Chapter 10
"As we know, the quest says that the bone of the Bane is to be retrieved. We do not know if this is a metaphorical bone, or a real bone." Vikus said.
"It is a real bone." Luxa said. Everyone looked at her.
"How do you know this, Luxa?" Vikus asked quizzically.
"Nerissa told me. She had had a vision of the prophecy and it's meaning, before she…" Luxa's voice trailed off, and her hand went over her eyes. Vikus too looked upset.
"Well, if Nerissa envisioned it, it is true." He said, regaining control of himself. None of the council objected; they knew how much Nerissa's family had respected her visions.
Gregor thought about the whole "bone" thing. Eww. What was he supposed to do, cut open the Bane's body and take his bone? What good would that do? He had a feeling it was more complicated than that. Too bad Nerissa wasn't around anymore, she would have been a big help.
To his great surprise, Gregor found his eyes tearing at the thought of Nerissa. She had always been a big help on the prophecies. Not to mention the fact that he owed his life to her, for figuring the true meaning if the Prophecy of Bane. Her life hadn't exactly been a walk in the park.
Gregor quickly wiped his eyes and looked up. Everyone was staring at him, as if they were expecting him to say something. "Sorry, what?" he asked.
"Overlander, Vikus has just asked you if you agree with the real bone theory." Spoke the soft, regal purr of Queen Athena.
"Oh, sorry. Yeah, I agree." Gregor said quickly. Gregor saw Luxa suppress a smile in the seat beside him. As soon as everyone looked away, he gave her a shove. She turned to him and gave a mischievous smile and shoved him back. Gregor caught Kendra watching them with that same look she had had when they were dancing at Luxa's party.
"Now, we must move on to the path that will be taken to the Plain of Tartarus." Vikus spoke again. "There are quicker routes than the one we have decided, but we have chosen to take the one less traveled. We will be taking the Path of Hephaestus."
"What?" Luxa rose to her feet with an angry look on her face. "But that is perhaps as dangerous as traveling Hades Hall!" Gregor remembered Hades Hall. It hadn't been a great trip. But why would Vikus choose one that was worse?
"Luxa, we have no idea what will be waiting to ambush you in the paths others expect us to follow. There is much less chance of arousing battle in Hephaestus." Vikus said calmly.
"That is because it is too dangerous! It is not the creatures that cause the danger, as you very well know, Vikus!" Luxa argued.
"Luxa, it has been decided. If you choose not to go, then fine. You may leave this meeting." Vikus replied. Luxa sat down, swearing under her breath. Gregor really wanted to know what was so dangerous about that path.
"Okay, as we have covered the basic points, you are all dismissed." Vikus said, and everyone left. Gregor, Luxa, Hera, and Aurora all stayed behind.
"Luxa, why is the path of Heph—whatever, so dangerous?" Gregor asked Luxa.
"It runs through the Firelands, and we all know how foul the air is there. Not to mention the Queen." Luxa said. When Luxa said "the Queen", Gregor knew she meant the largest and most terrible volcano in the Firelands. They had been unfortunate enough to be in one of her eruptions.
"And the rock is very unstable. Bits and pieces of the rock in the tunnel fall all the time, and one would be afraid the entire tunnel would cave in." Luxa continued. "Not to mention that it takes about five days to travel at a safe enough pace." She added as an afterthought. "It is not a path I would choose to travel…if given the choice."
"Yes, the fliers did not name it for its good points." Aurora shuddered.
"Why? Who's Hephes—whoever?" Gregor asked.
"Hephaestus. He was an Overlander god of fire, who was particularly weak at the legs." Hera answered. She, too, didn't look happy about having to travel that path.
"Well, Vikus must have a good reason for choosing it, right?" Gregor asked. The other three exchanged a look. "What?"
"Well, Gregor, what you must understand is…Vikus is not as young as he used to be." Aurora began.
"What does that have to do with anything?" Gregor demanded answers. Hera spoke now.
"The point is, since his stroke, he has not been…as…well, let us say he hasn't been thinking things through as thoroughly as he has before." She said. Gregor was still confused.
"So you're saying he had no clue what he was doing when he picked our route?" he asked.
"Well, not exactly. He knew what he was doing, but as half of his mind has shut down, he did not think it through and notice the dangers, only the positives. And the problem is, I do not think we can get him to change his…er…half-mind." Hera tried to explain.
"I am still going to try." Luxa said hotly, and stalked out. Aurora gave a shrug and flew after her. Hera and Gregor shared a look, and then followed.
Aurora, Hera, and Gregor waited outside of Vikus's room while Luxa argued with him. They could here Luxa's angry protests and Vikus's calm denies. It was not until Luxa threatened to make not traveling the Path of Hephaestus a city law that Vikus raised his voice.
"You are not of age to make laws yet, Luxa! It has been decided, now kindly leave!" He snapped. This was the first time Gregor had heard Vikus snap at Luxa before. Luxa came storming out of the room a second later, arms crossed and a hard, blazing, angry look on her face. She marched right past all of them without looking their way, and Aurora quickly fluttered after her. Luxa got onto her back and they both flew quickly away.
"I do not think we should follow this time." Hera said.
"Yeah, let's not." Gregor agreed. The pair flew the other way.
They decided to go to the nursery and see what Lizzie and Boots were up too. When they got there, however, Boots was the only one they found.
"Gregor! Hera! You here!" she cried. Gregor lifter her up and swung her around. Hera laughed.
"Hey, Boots! Where's Lizzie?" he asked her.
"Lizzie went with Dae-Dae!" Boots cried. Gregor took "Dae-Dae" to mean Daedalus.
"So what've you been doing, Boots?" He asked her.
"Me and Dul-cee were playing ABC game!" Boots cried. She wiggled out of Gregor's arms and pulled Dulcet over to them.
"Hey, Dulcet." Gregor greeted her.
"Greetings, Overlander." Dulcet nodded.
"Dul-cee, we show Gregor ABC game!" Boots cried. They started the ABC game.
Apparently the game was like some type of alphabet charades. Dulcet would say a letter, and Boots would pretend to be something that starts with that letter. Dulcet said B, and Boots flapped her arms and ran around.
"Hmm, would you be a…bird?" Dulcet guessed. Gregor didn't know how she knew what a bird was, but then he remembered that Boots had brought her ABC book down to the Underland, and she had probably shown it to Dulcet.
"No, I'm a bat!" Boots cried. Dulcet laughed.
"Yes, Boots, you look just like a flier." She said.
After a while, Gregor and Hera said goodbye and left. But they hadn't gone very far when a clearly worried and upset Aurora flew up to them.
"Come, Luxa is really unwell! I do not know what happened, I just…" Aurora didn't have time to finish the sentence; Gregor was already running down the hallway to Luxa's room. He expected to find her moaning and lying down.
Instead he found her being violently sick in her private bathroom.