This is my first fanfiction so please go easy on it. If you like the story I'll keep chapters coming. If not keep it to yourself, please don't hate on it. If you find any errors, whether it be spelling, grammar or anything else please just let me know. I've been reading many of the fanfictions on this site but I just wanted to add my own to them.

Disclaimer: I do not own the Underland Chronicles or any of the characters, save the ones that I will be adding. Both the Underland Chronicles and the characters within belong to Suzanne Collins.

-Ssi


Darkness, to Gregor, had become a sort of funny word; its connotation was always a sour one, evil or cold in most descriptions. Even as a child… well more of a child than he was today, he used to agree with these descriptions. The first few times he had entered the Underland the fear of the dark gripped his heart and held tight. However, since learning echolocation, Gregor had become a very different person when it came to the deep black cold darkness. He enjoyed it, even reveled in it; it was warm and safe and allowed him to disappear from the world. Yeah, it had always done that, but now Gregor was able to still see his surroundings in it, giving himself an edge over everyone around him. It was intoxicatingly comforting. This is the sole reason Gregor didn't freak out when he opened his eyes to the pitch-black darkness that was shrouding the room.

Far away Gregor could tell there were torches lit in adjacent hallways from the orange glow that gnawed at only the very edges of the doorway, but everything within the room was dark and invisible to the naked eye. Gregor clicked his tongue and a bright light lit up his entire head as blinding pain shot through his whole body. It started at the back of his head and exploded to the tips of his fingers and toes.

Taking quiet deep breaths and squeezing his eyes shut on impulse, Gregor tried to calm his exhausted mind. Fear crept through him as he felt blinded by both his means of vision. Slowly, he became more aware of his condition. Gregor had a migraine that rivaled any he had ever experienced before, but that was just the beginning of it. His shoulder stung with needles and he was acutely aware that he was shirtless but his entire chest and right arm were covered in bandages. His breathing became more shallow as he realized that his chest rising was pulling on what was to be his new biggest scar. He remembered Vellac's sword tearing through his chest and pulled his left hand to the wound.

Except Gregor's hand didn't make it to his chest. It felt resistance as he pulled another hand with it. Turning his head, as far as he could without passing out from the pain, allowed Gregor to breathe out a small cough for his echolocation. Luxa was awake and her eyes were open, she said nothing but slowly smirked as she carefully pulled Gregor's hand back to his side where it had been. She was sitting in a chair slid up against the side of Gregor's bed and was starring absentmindedly in the general direction of him. He squeezed her hand as tightly as he could while she gave a gentle squeeze back remaining silent but widening her smile and closing her eyes as she leaned her head back against her chair. Clicking his tongue again, but softer, Gregor could make out more people in the room with him.

His Father and Mother each sat asleep in chairs to his right side. His sisters were asleep, cuddled on a cot behind them in a corner. Hazard was sitting on the ground leaning against Luxa's chair. George was sitting against the wall next to the door. Even Kyle and Zoey were sitting against the wall leaning against each other on the far side of the room. He had no idea how they had all gotten down there, nor did he know how long they had each been there for but he was grateful beyond words that all of his close family and friends were gathered around him in one place.

Gregor pulled Luxa's hand once more, without resistance this time, to his lips and softly brushed the back of her hand with a light kiss. She responded in kind, pulling his hand back down and leaning over to kiss the back of his hand, lingering only for a moment before she laid their hands back against the bed. Comforted by the darkness once again, Gregor allowed his mind to drift back into unconsciousness.

"…trying to protect his friends!" Georges' voice sounded garbled somewhere off in the distance.

"Grace, you really must see it from his point of view, if he had-" however, Gregor's father was cut off as the shrill scream of his mother broke Gregor out of his haze.

"Don't you dare side with that- tha- that-" and Gregor heard his sisters inhale sharply following his mother's colorful language.

"Grace," Gregor's father started again, while George continued for him, "he's a tough kid and it's pretty clear around here that if it wasn't for him this hidden civilization might've been lost to time!"

"They survived perfectly fine on their own before he ever fell down here and they would've fixed their problems perfectly fine without him!" She screamed again.

"That may be true. It may not be. Either way however, without him there would most likely be far fewer of us down here," Hazard tried to defend Gregor.

"You have yourselves to blame for your silly wars that didn't need to involve my child!"

