CHAPTER – 4 – ARRIVAL

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Thalia could not begin to describe what she was experiencing. There was not a hint of light anywhere to be seen, there was no ground, no walls, she could not even see herself in this darkness, there was nothing but an endless dark. She stumbled forward, arms extended out, desperately searching for something, anything that she could lean against.

Each step was light and filled with caution, worried that any second she might fall into an unseen valley or hole in the ground and disappear into an abyss, never to be seen again. She eventually reached a stone wall, not far from where she stood initially, it was a small comfort compared to the endless darkness, but it was still a comfort. From the dark came a sudden scratching noise, "Chirk, Chirk, Chirk" and then there was light. It was a small flickering flame that just barely illuminated the space around it, it slowly drifted down the wood towards the pale hand that held it. Under the flame stood the tall shadowy silhouette of Gregor. Thalia felt a sense of ease rush over her, it was easier to think now that she could see something, even if it was just a small flame.

Her arm slipped away from the wall and to the sword on her hip. She tightly gripped the hilt of the blade and pulled it from its sheath. The golden glow of the celestial bronze blade illuminated the space, forcing the darkness away into the small nooks and crannies of the space.

Thalia could now see the space they were in clearly, it was a small concrete room that emptied into a smaller tunnel, the stairs they had descended down were on the opposite side of the room from her, the hole. Gregor stood in the center of the room, holding a match just above his head.

Gregor looked up at the match he was holding

"I think your light is a little brighter than mine," Gregor said, throwing the match off to the side, where it flickered away and died.

"So I'm assuming that's where we're going next? " Thalia asked, pointing towards the tunnel with her sword.

"Yep, we walk down there for a while and we should eventually meet someone who will take us there"

"someone to take us there? You mean you don't know the way there?"

"not exactly, I was usually taken there by someone else, a bat usually, it's also been a while," Gregor said as he began to walk away from Thalia and towards the tunnel. Thalia grumbled out a few choice words under her breath before following him down into the tunnel.

Gregor set the pace of their trek through the tunnel, not deterred by what little direction they had. He bounded forward with little care or respect for the endless darkness that encompassed them, Each step nearly taking him out of the little light they had. Thalia struggled to keep up with him, at times having to break into a jog. This along with how reliant Gregor was on the chance they'd find someone to help them, began to wear on Thalia's nerves. He was pushing forward so quickly and with so little caution, Thalia worried about the chance that he might run headfirst into something and she might not be able to save him. Her mind flashed to images of giant rats, spiders, cockroaches, and whatever other beasts may lurk just out of sight.

As they made their way forward, the tunnel began to change. It slowly opened up more and more, until the light no longer reached the walls or the ceiling. The smooth cement became rough stone. They were no longer in an enclosed tunnel but a vast and empty cavern that left them with no clear path forward. They were forced to stop to try and figure out what to do next.

Gregor peered out at the darkness, his head turning quickly in different directions.

"What are you even looking at?" Thalia asked

"I'm trying to see where we should go next" Gregor responded, without looking at her.

"It's dark Gregor"

"I know, but I can still kind of see, its echolocation"

"What"

"sound goes out, echoes off of objects-"

"I know what it is! Why didn't you tell me that you could do that" Thalia said fuming.

"You didn't ask," Gregor said still looking off into the darkness.

"that's not an answer, just look at me gods dammit!" Thalia said grabbing Gregor by his shoulders and turning him to face her, surprising Gregor.

"what's your problem!?"

"you, you haven't been telling me a thing. I'm in a place where I can barely see, constantly on guard for giant rats, cockroaches, spiders, and whatever else could be out there-"

"well you shouldn't worry about it, last time I was here they made peace with the rats, the cockroaches are too shy and the spiders keep to themselves,"

"But I didn't know that! That's the problem here. I know what Asher told me, which wasn't a lot. I didn't know that there was some peace down here, I didn't know that you had echolocation and I didn't know that you had absolutely no idea where we were headed!" Thalia said beyond frustrated with the situation she found herself in.

"you're the one who wanted to come!"

"You didn't exactly argue when I said I was coming along, maybe because you needed someone actually willing to fight" before Gregor could respond they were interrupted by a faint scratching sound from the darkness. Before Gregor could react, Thalia was in action, planting her sword firmly into the earth, as to provide a grounded source of light. She Quickly replaced it with her spear and shield. She stood in front of Gregor, shield raised up, the spear jutting out, waiting to meet whatever lurked in the dark.

