CHAPTER 3

Gregor was led up to his sleeping quarters; they had spent a long time figuring out the prophecy all in vain. He had already eaten and bathed so two guards led him to his room. His bedroom was small, but comfortable. There were small stone tables around the place, a big "couch" made of stone, but cushioned with something he could not recognize. At the very edge was a medium twin-sized bed that had almost enough space for two people. The room itself was dull, there was no color mostly, but now and then, there were some colorful cloths draped over things. When Gregor found out that his room was extremely close to Luxa's, he was ecstatic. He left for Luxa's room just when he thought nobody was watching. Slowly, he walked in. He saw that Luxa was sitting on her bed.

"Hey Luxa." Gregor said in a relatively hushed voice. Luxa smiled.

"Greetings, Gregor." She replied, motioning him to sit down with her. Gregor joined her and she leaned against him.

"So, how are you feeling?" Gregor asked, feeling her tense up. She looked really sad.

"I missed you so much!" She whispered, burying her head in him.

"Me too. I was really depressed that I couldn't see you. It felt like something was not there in my heart." Gregor relaxed and felt all the tension leave from his body. Slowly, he moved his arm around her. "So how was it like here without me?"

"Horrible, I couldn't stop thinking about you. I had so many responsibilities as well. I would always be distracted, even when I'm discussing matters with the council. Everyday, when I had the time, I would sit at the place where I last saw you, always thinking of you. I almost couldn't live with myself when Howard said you did not have light. To think that I just was lucky enough to see you again." Luxa started to cry. Gregor felt his heart go with her.

"I have done horribly in the Overland. My thoughts always went back to you. I didn't do well in school. I would always dream about you. But it's different now. It's okay Luxa, I'm back and I'll never leave you again." Gregor reassured her, although he felt like he was at his breaking point as well. They sat like that in silence for a few moments. It brought back relaxing memories, flying with Luxa leaning on his shoulders, dancing with her at Hazard's party, their last moments together, all of those couldn't matter more than what he felt right now. In his heart, Gregor knew that this was where he belonged now. The life above was too much for him, he was never understood. But here, he was treated well and with respect. Gregor could feel Luxa starting to fall asleep, her eyes were fluttering dreamily. Before long, she was resting gently on his lap. Gregor just stood there, holding still. He would remember this moment for his whole life. What it was like to be with Luxa again. Once again, Gregor looked at her peaceful face. She was hardly ever like this, and he wanted to be happy with her again. Pretty soon, he started nodding off. He was too tired to resist and was too comfortable resting with Luxa.

"Together again." Gregor thought dreamily as he closed his eyes for the last time…

Up! Down! Up! Down! Its wings were getting tired, and it was breathing raggedly. Its body was burning. Flying for hours was not something it could do when wounded drastically. It couldn't go on like this, it had to rest. It landed near a river and started eating some fish it caught.

"I wish I could be better, but so far, life has been most gracious on me. I shouldn't ask for more than I have right now." It thought, gnawing on the fish. Feeling better, it started thinking about what it was going to do. For it really needed to get to Regalia. And it was not only for plans. There were certain things to do…

"Wake up!" A voice said somewhere. Gregor opened his eyes. He had fallen asleep with Luxa and she had gotten up before him. Luxa was in front of him, waiting for him to get up.

"Okay okay, I'll get up. Can't I get some sleep?" Gregor complained as he sat up. When he saw Luxa's expression, he knew something was wrong.

"What's wrong?" He asked, wishing he hadn't. Luxa's face fell. She reached for his hand.

"Vikus came and said that your sister figured out the prophecy with Nerissa's help and said we had to go today." Luxa sadly said. "He gave us a couple of hours to prepare. Ripred, Lapblood, you, me, Boots, Howard, Hazard, Perdita, Mareth, Aurora, Nike, and Hermes. I was allowed to go because of how I was involved in the quest and because I am not completely old enough to be the queen yet. Since Vikus has healed a lot, he shall be ruling instead of me."

"But that still only adds up to twelve." Gregor said as he did the math in his head.

"I do not know, but all will end up to be clear." Luxa said. They got out of Luxa's room and went to the dining room. Many seats were filled, each with a member of the quest and a few for Vikus and people that Gregor had never seen. Gregor took a seat right next to where Luxa sat.

"So, is this our last feast before the quest?" Gregor asked.

"Yes Overlander, it is the last meal you eat before embarking on this quest." Vikus said sadly. "I wish that you would not be needed, but I am afraid that you have to be the warrior again. We have somewhat repaired your sword, although it could never be as good as when it had not been broken." Guiltily, Gregor looked down. Maybe he was acting a little harsh when he said he killed the warrior. It was true that he still got that buzzing rager sensation whenever kids at his school taunted him and even threatened to fight him.

