For all those amazing people who read my story before I added this chapter, I added a little onto the last chapter so you may have to go back and read it.

Peer Into a Bright New World

"Wow, that's some ghost," Larry gaped at him.

"Luxa," Lizzy questioned, but the Underworld girl just continued to pummel him halfheartedly until she ran out of energy and sank to the ground crying.

"Bad Gregor," Boots huffed at him. It seemed like that was becoming a favorite phrase of hers. She waddled her way over to the sobbing girl and patted her on the back. It was her way of rubbing the girl on the back the way he and their mother did to calm her down. Gregor sat up and wrapped his arms around her.

"I'm sorry. Really, Luxa, I am." She turned her face into his shoulder for the few moments it took her to take control of her emotions.

It was at the last of those moments that Angelina could no longer control her excitement. Her eyes where popping out of her head as she yelled, "the ghost is real!"

Luxa jumped up in surprise, apparently during her outburst she had failed to notice the two "strangers". Gregor had to grab her arm to keep her from drawing her sword. "It's alright, Luxa! They're friends!"

"Are you sure, I was attacked by some small hairy creature a few days back. When I defended myself, an Overlander became exceedingly upset. Was that thing his bond? It did not seem like a very intelligent bond."

"So you were the one that attacked Brian's dog!" Angelina was having the time of her life.

"Luxa. Luxa," a familiar voice was calling from the man whole. "Luxa, we have to go."

Gregor leaned over to peer down the manhole, and Howard's head appeared in the moonlit depths. Luxa's cousin seemed to have matured a little since he had last seen him, but then, they all had.

"Gregor? Gregor, is that you?" Howard looked like he had seen a ghost, his pale skin had gone even more translucent.

"No way! There's another one!" At least Angelina was thoroughly enjoying herself.

"Hi, Howard," Gregor gave him a little smile.

"He was here the entire time!" Luxa pointed an accusing finger at him. "They never left, and he didn't bother to contact us even once! Not once!"

Howard looked started, whether it was due to Gregor's lack of courtesy or Luxa's unusual behavior wasn't obvious.

"Hi, Howard." Lizzy waved shyly, Howard smiled, warmly, back at her.

"We must go," Howard repeated, almost apologetically to Gregor.

Gregor took Luxa's hands in his own and looked into her eyes. That day had been a dream come true, and like all dreams, it was time to wake up.

"I will come again," she told him. Gregor just nodded. Boots spoke for both of them, waddling over to the Underlander, slamming herself into the girl's knees in a hug.

Howard took Luza's hand and guided her back into the tunnel, both paused and looked back before disappearing into the darkness of the tunnel.

A month later, Gregor had yet to see Luxa again. Sneaking out each night, he traveled the considerable distance to the park and back, to return just before the fall of true dawn. That brief meeting weeks ago was all that was keeping him going. School seemed to become even more of a chore as Angelina and Larry used that time to try and interrogate him day after day. Gregor had no idea why he did not just tell them everything. Angelina, at least, would be inclined to believe the fantastical tale. Yet, for some reason he did not. He told himself it was because he did not want them to become involved in such a dangerous world, but it seemed to have much more to do with the pain he felt when talking about his adventures, the friends he had lost, the deaths he had witnessed, the deaths he had caused, the love that seemed to be becoming more and more lost to him as time went on. He did not want to connect his friends, innocent as they were, in his eyes at least, to the that world. Part of him liked having a secret, liked that the feeling that the Underworld was for him alone. Another part just liked their interrogation. The questions reminded him that the experience had been real, that she had truly been there.

" Hey! Hey, Gregor, wait up!" Angelina was running after him, pulling Larry in her wake with one hand and waving at him dramatically with the other. Gregor tucked his chin down and began walking down the opposite hallway, Angelina shouting and waving after him. His friends seemed to be having much more trouble than he was navigating the stream students flowing to and from their lockers. Huh, would you look at that. So there is a practical use for my abilities in this world, Gregor thought, smirking to himself.

