Hey! First off, you should all check out the prophecy in the last chapter! I added a cool repeated stanza to make it more fitting for the title of my story. Read it! DO IT NOW! Well, I must say that you reviewers just made my day! I was having a crappy week, but your reviews just put a smile on my face. So yeah, I'm going to add another chapter right away for you guys. Like I said, I make these up off the top of my head, I only got the big picture in mind so don't be mad if it's not that great. Oh, and I do not own The Underland Chronicles, they belong to Suzanne Collins, the only thing in my story that I own is the plot.
Chapter Seven
Gregor stood there, staring at the prophecy. He had already gone through so many of them, see too many friends die, and here was another one, where if he didn't succeed the whole group that went would die. He shuddered at the thought of going through another journey.
Everyone just stood silent after Vikus had read the prophecy for a while, until he finally spoke up. "Well, I believe the best thing to do is take this one line at a time."
They began going through the prophecy, attempting to decode it together.
The warrior has passed away?
That is not what fate has to say.
"Well, that's pretty obvious," said Gregor, running a hand through his hair. "It means that I'm still alive as the warrior and I'm going to have to fight again." He sighed loudly, though in truth, he was just happy for this excuse, to be in the Underland again.
"Yes, that is what we have believed when we went through it earlier," replied Vikus.
The warrior has just been born, to grow stronger yet.
But, shall he grow? Or will he let his death stay set?
"It seems that you are going to become even more powerful than you have been in past battles, but also that there is chance that your death may be real," said Vikus remorsefully. He didn't like the fact that Gregor, who had become close to him, almost like a grandson, would have to put his life in danger.
"Well, I should hope that he gets better!" snorted Ripred. "He probably hasn't fought in a long time since he has been in the Overland. Plus he's only been down here for a day so I bet that pup could barely take on a single cutter!"
Gregor gave Ripred a glare, but he knew it was partly true. He hadn't been practiced, mostly in fear of hurting someone, but he also knew Ripred was being sarcastic about the cutter deal. Even if he wasn't a good fighter alone, his rager side could kick in, giving him a huge boost.
The choice is his, and his to face.
Will he let his love's light fade,
Or give his own, in her place.
At these phrases, Gregor and Luxa gave each other a look and blushed, but at the same time looked worried. Ripred snorted in disgust, and Vikus just stood there with a slight smile and a twinkle in his eye. It was at that moment that Gregor was really happy that his mom was in the dungeons, because she would flip out if she knew about him and Luxa. Especially since the prophecy seemed to call for the death of one of them.
"Well," Vikus spoke up finally after a few minutes of awkward silence, "I believe that Gregor has an important decision to make on this journey. And from these lines it appears someone will die, or so it would seem until you read the next phrase."
Or will he be able to save them both?
To do this he must go through much growth.
"Right here," commented Vikus, "is where there is hope. Where there is life there is hope, as I often say. It seems that Gregor could be able to fulfill this prophecy with no death on our side, but it appears that he needs to be much stronger and wiser than he is right now."
Gregor sighed. It looked like Ripred was going to train him hard. He remembered how his echolocation lessons used to go. Ripred would get impatient and insult Gregor, then Gregor would get frustrated and quit trying, which made Ripred even more angry and impatient. It was not going to be easy to prepare for this journey.
Four fliers, one crawler, and three killers you must take,
Two gnawers and one spinner, but all your lives are at stake.
"This is an important part here," Ripred spoke up. "We have already decided on most the creatures that you will take except the spinner. Temp will be the Crawler, and Lapblood and I shall be the gnawers. The four fliers are Aurora, Nike, Luxio, and Megara." Ripred looked at Gregor and decided to tell him about the two new fliers that he did not know. "Luxio is a pure white male bat. He is a very strong and large flier; he is almost as big as Ares was. He is even strong enough to carry me if need be. Megara, however, is a much smaller and weaker female bat. You will recognize her by her white fur, with black stripes all along her back and wings."
Gregor nodded in understanding and a twinge of remorse at the mention of Ares's name. This was going to be the first journey that Gregor had ever gone on without Ares. He felt responsible for Ares's death. People often told him it was the Bane that killed him, but in reality, he took the responsibility upon himself. He made a stupid decision during the battle telling Ares to dive in closer. He had never forgiven himself for it. Ares always had, and always would have a special place in his heart. Then Ripred continued.
"Obviously, you can tell by the bonds, that only Howard and Luxa will accompany you, boy. We figured that Howard should come, because you will probably need medical personnel, and I figured that Luxa must be your loooooove," Ripred said mockingly. Gregor just glared at him, as did Luxa
"Here's the problem," said Ripred. "I think that the council will not like it if they find out that Luxa and you two are supposedly in love according the prophecy, so I decided to keep it secret that she is coming. But that means that the council will want a third person to come, and that is why I found Eric here."
