemed to almost be a shining, molten silver color that went down to about her shoulder blades. But the thing that left him awestruck the most was her shiny violet eyes that seemed to make his heart melt. They both walked forward and just stared at each other for what seemed like years, and Gregor wished it could have gone on like that for an eternity.

Gregor was finally able to choke out, "Hey Luxa,"

YAY! Gregor and Luxa finally see each other again! I'm so happy, free cookies for all my reviewers! Oh yeah, I think next chapter I'm going to make up the prophecy, probably right on the spot too, so it might suck a little bit, but whatever. Lol I just got to say that it cracked me up when I made Aurora flip out on Luxa like that since she's usually a pretty quiet bat. Holy crap, I just noticed this chapter is like 1,800 words! Yay for my longest chapter yet! Please review guys! I'll update over the weekend! I also want to thank my reviewers again for being so supportive; yeah I'm kind of making a big deal over six reviews, but still, thanks guys. Thank ILikeAres for helping me with all my chapters I've already posted! She helps a ton!