"what's out there?" Thalia sternly asked Gregor, eyes peering out into the dark, muscles tensed, waiting for a potential attack.

"One rat, but let's just wait a minute," Gregor said, stepping out from behind Thalia.
"We don't want to fight!," Gregor shouted out into the darkness "We're just trying to get to regalia. I'm good friends with the queen there. If you could potentially guide us there, I'm sure she would be very thankful" Gregor said.

after a moment a small nasally voice spoke out from the dark "If I come out, promise not to hurt me". Gregor looked over to Thalia, "what?" She said

"Promising not to hurt him won't mean much coming from the guy without weapons," Gregor said, motioning for her to drop her weapons on the ground.

"You're crazy if you think I'll drop my spear. If I drop my weapon, and it attacks…"

"Just trust me on this, I have a feeling he's less interested in fighting than we are"

"and if you're wrong?"

"you can throw me into Tartarus" after a moment of consideration Thalia begrudgingly planted her spear firmly into the earth and stepped away from it, shield still in hand.

"I won't hurt you" Thalia yelled out into the dark

"Promise?" The nasally voice asked

"Yes," Thalia said. After a moment of silence, the sound of large and heavy footsteps came from the dark. Thalia's mind was filled with terrible images of gnarled claws and jagged teeth. With each step, Thalia became tenser and tenser, her grip on the shield tightening, her eyes glancing over to her spear. She was tempted to go for it. Grab the spear and toss it towards the sound, get rid of any potential threat. As if he knew what she was thinking, Gregor gave her a look and mouthed "trust me" although not very assuring, she stayed her hand.

Finally, the creature reached the light. It was ginormous, even on all fours it was still taller than Gregor, and if it were to stand on its hind legs, it would easily be over nine feet tall. Its fur was clean and well-groomed, it was the color of caramel, a light near golden color. Its face was and unmarred by any damage or scarring that Thalia expected. Its body was soft and rotund, it looked to have never skipped a meal in its life. Thalia relaxed as she saw the creature, something about it felt harmless, there was an innocence to it that managed to set Thalia at ease.

"So, it's nice to meet you," Gregor said to the rat.

"It Is a pleasure To Meet You overlanders," The rat said, bowing its head to each of them.

"May I ask your name?" Gregor asked the rat.

"I am Euclid,"

"That's an odd name for a rat," Gregor said perplexed.

"I was not named by Gnawers." The rat said picking at the fur on its leg.

"As a pup, I was found alone in a cave by a clan of nibblers. Out of kindness, they took me in and raised me alongside their pups." The rat said

"oh, at least someone found you," Gregor said.

"Yes, I was very fortunate, even more so that the clan was so accepting and kind, even when it was so soon after the war. So many dead, so many pups… let us put that aside and be on our way. If you both would follow me, I will do my best to guide you to Regalia," The rat said. Thalia quickly grabbed her weapons and they all moved forward, guided by the rat.

Euclid led them forward through the dark, occasionally giving excited commentary about the areas they walked through. Hunting grounds for stingers, a small river that led to the waterway, and what was apparently seen as neutral ground amongst the many animals that inhabited the Underland. Thalia couldn't really tell what made these areas different than any other flat plain or river they had come across, but it was at least better than dead silence and she thought that maybe it would at least tell her a little more about the Underland and what its people were like.

Thalia noticed that Gregor had seemed to have lost the energy he had when they had first entered the Underland. He now slowly plodded forward, head down, arms held lankly at his side, face blank, not revealing any thoughts that might be drifting through his mind.

"you okay?" Thalia asked.

"huh, oh yeah. Just a lot on my mind" Gregor said, silently continuing his slow plod forward. Several awkward minutes of silence went by before Gregor finally spoke again. "I'm sorry for not telling you more about the Underland, it's just a lot to talk about and not all of it is pleasant"

"Don't worry about it. I just got frustrated," Thalia said. The conversation stopped again, they now walked down a small narrow tunnel that didn't offer Euclid any opportunities to give his insights about the locale.