"Greetings," came a deep and masculine voice behind them all from the door. Everyone except Ripred jumped a little in surprise and turned around to see who it belonged to. There stood Eric, who looked to be about seventeen years old. He had the usual sort of long, wavy, silvery white Underlander hair, and he was pretty muscular for his age.
"I will be accompanying you for the beginning of your journey," he said with a smile.
"Yes," said Ripred, "he will leave with Gregor and Howard for the start of the journey, but after traveling with you for three hours, he will split from the group and stay in Ares' cave with his bond until you return. I have ordered one of my soldiers to visit him and bring him food often. During this time, Luxa, you must find a way to sneak off with Aurora and catch up with the others. This shouldn't be a hard task considering how often you sneak off. Alright, now we can continue to the next line."
Head to the fire lands, enter the Queen you must.
There you find your true enemy, will you succeed? Or burn to dust?
"Oh, great," thought Gregor. The Queen was a giant underground volcano Last time he had passed it; it erupted, killing one of his friends, a young bat named Thalia. Thalia was good company; Gregor always had a soft spot for her. She and Hazard were extremely close, they were going to become bonds, until she had died. She was extremely young, especially to go on a quest and always cheerful. She would crack up at any joke Gregor would say, no matter how bad they were.
"It seems that we must return to that wretched land," Luxa said, annoyed.
"Yeah, and if we don't beat our enemy, then it looks like we'll all be burned by the Queen," replied Gregor. There very thought of that massive volcano burning them all alive sent shivers down his spine.
The warrior must be prepared to make his choice fast,
If he does not, then surely none shall last.
"Listen, boy," snarled Ripred, "you better not make any stupid decisions there, because I don't feel like feeling the wrath of the Queen."
So what is your choice warrior? What is your choice of?
Friends, enemies, yourself, or your love?
"What is this choice I'm supposed to make?!" asked a frustrated Gregor. He didn't want to have to choose between anybody.
"Well, we have yet to figure that out. We believe that we will not know until the time comes," replied Vikus gravely.
"Why would it say 'enemies'? I would never choose my enemies over my friends or Lu— er, I mean, my 'love'," said Gregor, embarrassed that he almost called Luxa his love in front of everyone.
Luxa replied, slightly red from embarrassment, "Gregor, you do not always know who is your friend and who is not. Such as the case was with…" Luxa paused for a moment then continued, "Henry."
"Oh, I guess your right," Gregor said gravely. All the light drained from his face.
"Alright, enough of this, let's get on to the repeating stanza so I can leave and eat some more food," commented Ripred, annoyed.
All in all, one will be lost,
But, it may be switched, at another's cost.
Will they be together?
Or will one be lost forever.
The best answer is hard to come across,
But such is the way, of the prophecy of loss
"It appears as if no matter what the choice is, one person will be lost. Whether it is a friend, or an enemy, I do not know," Vikus said soberly.
"Yeah, and apparently the one being lost can be switched to another person," said Gregor solemnly.
"It sounds like it is talking about lover boy and his temper-problemed girlfriend here," snickered Ripred. Both Gregor and Luxa gave Ripred icy glares, holding them for several minutes.
"And apparently one may not survive," continued Eric for Ripred. A collective gasp sounded in the room; everyone was surprised Eric was talking. He had been silent the entire time he'd been in there, really."
"Yes, but the best answer would be that none of our friends or allies die, and it appears to be a hard decision to find," said Vikus.
"Yes, well, that just about sums it up. Well, I'm going to leave all you to figure out preparations. I'm going down to eat some more of that shrimp with the cream sauce. Gregor, I want to see you in two hours for training. Go to the usual training place under the palace." And with that Ripred slunk out of the room heading for the kitchens to harass some cooks.
"Ah, yes, I shall go and speak with the council on preparing you all for the journey ahead," said Vikus, and then he left also.
"I believe that I should go inform Howard of what we have discovered in the prophecy, and that plans are being made for the journey," said Eric as he too walked away.
And with all them left, it just left Luxa and Gregor alone in the room.
WOOT!! This is probably my longest chapter yet! I would have posted it last night and have a whole two chapters in two days thing going on, but my house lost power in a thunderstorm and I lost about half my chapter while I was typing it. Auto save saved the first part thankfully though, but I had to rewrite a lot. Hope you enjoyed the updated prophecy and this chapter. There will probably be a little Gluxa in the next chapter for all you fans. I set up the end of this chapter perfect for that heh heh heh. Oh, and as you guys can see, reviews make me happy, and make me update more. So the more reviews I get, the faster I write!)