Thanks to the great people who take time from their day to review: smackgod9, Mad Reminant, Fitz Marksicle, Darkrider013, Castaway5, and november21.

Annnnndddddddd... we're done. Enjoy.

Disclaimer: Wait for it... wait for it!!!....... ........nope. Crud.

Epilogue

A Coming Storm

There was no sun in the Underland. Obviously.

Being there no sun, this also meant that sunset and sunrise were a foreign concept to an Underlander. This, ultimately, would be the greatest thing Gregor would miss, removed from his life permanently and finally. As he leaned against the ledge on a balcony high above the street, the absence on the rocky horizon was only now evident and clear, and he only now realized how sourly and sadly it would be missed. But, as a pair of growingly familiar arms slipped around his waist from behind, he was instantly reminded that it was well worth the sacrifice.

His family had been surprisingly unresisting to the idea of relocating below the surface of the earth. His mother, ultimately, had been opposed to it the most, but even she had taken less persuasion than he had anticipated before she came over to their side of thinking. In the end, they were all more than eager to get out of the day's New York, and the hardest part, after gathering their wanted belongings and departing after nightfall, was deciding how to get everyone back with only Eris as transport. Gregor considered that, however, a much preferred difficulty as opposed to a few scenarios which might have popped up. It only took a few divided trips and a couple of extra fliers, although he wondered how he hadn't thought of this difficulty in the first place. Perhaps he had just believed there would be no success whatsoever.

It had been a month since, but the family was still only situating itself in Regalia, in a permanent residence. A house had been set aside for them, on the street directly lining the palace, chosen by their own wishes. They declined for a view, acting instead to be closer to Gregor, who had already stated he would live with Luxa in the future. His father moved to look for an occupation, as his mother acted to find proper education for their two daughters. They both did a remarkable job of making their actions look casual and usual.

As they started to blend in with their surroundings, Boots was beginning to remember a great deal from her infant past, and his parents adjusted to the shift with an admirable grace while trying to make it lighter on their children. In the end, all things considered and his mother's constant babbling promptly ignored, Lizzie had it the hardest out of all of them. She was still shy and fearful of society, due to the rape, and Ripred's death was terribly hard on her soul. Like the others, though, she was starting to adapt and move forward, and, with all of their help, even the worse parts were slowly turning around.

The cutters still had yet to attack Regalia. Every day, constantly, if Gregor wasn't helping his family or enjoying the limited time he had with Luxa, he was with Mareth continually effecting preparations for battle or readying soldiers for the inevitable eventual conflict. Gregor felt mildly guilty of towing his family into the midst of such terribly disturbing battle, but, just from seeing the change in attitude of his mother from the days in New York to now, he could tell that Luxa had spoken the truth in convincing: they would rather be with him daring death than be without and running away from it. The cutters never came, and they remained safe. All he could do now was do his best to keep it that way.

They had grouped there, on the balcony, on this particular day, just to cherish being together, when so many had been lost before them, and find hope for each other in case the enemy would finally come. They needed each other, now more than ever, and so they came together again. Not only his family, though; Mareth was there, Howard had accepted an invitation to come, Aurora and Nike, Howard's bond, were present, and Gregor had even made it a point to invite Eris to the gathering. After much debate, he had chosen, inevitably, to decline her request for bonding, although with a very heavy heart. It just hadn't felt the best and right option of the moment. It didn't seem like she had been offended by the action, although he was sure she wanted the ritual greatly. She still accepted his invitation, though, and so things couldn't have been completely horrible.

Currently, she was situated in a corner of the balcony, looking out of place but not altogether uncomfortable. Nike and Aurora were huddle on an opposite end, conversing privately while staring out over the city. Howard and both of Gregor's parents were constructing an argument over some irrelevant topic, while Mareth kindly and quietly suffered through Boots' constant and undivided attention. Lizzie sat slightly divided from the rest of the group, very close to her father. She was still constantly nervous around people even close to strangers, and hadn't participated much in the day's events. At the same time, though, Gregor could see her casting frequent and less-than-subtle glances towards Howard, in a way he didn't appreciate in the slightest.

All of these things, though, were only byproducts, hindrances, distractions from his mildly sour but still satisfying victory, which was represented in broad terms by Luxa, still strung around his waist, leaning against him. It had been five years since he had actually felt content, and even longer since he was happy. He wasn't quite the latter, but satisfaction was not strange to him anymore. The cutters were still there on the horizon of the small paradise he had, and eventually, he knew, they would attack with a great fierceness that, in all reality, they might not be able to counteract. There would be a fantastic battle, without doubt, and only one side would ultimately prevail. Aside from these grim thoughts, though, he was still there, on that balcony, surrounded by family and friends alike, and the danger seemed very, very far away. At the moment, the biggest topic of interest was who would be the victor in the debate between his parents and Howard, which was rapidly escalating to encompass the entire ensemble's attention.

