Hazard lay in bed, holding a book above his head. It was an Overland play, one by the name of "Hamlet". He was at his favorite part in the "Soliloquy" the book called it, of Hamlet, the main character.
Hazard had read this so many times, even during his lessons, often upsetting his teachers.
He could not help it; the book was a masterpiece, and his treasure. Hazard never would have come in contact with this book if it had not been for Luxa. Even after becoming Queen, Luxa always made time to talk to Hazard, even if only for a few minutes. Around six months ago, Luxa had taken him to the museum to 'peruse' she had called it, things from the Overland. Hazard had really enjoyed looking through things he had yet to understand.
At first, Hazard found it something completely for his benefit; but, as he began to notice, Luxa had a certain aura around her when they made these little trips. It was really strange, it seemed like she was longing for something; something out of her reach. Normally, Luxa would work until she collapsed from fatigue if something was attainable. Why hadn't she done it for this?
Abruptly shutting his book, Hazard said words that always calmed him down.
"To be or not to be, that is the question…
Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune—"
"Or to take arms against a sea of troubles," A voice interjected.
"And by opposing end them?"
Hazard smiled before he turned to the entrance of his room.
There stood his cousin, Luxa, Queen of Regalia. She was dressed in an elegant purple dress, accentuating her frame. On top of her head was a tiara, silver and sparkling in the torchlight. Topping it all off, she was smiling her cocky half smile, showing brilliant white teeth.
"You have already memorized the soliloquy?" Luxa asked. "That's impressive, even for you." Hazard laughed.
"I have so much time on my hands, Luxa. It gives me something to busy myself with."
Luxa chuckled, catching Hazard in a headlock and rubbing her knuckles on his head, messing up his hair.
"Oh, is that so? Maybe I should have Ripred come and fix that? You know how much he likes to 'teach'!"
Hazard tried, laughing, to get out of Luxa's grip, but failed miserably.
"N-No! I don't have that much free time, Luxa!"
Luxa let go, laughing. "Who knows, Hazard? Maybe you can be his protégé?"
Hazard gave Luxa a sarcastic look. "Is that so? Maybe if I wanted to hear all of the old love stories between you and Gregor—"
Once Hazard said the name 'Gregor', Luxa immediately stopped laughing and looked at him in surprise.
Hazard noticed this, and looked at his cousin curiously.
"Luxa?" he asked. "Did I say something wrong?" This jarred Luxa out of her current state, and she answered,
"No, no, you said nothing wrong." Luxa sat on his bed, and, supporting herself using her arms, craned her head to stare at the ceiling.
Hazard knew she wasn't being completely honest with him, so he mimicked her and looked at the ceiling.
"You miss him, don't you?" he asked softly, not shifting his gaze. Luxa didn't reply, silently biting her lip.
"It's fine if you tell me, Luxa. Even the prodigious Queen needs a confidant."
Luxa pursed her lips, and sighed. She inhaled as if she was going to say something, but reconsidered.
Finally, she replied,
"Prodigious Queen? I do not feel that way. It does not make a difference if I am or not anyways; there are things that need to be taken care of, and I find myself addressing them. In the end, I do not suppose it matters what I want, as long as I can fulfill these issues as they need be."
Hazard thought of the meaning behind these words, and his cousin's will to not confide in him. "She's still waiting for him." Hazard thought. "She's still waiting for Gregor to come back." An event like the Warrior's return is unprecedented, and as for Luxa…
"What would you do if he came back?" Hazard asked, quickly glancing at Luxa. Her expression didn't change.
"I would do nothing. It is up to the citizens of Regalia as to how we should welcome the return of the Warrior, if at all."
"Do you not care for him?" Hazard asked. He realized how blatantly the question was, and was going to apologize, but Luxa interrupted him.
"I do not know him."
"But, didn't you—"
"Hazard, I did not meet him under normal circumstances, and did not come to know him under normal circumstances. How am I to know who he is, if I know him only under terrible events?"
"Well—"
"The relationship we had was meaningless; it was only in the mutual need of the time. Had there been something other than that, we would have kept contact through these years."
"Luxa, may I—"
"As for that—"
"Luxa!" Hazard said sternly. The sudden change of tone threw the Queen of guard, and gave Hazard the chance he needed.
"Have you ever considered that he couldn't come back?" Hazard asked.
"Luxa, Gregor cared for you greatly, he would have definitely—"
"I refuse to discuss this with you further. Good night, Hazard." Luxa got up off Hazard's bed, and quietly stormed out of the room.
Hazard could have sworn he saw a tear fly off of Luxa's face.
(Lizzie)
It was the falsetto of the radio that woke Lizzie up, not the loud honks and blaring of commercial ads that echoed through the tightly packed skyscrapers. Yawning and stretching her arms, Lizzie sat up from her reclined seat. The blanket her brother had put over her slid off, bunching up on her lap. When she rubbed the blur out of her eyes, she looked around at her surroundings. They were at a convenience store just outside New York City.
Lizzie was about to yawn again when a tapping came off the glass, startling her. When she finished coughing, she saw a mildly confused Gregor with two thirst busters and a bag of Doritos clenched between his teeth, along with a couple bags held on his elbows.
She opened her door, and stood up. The smell of slushees and Doritos hit her, and made her chuckle.
"What?" Gregor asked, through the bag of Doritos. "Is there something on my face?" After he went cross eyed, Lizzie couldn't hold it back anymore. She howled with laughter, and ripped the bag of Doritos out of his teeth.
"Come on, let's go. We aren't going to get to Regalia just standing here." Lizzie said, plopping back in to her seat.
"Hey, isn't it your turn to drive?" Gregor asked, walking around to the driver's side.
"Until you bought Doritos." Lizzie responded, crunching in to the orange chip.
"Now let's go." Gregor sighed dejectedly before getting in the car. When Gregor sat down and put a few bags in the back, Lizzie couldn't help but ask,
"What's in the bag?" Gregor chuckled.
"I thought I would bring some souvenirs for our friends."
Looking through the bags, Lizzie found bags of chips, chocolate, two twelve packs of soda, and lots of candy. There was enough food for a picnic! However, there was one item that stood out amongst the others.
"A New York snow globe? What's this for?" Lizzie asked, although she could guess.
"It's for Luxa." Gregor said, his tone sobering up.
"Oh." Lizzie responded. "Let's, um, let's go. We have a while until we get to the apartment building." Gregor nodded, and drove off.
After hours of weaving in and out of New York traffic, Gregor finally pulled in to the parking lot of their old apartment building. The place was still tattered and maltreated as it was since they had last been there; the only new thing being additional rust.
Getting out of the car, the siblings grabbed all of the groceries from the convenience store along with all of there things, and packed them into backpacks Gregor pulled out of the backseat. Gregor ended up carrying the brunt of everything, consisting of the two cases of soda and the candy, whereas Lizzie took the chips.
They somehow managed to fit all of their other possessions from Virginia into the packs too, filling them to the brim. Gregor pulled out his iPod, and his makeshift battery charger, along with an enormous pack of double A batteries. Stuffing the batteries in his pack, he selected a song by his favorite band, and turned off the screen. He would play it when he went through the grate in the little basement laundry room.
Now, everything they had on there backs, the siblings, who, after eight years, dreamed of this day, walked back in to that old and rusting apartment building, where they lived most of their lives, down to the Laundry Room; the entrance to their true home.