"Do not yell at him!" Luxa's voice rang out bouncing off of every wall in the small room. "If it was not fo-"

"OUT!" a new voice boomed from the doorway.

"You-"

"I said out!" The voice repeated.

"He's our-"

"He is my patient, now get OUT!"

There were some exasperated breaths and growls followed by the sound of feet shuffling.

"You as well," the voice said authoritatively.

"I am your Que-"

"And I am King of the hospital here, so move along…please," the voice joked tiredly.

A couple more pairs of feet pattered along before Gregor exhaled a particularly deep breath that he hadn't realized he was keeping in.

"How fare you?"

"Not too bad," Gregor sighed as he opened his eyes and squinted into the firelight. "Thanks for that Howard."

"What? I cannot have them desecrating my patients peace and quiet while they are meant to be resting, now can I?" Howard's smile came into view as he helped Gregor into a sitting position.

"How is your shoulder feeling?"

"Hurts"

"Your head?"

"Hurts"

"How about-?"

"Just assume it hurts" Gregor chuckled as he rested his head against the wall behind him and stretched his fingers absentmindedly.

Howard stayed silent to let Gregor gather his thoughts before he blurted out, "I get her worry but, I mean come on! Can't she just see I don't belong up there anyways?"

Howard composed a thinking expression before answering Gregor, "I cannot say as to how she thinks but she is clearly very passionate about her views."

"That was the least helpful, political answer, you could've possibly given," Gregor complained.

Howard grinned grimly, "What am I to say Gregor? I am about as biased a person could be in this situation. I wish I could say I see her point of view and worry, however my light would have gone out years ago if not for you." He said, adding as an afterthought "numerous times, and that of my cousins' lights as well."

"I just wish I had a choice," Gregor said, "I just want…" he trailed off.

"Some days life just does not give us choices, Gregor." Howard alleged wisely.

Gregor's heart sank as he dreaded the connotations.

"However, in this particular moment, I believe that if something has been decided for you without your consent that you are the only one who can set the records forward."

Gregor smiled easily at Howard as his eye's twinkled slightly.

"I can't wait to be as wise as you in a few years," Gregor joked.

"Oh, that is the healer in me, not my age," Howard chuckled. "You may never be that wise if you continue to spend as much time with Luxa as you do down here" he quipped right back at Gregor.

"Eh, go sing your clean toes song, oh mighty King of the Hospital."

Smiling and raising his eyebrow, Howard stood to leave. "Would you be ready for a couple visitors, or do you feel you need some more rest first?"

"Jez, please no one louder than… Boots on a good day," he didn't know what that was that came to mind but he went with it.

"Do not overexert yourself," Howard's voice was once again professional and curt.

Gregor slumped into a slightly more reclined position, "wouldn't dream of it," he whispered to himself.

Not even a minute had passed when Lizzie and Maggie ran back into the room. Maggie jumped directly onto the bed and wrapped her arms around Gregor's waist tangling herself in the sheets while Lizzie found her way to Gregor's uninjured shoulder and gave him an awkward hug around his neck trying not to disturb any wounds.

"I knew it wasn't a dream!" Maggie said triumphantly, "Mom kept telling me I had an over imagination, whatever that is! Why wouldn't you tell me I wasn't slowly going crazy dreaming of living in a dwarven mine?"

Gregor stared at his baby sister wide eyed, she rarely spoke to anyone much and never so much in a single breath in the last few years. "Er, I mean Mom didn't want us talking about it, but I didn't know she had tried to convince you this place wasn't real. How much do you remember?"

"Mom told me to play along like it wasn't real," Lizzie admitted, "I guess she didn't think she needed to tell you since… well you don't really talk much about anything."

Gregor felt a rock drop in his stomach. "I just remembered so many adventures with you and all of a sudden you just wouldn't play with me anymore, God I thought you hated me or something but you were just moody about a girl!" Maggie frowned.

"Hate you?" Gregor's face showed more fear than either of his sisters had ever seen sketched there before, "I could never hate you Maggie," He grabbed under her armpits and dragged her up to his chest to give her a big hug, grunting through the pain before reaching out and pulling Lizzie in too. "I love both of you, more than words can describe… I'm sorry for the last few years- I just haven't felt normal in a long, long time."