"Your mother seems to be enjoying herself," Luxa whispered into his ear from behind, relaxing around him as they mutually stared out across the small kingdom that was now home to both of them.

"Oh, this is nothing," Gregor whispered back, rotating around so that he was facing her, leaning against the stone rail. He took her lightly in his arms, pulling her slightly closer. "You should see her when she's genuinely having fun."

She laughed lightly, purely, leaning in. It was a pure sound, more rewarding than any he had heard in a long time, and every time it found his ears it only sounded better than the last. Their lips met lightly, casually. It didn't last long, but like her laugh each time made him feel that much warmer, and he was graced with a loving grin even when they broke apart.

Grace's voice penetrated their privacy. "...and we've got these two over here playing lovey face every ten minutes! Seriously, this is civilization, how many things can it be allowed to tolerate?!" Breaks were hard to come by, and she was obviously enjoying this one very much. Her words were lined with annoyance, but a firm wall of amusement that was clear to anyone undercoated them.

"Calm down, Grace," his father prompted, knowing full well the level of his wife's delight. At his side, Howard was rubbing his head in exasperation. Behind Grace's back, Mareth was desperately trying to stifle a laugh, while hoisting Boots up to watch the argument continue.

"Come on, Mom," Gregor said, entering the conversation, "it's not like you're actually trying to stop us."

"Because doing so would probably get us banished from the city and all things so and what not! Logic, Gregor, please. Consider your actions and think before you act or speak! Break you up and Luxa would throw us out of the kingdom."

Luxa raised both eyebrows. "Oh, so that is why you do not come between us," she replied in the same taunting tone.

"Oh, of course, dear. But also because you're so cute together."

"Wonderful," Gregor growled, looking up and away. "Now we're cute..."

"But still!" Grace shouted, rearing back on Howard. "There's a war going to be on here, and all you can do is sit around and act like everything is perfectly normal all day, treating your victims like they just cut themselves making supper. What kind of doctor does that?"

Gregor slipped away from Luxa as she turned her attention fully towards the debate, squeezing her hand once before disentangling himself. Doing his best to ignore the increasingly heated but still irrelevant argument, he crossed the deck and sat down next to Lizzie, who didn't flinch as he slipped his arm over her shoulders. She was locked intensely in the same argument.

"Interesting topic for you?" he teased lightly.

"It's not for you?" she replied, leaning into him, never taking her eyes from the conversation.

"A little beyond my caring." He looked over to her, where she sat. She was still sitting relatively rigid, not quite comfortable. How comfortable you could be on a cushioned stone bench he wasn't entirely sure, but she wasn't quite there nonetheless. "You alright?"

"I'm fine." Her voice was solid.

He sighed lightly, contemplating before he spoke. "It won't do you much good if you only ever sit on the sidelines. Here is not New York. Here we can start over. Here you are a new person, who has lost nothing in the eyes of these people. Yet." He gestured once out to the crowd. "No matter what they look like, these people are your friends, and they wish to treat you as such. Maybe let them do so."

She turned her head slightly to look up towards him. They made eye contact, and he hoped she saw the sincerity in his statement. He had never enjoyed seeing her this incomplete, this destroyed, and, while she was making improvement, he wanted her beyond the scars. He wanted her to forget, and even if she couldn't, he might at least be able to bury the memory deep enough to banish it. They held their combined stares for a few moments longer, before she slowly nodded once and looked away. He didn't know if he had made a great difference, but it was a start.

Once again, Grace's voice broke through his concentration, this time directed straight at her husband. "So you're saying now that it should be imperative law that parents stay home for the early years of their children's lives?"

"Yes," Mark replied. "So that they can make a great impact and impression on their children early on."

"This coming from the man who was absent in his youngest child's life for the first three years."

"It was only two and a half! And technically, I went through a grate in the laundry room, so I never actually left home, did I?"

Most assembled were stifling laughs at the current point, and Luxa wasn't even trying. A pure grin and chuckle straight out in the open, her eyes were glowing as they turned away from the conversation, jumping straight over the rest of the balcony to Gregor. Their two gazes met, and for a moment they were frozen in time. Then, suddenly, Luxa gasped.

Every head on the balcony instantly swiveled to the queen, startled by the sound. Then, following her stare, they all jumped to look at Gregor. The same moment of recognition took place, and was finally followed by a number of reactions.

Aurora grunted. Nike hummed. Howard gawked. Mareth nearly dropped Boots. Eris raised an eyebrow high. His father almost tripped standing straight up. His mother felt tears spring to her eyes. Lizzie choked. Boots laughed. And Luxa, ever so slowly, felt a great grin slide back over her face.

Gregor was smiling.

END OF GREGOR AND THE CUTTER LAIR