Chapter 26

"Hera!" Gregor felt his heart drop. "No!!! NO!!!!" he wailed, rushing to his bat's side, tears streaming down his face. He laid his hand on her bloody wing, and pressed his head against her heart. He couldn't hear a pulse. "Hera," he moaned. He grasped her claw in his hand. They weren't really bonds, so that gesture didn't mean much, but still. "I guess that saying is true." thought Gregor. "You don't really know what you have until it's gone." And it was, too. He didn't want to bond with Hera because he didn't want to betray Ares, but now that she was gone, if he had had more time with the bat, he would have bonded with her. He knew Ares would be happy, not upset with Gregor if he had bonded with Hera. Hera was always so wonderful, always happy, optimistic, thinking about the good things, not the bad. He remembered the bat's words, "I will always be here for you." He knew she would have, too, if she wasn't gone.

Gregor decided something. He would never, not ever, become close to a bat again. It would break him if another met this terrible fate. He looked at Hera's lifeless body below him and remembered Ares's at the Plain of Tartarus.

He stroked Hera's fur, feeling the softness under his fingertips. He shook his head lightly, but was pulled away when he heard another heartbreaking cry.

"Stellovet!" it was Howard. He was crouched over his sister's body, crying softly. Gregor knew that Howard knew Stellovet was not good anymore, but she was still his sister. "She still had a chance!" Howard cried. They both wept uncontrollably for who knows how long.

Henry and Thor had just been hovering in the air, and they were laughing at Gregor and Howard's pain.

Nyx had been perched on a stone ledge, her head hanging in sorrow, but when she heard Henry and Thor laughing, she took air and flew straight at them.

"You laugh when someone has lost something dear to him? Stellovet was my bond, and I feel as bad as Howard does! You dare laugh?" She shrieked at them. It took both—especially Thor, by surprise.

"But Nyx, it could not be helped…" Henry began, but Nyx interrupted him.

"Oh, that does not matter! It is the fact that you laugh at someone's grief! That is a terrible thing to do! How would you like it if it was you who had lost something dear to you?" she screeched, fuming with anger now. She returned to her perch, disgusted with them.

"Well, warrior, you will not stand a chance fighting me on a flier, and you without one!" Henry cried, turning to Gregor.

Gregor was about to answer when a voice called from above, "Oh yes he does have a flier!" it said. Nyx was flying for Gregor. She touched down and bowed her head, waiting for him to mount her. Gregor just stared at her in disbelief, but finally mounted the big black-and-red bat. Nyx flew toward Henry and in a flash, knocked him off Thor. Before Thor could do anything, she and Gregor were forcing him to a stone wall. He could not save Henry.

The drop was at least fifty feet, and Henry's body burst on the stone below. This time Gregor was totally sure he was dead. Gregor heard a gasp and knew it was Luxa, who had kept quiet the whole time. Thor flew off down a tunnel, with a last glare at Hera.

Nyx flew for the ground again, and when she touched down, Gregor slid off. "Thank you." He said to the bat.

"It is no problem. After all, you were my brother's best friend." She said back.

"I think I will take him now." A voice croaked from behind him. Gregor slowly turned his head, because he knew that voice, but he couldn't believe it.

"Hera!" Gregor cried in disbelief. He threw his arms around the bat, and she wrapped her wings around him. They stayed locked in that embrace for a really, really long time, Gregor's hot tears on Hera's fur. When they finally pulled away, Gregor looked at the bat. She didn't look to hot, dropping with fatigue and still bleeding heavily, but she was alive, and that was all that mattered.

"Hera, you're alive!" he said, smiling from ear to ear.

"Yes, I am. It is only a cut, nothing bad." She replied, also smiling.

"Umm, I was kind of wondering, do you want to…bond with me now?" Gregor said, unsure of really how to ask a bat if they wanted to be bonds.

Hera laughed. "Yes, I would very much like to bond with you, Gregor the Overlander." She replied.

"Pretty!" a voice said. It was Boots, stroking Hera's fur. Hera and Gregor both laughed.

"Gregor, what has happened?" Hera asked, noting Henry's body on the ground and Nyx standing beside them.

"Umm, Nyx turned good and helped me kill Henry." Gregor explained.

"Really?" Hera exclaimed, looking over at Nyx. Nyx nodded, and Hera smiled at her.

"Okay, wonderful reunion, and Hera, we're all so glad you've arrived, but we'd better be going now." Ripred said, dragging everyone out of their happiness.

"Yes, let us go." Luxa said. Everyone began to leave, but she pulled Gregor aside. Gregor pulled her close and kissed her. Neither of them cared that everyone was watching, that Ripred was snickering, or that Howard was clicking his tongue in disapproval. They just stayed together for a while, and when they pulled away, Gregor saw Luxa's vivid violet eyes sparkling. Ripred beckoned them out.

"Okay you lovebirds, we have to go. Now Hera can't fly, but I can run, so I want Hera on Apollo. I believe Howard has some duct tape to secure her. Gregor, fly on Nyx. Nyx, you are coming back with us, right?" he asked.

"I…suppose." Nyx sighed. "But Persephone must come as well." Nyx was silent for a moment, but Gregor assumed she was calling her daughter, because little Persephone flew up a second later, to her mother's side.

"Hello!" she purred happily. Everyone greeted her back.

"Okay, let's go." said Ripred. In a few seconds they were all flying down the tunnel back to Regalia.

"Hera, are you sure you're okay?" Gregor asked his soon-to-be bond. Nyx had flown beside Apollo so Gregor could talk to Hera.

"I am fine, really. I just need a little medical care, and a bath, while I am at it." She laughed, looking at her bloody fur.

"Yeah." Gregor replied.

As they continued flying, he thought about him and Hera bonding. Even though he had lost his very best friend, he still had Hera, someone he could count on to help him get through it.