Chapter 24
"Boots! You dare run away from me?" Henry snapped at the little girl in Lizzie's arms.
"No! No No No No No!!! Boots wailed. "You mean, very mean!" she said, wagging her finger at Henry.
"Yes, I can be mean! But it was for your own good! Do you really want your brother around, the warrior who ruined things from the start and seems to escape death every time?" Henry asked.
"Henry, you're asking a three year old! Do you really think she'll answer?" Gregor asked. But apparently Boots had understood.
"You are mean to Gregor! I love Gregor!" she squealed. At this, Luxa smiled.
"Love is stronger than hate, Henry. Even after all you have done, you may still be loved if you give up this nonsense and return to Regalia with us." She said softly. "No matter how many you have killed or tortured, there are still those who love you."
"You know perfectly well that you have killed and tortured just as much as I, cousin, if not more! Do not pretend that you are on the good side here! There is no good side! We have all committed unforgettable evils against ourselves and others! I offered you a place with me, but you denied it! Now look where that leads you! Alone in the hands of rats and your own cousins who wish you to be gone!" Henry cried at Luxa. As much as he hated it, Gregor knew what Henry said about there being "no good side" was true.
"I am not alone! I have Gregor!" Luxa cried back. There was silence for a moment.
"Oh, I am sorry. I had forgotten how much you admire him." Henry said, sarcastically.
"Not only does she have Gregor, she has I!" Howard flew up with Nike, glaring at his evil cousin.
"Oh, yes, Howard. I assume you know how much Luxa hated you when I was around?" Henry sneered at him.
"I do know, but she has long since come around!" Howard sneered back.
"Yes, Howard has done much more to aid me than you have ever done!" Luxa sneered at Henry.
"Oh, I have no choice but to doubt that, cousin. You see, I have done so much to help you, things you do not even know, and some you do, but haven't thought about." Henry said. Everyone was quiet, thinking this over. Even if Luxa didn't know how Henry helped him, Gregor realized he did. For one, Henry had shown Luxa the passage out of the castle through the old nursery. There had been so many times they had needed it and used it. Without it, there would have been so many things gone wrong. As much as he hated Henry, Gregor knew that everything he said was true.
"Maybe you have, but I credit Howard for my life, which he has saved a number of times!" Luxa cried.
"Yes, and I the same for Luxa!" Howard agreed, flying to his cousin's side.
"All right, all right. Henry, we all agree you have helped us, but we can help you. What do you have to say about that?" Ripred had finally spoken up from atop Apollo. He was staring at Henry with a questioning look.
"What do I say? I say not! You may think you can help, but there is no one in Regalia who will not credit me for numerous crimes against them! Besides that old fool Vikus, no one will accept me back! At least the gnawers do!" Henry screamed at Ripred.
"Maybe so, but then we'll have to fight you. We can't both win, you know." Ripred said.
"Well then, fight! Go ahead, fight us!" Henry's face was bright red from anger now.
Ripred was about to speak up when Apollo's voice startled them all. "Nyx!" he cried.
Stellovet had flown up behind Henry on Nyx. But with Nyx was a small bat, black and gray with a red patch over her eye. Who was she?
"This is Persephone, my daughter." Nyx purred. Persephone fluttered her wings in reply. Thor looked back at them proudly. Gregor knew that Persephone was his daughter too.
"Nyx!" Apollo cried again. Nyx turned her head to Apollo.
"What?" she snapped.
"Nyx, I've found you! Astraea desperately wants you home!" Apollo cried.
"Astraea? Well, you can tell her that there is no chance of my returning. I have found everything I want here, with Stellovet, Henry, and Thor!" Nyx wailed. "Plus the fact that Astraea was really horrible to me as a pup!"
"But she has changed now!" Apollo tried to persuade Nyx.
"Do not listen to him, Nyx! If Astraea was horrible then, what makes you think she will be nice now?" Stellovet said to her bat.
"I will not listen to him! I will stay with my bond, Stellovet!" Nyx said.
"Nyx, you can be good! Please!" Gregor stepped in, and Hera joined in persuasion.
"Yes, Nyx, you can! It s not impossible! Stellovet, you too!" the bat pleaded. It almost looked like she had Stellovet, but then Stellovet shook her head.
"No, we cannot! Henry has been better to us than any of you have!" she cried.
"But Stellovet, do you remember how Henry hated and mocked you before?" Luxa asked. "If you wish to side with him, then you have a very forgiving heart."
Stellovet was quiet for a moment. "Yes, but I have power here! These gnawers move at mine…and Henry's, command!" she said. "I did not have power in Regalia or the Fount!"
"Fine, if you two don't believe you can, then you won't!" Ripred snapped.
"Fine! Ripred, as you said, we cannot both win! So let us fight!" Henry cried. His call brought all of the gnawers to their feet. Gregor gulped.
There were like, three hundred rats and only eleven of them!
Ripred gave commands. "Gregor and Hera, you get south side of the cavern! I want Luxa and Aurora on East, Howard and Nike on West!" Apollo, help me with North! Daedalus, find some cover for the girls! We'll save these idiots for last!" he said, gesturing to Henry, Thor, Stellovet, Nyx, and Persephone. Everyone followed his instructions. Gregor and Hera sped down the cavern to the south side. Hera immediately dove and Gregor beheaded a rat like that, and the rat didn't see it coming. He injured a few others, but by then, they could see him coming.
The fight had begun.