Hands coming towards him quickly, Gregor sidestepped away from the hands to find a classmate stumble from the momentum of his intended push. Angry eyes bored into him, and the boy clenched angry fists, his breathing hard. Gregor just stared back at the boy passively. What was causing the boy's anger? Gregor could not even remember the boy's name, despite having been in the same class all year.

Angelina's quick, determined footsteps broke their staring contest, the boy turning away and melding back into the crowd of other students.

"Nice of you to finally decide to wait for us!" She spat at him, hands on her hips. Larry shifting from foot to foot, nervously, behind her.

"Hey, Angelina, who was that," Gregor asked, ignoring her temper.

Angelina huffed her irritation. "I don't know, and I don't care! You owe me some answers first!"

Gregor turned away, continuing towards their first class. "Even if I wanted to talk, here and now is not the place to talk." Though the answer did not satisfy her in the least, she accepted it rushing up next to him and hooking her elbow in his, shouting back to Larry to hurry up.

Class was uneventful, splitting with the two for math and English, they being in a more advanced classes than he was. They meet back up in the hallway for lunch, Angelina and Larry leaving to find seats, having brought packed lunches from home, Gregor to get the free hot lunch the state gave to students from poor families. Walking towards his friends waving to him from a table in back, Gregor was already in the air before he realized why he had jumped. A peer of black, white, and red skechers had swept out in front of him, aiming for his ankles.

"Oh, sorry man. Didn't mean to scare the pants off you!" The jock laughed to his friends, everyone nearby was staring at them, curious, worried, wondering if they should get up and move somewhere else.

Gregor turned away and began walking away. Gregor sensed the hand coming about to grab his shoulder before is body twisted away, avoiding the boy's grasp and using the momentum to set the try on the table to his right. Stepping away, Gregor waited. The boy stared at his empty hand a moment before turning back to him, they had a real audience now.

"Whoa, dude! What are you like Kung Fu Kid or something."

The jock seemed honestly impressed, not angry. Gregor mumbled something and collected his tray before continuing towards the seat Larry had saved for him. Some of the students that had seen the exchange were pointing at him and whispering to their friends.

"That was cool," Larry commented as he began to eat. Gregor just grunted.

"I expect you to be there and on time," Angelina told him handing him an envelope. "You don't have to get me anything, but you had better show up or I will never forgive you," Angelina warned him as he pulled a hand drawn birthday party invitation from the envelope. Gregor was grateful Larry's question about what she did want for her birthday distracted from his blush, he had completely forgotten. It had been so long since things like birthday parties had been part of his world. Perhaps not so long mathematically, but in his heart it had been a lifetime ago.

Gregor smiled as he listened to his friends argue. They were to meet at Angelina's house, but Angelina's parents were going to take them out to dinner for her birthday. The restaurant she had decided on, and therefore posted on her card, was one he remembered passing on the way back to the car the day they had gone sledding. Trust Angelina to be so thoughtful and considerate of other people on the day, as she put it, "the world celebrates my existence".

Gregor's family needed every cent, so he did not have anything to spare to buy a present for Angelina, but he did manage to make her a pretty nice card using the schools art supplies. It's surprising how much a public school does have that people never take advantage of.

Lizzie stopped him as he was heading out the door. She had seen the invitation, Gregor hadn't even bothered to hide it from her. He had left it on the kitchen table, so his parents would know where he had gone when they got back from the hospital. His grandmother's condition had not changed, but the kind nurse in charge of her was always willing to give his parents a quick check up when they came to visit. After the first visit their parents had taken Gregor, Lizzie, and Boots with, Lizzie had become periodically very concerned for their grandmother at least once a week. Now, his family, or at least his parents, were regular visitors every weekend.

"Take this," she said handing him a plastic Walgreen's bag.

"What is it?"

"Stuff for Luxa, if she comes." She said shyly. "There are some clothes for her, and a hat to cover her hair. I thought I should add ear plugs and sunglasses too, just in case."

"Thanks, Lizzie," he said, giving her a hug.

"Oh," she stopped him again. Take this with too." She handed him a cylindrical case that was almost longer than he was tall.

"What is this for," he asked her, eyeballing the weird case. "What is it?"