"What do you want to know? About the Underland or me" Gregor said suddenly, cutting through the silence. Thalia took a moment to think before just saying,

"I guess just tell me about your time here," Gregor remained silent for a moment before speaking again, "When I was 11, I fell down here with my sister. We got lucky and were picked up by some roaches, who decided to take us to Regalia and that's when I met the Underlanders and their queen. I got wrapped up in a bunch of prophecies, and the rest would take a while to explain " As Gregor finished speaking Euclid stopped moving and turned to look at Gregor. It stared at him, its eyes bearing an intense and fanatic fascination.

"W-warrior?" The rat stammered out, Gregor looked uncomfortable hearing this.

"Yeah, that's what they called me, The warrior" Gregor said with resignation.

"I am beyond honored to meet you!" Euclid said giving Gregor a deep bow.

"Since I was a pup I have heard stories of you. You found the cure for the curse of the warmbloods, you led Gorger to his death, you slew the Bane and brought peace to the Underland. You are a legend beyond any others" Euclid said, his amazement greatly contrasting with Gregor's shame and embarrassment.

Thalia didn't know how to react to hearing this. Everything about Gregor was starting to make sense but it didn't seem possible that the warrior and the rat talked about and Gregor were the same people. Although by the looks of it, Gregor would rather not be the same person as the warrior either.

"If I may, I have many questions I'd like to ask," the rat said abashedly. "you and me both buddy," Thalia thought to herself.

"Yeah, sure, ask away," Gregor said. The rat proceeded to riddle off as many questions as it could. "how big was the bane exactly? did you have any idea that you would be betrayed during the prophecy of gray? you shattered sandwichs sword, would you ever see it repaired?" Each question answered only led the rat to ask more. Gregor answered each quickly and concisely, even if the answer wasn't much more than him saying "I don't know" Gregor didn't stumble on an answer until the rat asked, "Is it true what they say about you and the queen?"

"I don't-, W-what do they say about me and the queen?" Gregor said.

"Well, they say you attempted to court her," The rat said simply. Gregor's whole face turned bright red.

"I- I was 12, no one was courting anyone! It was just a small crush" Gregor said

"crush?" The rat asked, its head tilting slightly to the side.

"It means you like someone but not enough to court them," Gregor said.

"Ah, I see. I apologize if I offended you, I didn't mean to do so." The rat said, avoiding meeting Gregors gaze.

"It's not a big deal. It was just a little embarrassing."

"I… understand. We should keep going, we are not far now" The rat said, turning away and hurriedly moving down the tunnel again. Thalia wanted to ask Gregor more questions but she wasn't even sure where to start. The more she learned about Gregor, the more questions she had. As many questions she had, she wasn't sure where to even start, or if she could. Some of the things mentioned seemed like they might be sensitive topics. "So… a queen," Thalia said. Gregor looked at her, confused and not knowing what she meant, he responded "Yes, they have a queen"

"I know, I meant like, you and her. You liked her"

"Oh, yeah I guess I did," Gregor said.

"Do you still?"

"That's a loaded question," Gregor said, giving a slight smile, although his eyes betrayed it.

"Well, do you?"

"I don't know, it has been three years since we even spoke to each other. I'm excited to see her but other than that, I can't say."

"What is she like?" Thalia asked, the question giving Gregor pause. He took a moment to think, before speaking again "How do I even begin to describe Luxa. Well, she was arrogant, cocky, loved to show off. She was stubborn, probably the most hardheaded human being you'd ever meet; but she was also loyal, kind, and generous. She'd go to war for the people she loved, even if they weren't human. She saved me and my sister's life more times than I can count. By the time I left, I trusted her more than anyone alive. She was one of my best friends in this place." Gregors voice was low and soft as he spoke, a small smile graced his lips, his eyes were distant, stuck in a distant past that was as fantastic as it was painful. Thalia was taken aback, something about the way he spoke seemed so much more genuine than anything else she had heard him say. His other words seemed so much more hollow in comparison, lacking any true emotion or passion.

"That's a lot more than I was expecting," Thalia said

"Sorry, just a lot of memories," Gregor said

"Warrior, the tunnel ends just up ahead, we will be in Regalia soon enough" The rat announced. Gregor began to walk faster, leaving Thalia behind. Her mind drifted back to something Gregor mentioned in passing earlier. "I got wrapped up in a bunch of prophecies" his words echoed through her head, creating an innate sense of dread in her.

So this took a while to get done, that is mostly because I started a new job and some personal stuff but all is good. I'm honestly just happy with getting this out, I am immediately getting to work on the next chapter right after this, I am really excited for it.