Maggie smiled up at Gregor and Lizzie smiled down at him. "Nothing could ever stop me from loving you two, moody or not."

"Wow," came a noise from the door.

Gregor looked up to see Kyle standing in the doorway with Zoey right behind him.

"This is literally the happiest I've ever seen you and you're lying in a hospital bed after getting stabbed," Kyle looked as if he wasn't sure whether or not to laugh or look horrified.

"I mean you always thought I was emo," Gregor cracked a smile.

Kyle shook his head and chuckled.

"How's your shoulder," Zoey asked quickly looking worried.

"Doesn't hurt a bit," he lied flawlessly.

"Really?" Zoey breathed a sigh of relief.

"Yeah," Gregor kept his tone even to move away from himself, "how'd you two get down here? I thought you'd be back in Virginia by now."

"Well yeah, we were a week ago, but when your uncle came back to pick up your sisters from my parent's house he convinced our parents to come with incase… well yeah."

All the color had drained from Gregor's face…a week ago.

"That doctor didn't tell you?" Zoey asked, seeing the look on his face.

Lizzie cleared her throat suggestively to shut Zoey up, but Gregor had already heard enough. "What did Howard..?" Gregor started but words failed him.

"Dad and George made it down here a couple of days after you when some scouts were passing by the entrance near Central Park," Lizzie's eyes got watery, "They weren't sure whether it best not to tell us anything or to come get us but-" a tear escaped her eye.

"But what?" Gregor asked horrified.

Maggie's voice was hoarse and scarily even considering her words. "They hadn't told us what happened or why you hadn't come back… But after a couple of weeks, Howard told them- well told them you might not wake up."

"Couple of weeks? What?" Gregor was confused and looked between the four of them. "How long was I out for?"

Everyone stayed quite until Kyle broke the tensed air with a surprisingly serious tone, "a little over three weeks. When it looked like you might not make it your parents sent your uncle back to pick up your sisters…" everyone was awkwardly silent for a few moments before he continued, "but a few days ago your girlfriend said you had woken up for a couple of minutes in the middle of the night and everyone knew you were gonna make it through just fine." Kyle smiled at his friend warmly.

Gregor blushed, "Er, she's not exactly my girlfriend."

"Come on Gregor," Zoey snorted, "we all know that's a load of horse s-manure" she saved it as her eyes met Maggie's and every started laughing.

Everyone except for Gregor, that is. He smiled somewhat grimly. That word made him uncomfortable. Not because of any stupid overland logic and connotation. No, it was because it normally meant some kind of future, and Gregor wasn't sure he had that with Luxa. Not when they were worlds apart.

Still it brought comforting feelings to him to think about a world that he and Luxa could share without either being so foreign and often unwelcomed by other sides of Over and Under. Why couldn't they just be nomads, how much easier it would be if they were just Nolanders.


I know every time it seems like I'm back and ready to finish everything it ends up being months and months later and I haven't updated. For that I am sorry, as I've always said, no matter how long this story takes me I will finish it. That being said, this was the second to last chapter, yes, the next chapter will also be the last. No epilogue, no sequel.

It will be the end of this story, as I've always told my readers, I wrote this story for me and my best friend Kyle, we felt unsatisfied with the end of the series and we wanted a more hopeful end so that's what I wanted to write this for years now. Even after finishing the final chapter however I will be going back and editing the full story as a whole, so I will ask you readers for one really big favor. Be as critical as you can be about the points in this story that you are passionate about. Tell me that a character seems off in this chapter, or an underlander used a conjunction in that chapter. Tell me that your favorite conversation was too short and needs to be fleshed out, tell me that a conversation was pointless to the plot and story so I can remove it, tell me how you think I can tweak this story to be the best that it can be, and so that it has the same heart and tone as the originals. Because when it's all said and done, and I'm through editing I'll sit down and read my collection of the chronicles, and jump straight into a worthy sixth book that I can feel those emotions with you.

But, I know I can't make a story that worthy without help, so I beg of you to help out. I love all the comments that say "I love it, I can't wait for the next chapter" and I understand the comments that say "This sucks" but either side of that coin, please let me know how you think I can make it better. And if I agree with your thoughts, well then maybe down the road you'll see some additions and improvements, and you might even see your name in a special thanks area at the end of the story.

As always please rate and review. Any and all feedback is welcome.

-Ssi'ruuk