"It's a case for fishing pools," she explained. "Mrs. Cormanci lent it to me. She was telling me about how much her husband had loved fishing, and I asked to borrow it. She was confused when I dumped the fishing rods out of it, but she understood when I explained that Luxa might come visit."

"Understood what? What am I supposed to do with this?"

Lizzie sighed with resignation. "It's for her sword, Gregor. Hiding her hair and having her change into normal cloths aren't going to do much good if she has a sword strapped to her hip all night."

"Oh."

Still shaking her head at him, she ushered him out the door and closed it behind him as he left.

"Hey, Angelina! Hello Mr. and Mrs. Burke." If any of them thought his burdens strange they did not show it.

"Why, Hello, Gregor," said Mrs. Burke. "It has been quite a while. I'm glad to see you're doing OK. We were very worried about you. It must have been serious for your mother to pull you out of school for so long." Mr. Burke bobbed his head in agreement with his wife; the ends of his bushy mustache bouncing up and down in time with his head.

Gregor just smiled and nodded, trying not to laugh at the comical sight. If only you knew, he thought.

"Hi, Gregor," Larry waved from the couch.

"OK. Let's get out of here!" Angelina was full of obvious energy and enthusiasm.

"Honey, didn't you say you were expecting one or two more friends," asked Mrs. Burke trying to clam down her exhilarated daughter.

"They're going to meet us in Central Park," Angelina explained.

"Then what are we waiting for," Mr. Burke said and preceded them out the door. "We don't want to keep your friends waiting in the cold!"

"I'm getting an explanation from you now!" Angelina glowed with anticipation at her apparent victory.

"What if she isn't there," Gregor asked, hoping to stem her enthusiasm.

"She will be," Angelina said with confidence. "I left a note down the manhole the day after we went sledding asking her to come back in thirty-five days from the day we last met," she explained. Gregor just stared at her. He was sure the fact that he had not seen Luxa since the day they went sledding meant she had yet to come back. If so, then she yet to find Angelina's note. But, then again, he had not seen Angelina at the manhole either, so...

Gregor gave up thinking about it and kept to hoping Angelina was right.

Angelina's parents dropped them off at the park, and told them to come back to the same spot when they found their friends. Mr. and Mrs. Burke would circle around as best they could until then.

Walking into Central Park, Gregor again began to worry. The sun set early in winter, but that did not necessarily mean people went home earlier. The sun had only just finished setting; there were too many people out. What if they were seen near the manhole? It would be bad if someone decided to put a more permanent top in place to "keep kids from getting hurt playing in places they shouldn't".

What if the moon light was too bright for Luxa's sensitive eyes? What about the noise? Luxa lived in a city, but the noise of Regalia city did not even compare to the noise of a place like New York. Remembering the things Lizzie had made him bring with, he relaxed a little, at least everything would be fine once they left central park.

Luxa was waiting for them when they got to the part of the park with the manhole that lead to the Underland. A soldier was next to her, jumping at every sound. At appearance of the large group, he stepped in front of Luxa, his sword at the ready.

"Hey," Gregor said waving. The guard squinted and relaxed, making out Gregor at the front of the group.

"Gregor," came a very quiet but eager voice. Hazard had been playing in the snow behind Luxa. Lime green eyes shined in excitement as he smiled. Hazard was half Underlander and half Overlander, resulting in a mix of the two skin textures, dark brown hair, and an eye color unlike either of the two peoples had ever seen.

Luxi smiled and stood, hugging him when he got to her.

"Can I have a hug too," Hazard asked it his small, polite voice. More of boots must have rubbed off on him than Gregor had thought.

"Of course," Gregor responded, bending down to hug the boy.

"Aw! There's a little ghost too," Angelina exclaimed, nearly jumping up and down.

All three Underlanders looked at her, confounded. So did Gregor.

"Well ghosts are pail, and you did come from deep in the ground," was Angelina's contrite explanation.

"I was thinking Albino," Larry confessed, shuffling his feet in embarrassment. "Except their eyes are different." That actually was true, excluding Hazard, the Underlanders lacked pigmentation. The exception being their eyes, which had a faint blue pigmentation, resulting in the populations' lavender colored irides.