"I guess the warrior isn't dead after all. He just took a break." Gregor thought. He remembered how he dreamed of living in the Underland again, reliving his fighting moments. Now, Gregor felt like the warrior side of him was brought back to life again. After a while, the kitchen doors opened. The cooks bustled in with many delicious foods. Each person got ten different dishes. One dish had a steaming fish on it. Four other dishes each had a different type of mushroom in it. Two dishes each had a tiny portion of some green vegetable. Another dish had bread in it. Ripred's favorite dish was included as well; a small dish of shrimp in cream sauce had been included. For the last dish, it had a bowl of steaming beef stew on it, Gregor's favorite during the times of the Prophecy of Time. Eagerly, everybody started to tuck in. Ripred finished first, excused himself, and left the room. Gregor took the opportunity of that to talk to Luxa.

"So Luxa, I've been thinking, uh… do you want to go to the museum after this?" Gregor whispered to her, taking excruciating care not to let anyone here.

"I would Gregor, but first I have some duties with the council first. After that, let us go to the museum." Luxa whispered back. Gregor finished his meal and went to his room. He wondered what to do now. He had nothing to do. Before, he would visit Dulcet and see Boots…BOOTS! He completely forgot about his family! Gregor raced out of his room and went to the infirmary. As he ran, he saw a crowd of solemn looking people staring at him, whispering a bunch of words.

"Warrior. Overlander. Prophecy. Sword. Dark. Death. Queen." He had heard them say. To his annoyance, he also had to push ecstatic people away when they were so overjoyed at his return.

"The warrior has returned! The warrior has returned! Oh this is a happy day indeed! How jubilant am I! We will have light again!" One person happily shouted.

"Sorry, sorry, oops, sorry, my bad, oh, so sorry, forgive me, excuse me." Gregor muttered as he pushed and shoved over-excited people on his way to the infirmary.

"Now I know what it's like to be chased by paparazzi." Gregor thought, very unhappily. When he reached the entrance to the infirmary, he was in such a bad mood that he almost snapped at a nurse. Instead, he tried to control his temper and asked, "Excuse me, where are my parents?"

"Ask Howard, he knows." The nurse replied, walking away without another look. Gregor walked over to where Howard normally was working and asked to see his parents.

"It is not a good idea Overlander, but your sisters seem fine, excluding the fact that the older one seems to be having some a bit of a shock. I cannot let you see your parents as they are in a horrible state" Howard said, guiding them to a medium sized room filled with toys. He left Gregor to walk in. Gregor could see Boots happily playing with Temp, but Lizzie seemed terrified out of her mind and the only thing that was calming her down was Ripred. He was giving her many math problems, along with some puzzles. When they saw Gregor coming through the door, Ripred was the first to speak.

"Well, if it isn't the retired old warrior, coming here to see his abandoned sisters right away. Bravo, bravo, have been hanging out with your girlfriend, eh?" He taunted. Gregor blushed, and felt angry that Ripred could so easily invade his privacy. Every time, that rat would make his life miserable, making his best moments feel like something the stupidest people would do. No, he made a sound even worse than that. He was determined to make Gregor depressed and they both knew it. Gregor was so angry; he couldn't stop himself when he gave his retort.

"You know, it was the same with Silksharp wasn't it? I thought that you would do anything for her, yet she died." Man, he should not have said that, but it was too late to take it back now. Ripred snarled and lunged at him. Even though he was getting better as a rager, Gregor was still a bit rusty and found himself getting smothered by Ripred's weight.

"Stop, both of you! Why do you act like this? Can't you just stop making fun of him Ripred? And Gregor, I know Ripred and he doesn't like his mate being mentioned!" Lizzie shouted, clearly recovered from her shock. Reluctantly, Ripred got off of Gregor with a yawn.

"This girl has got a lot more sense than you, even though she's your little sister, warrior. I guess the warrior isn't so smart or sensible after all?" Ripred started mocking again.

"Great, now I really lost my patience." Gregor growled. He braced himself and was about to attack Ripred when Boots shouted at the top of her lungs.

"Stop! No fighting, fighting bad!" Boots shouted, swinging her little hands. "Gregor and rat bad! Both bad people get time out! You make Beeg Bug scared!" It was true, Temp was cowering under a table, speaking in crawler.

"I should have never come here." Gregor spat out at Ripred. "You do nothing but get on my nerves."

With that, he straightened up and left the room.