Boots stared at the wall in front of her, panicking because she didn't know where she was. She thought about sitting up, but decided not to, in case she had been kidnapped or something down that line. Without moving her head, she took in her surroundings.

She was in dark room and that was about all she could tell, given how dark it was. She barely saw the faint blue shirt and pants ensemble she was wearing. It was soft and comfortable, but she couldn't take much joy in the silky fabric since she just remembered where she was. A boat load of images overwhelmed her and she sat up as the odd pictures crossed her eyes. Some had just happened, but others were like watching a really old black and white movie and Boots couldn't help but wonder what they were.

She opened and closed her eyes a few times, hoping they would adjust to the darkness. After minutes of furtively blinking she gave up and swung her feet off the bed, her feet landing on the cold floor.

Gregor paced in his room, memories of his adventures coursing through his head until he couldn't think anymore. He had left this place with good memories and bad, but he had left with the thought that he would never see Luxa again and so their parting moment seemed perfect. They were in love and extremely young then and it had been so fitting for their tragic love story for him to leave. He had always dreamed of coming back of course, but he had never thought it would really happen. Now he was trapped here because of a new prophecy that he had to bring Luxa along on because she was still a princess for the next ten days.

That just made Gregor's thoughts reel more. Ten days, it was so short, such a tiny amount of time to make a huge decision. If he didn't marry Luxa, which marriage wasn't high on his list of priorities at the moment, she would have to marry Tasisurie, a young soldier who had shown a lot of bravery and courage in the war against the Bane's forces. It wasn't that he didn't still love Luxa, being homeschooled because of his Rager side hadn't really allowed him to fall in love with anyone else, but it had been four years. Four years and even though that love was still there, it just to didn't seem to mean as much as it had before when Gregor was facing certain death and after when he had been numb from the death of Ares and just the whole grotesquery of war.

On top of that, this whole lovey-dovey feelings thing was really uncomfortable for Gregor. It made his just want to squirm or step out of his skin. I t was extremely weird.

He finally sat down and put his head in his hands. Enough about Luxa, what about the prophecy?

This set off a whole new tirade of thoughts and opinions.

Lizzie laughed, cookie crumbs spraying from her mouth as she tried to calm down. She had woken from her nap starved and went to the kitchens and found Mrs. Cormaci and Ripred snacking on chocolate chip cookies. It was odd to see the frail old woman eating cookies with the scarred rat; almost ironic. Lizzie hadn't felt out of place at all. She had always liked Mrs. Cormaci and couldn't wait to talk to Ripred. It was his sarcasm that had her spitting bits of cookie out of her mouth while she giggled.

"Be careful there Kiddo, don't want you choking now do we?" Ripred said, sounding genuinely concerned.

Lizzie swallowed still smiling. She was really excited to see him again. Being so smart basically made her a social outcast at school, especially since she had never really been able to shake the new kid feeling. She didn't have anyone to talk, Gregor not understanding because he had always been normal and then was homeschooled; Boots had started Kindergarten when they moved, and that was everyone's first year of school so she was accepted of course; her Mother had never fully recovered from the plague and then pneumonia she had suffered down here, and her father was a little bit insane and had been really depressed when Lizzie's grandmother had died. Besides, she was practically invisible, everyone else's problems seeming to be greater than hers.

"I'm fine, I'm fine," She choked out when her laughing subsided. She sighed. "So, how have things been since we left?"

"Well, Luxa's been a great leader, but after you left, the council wouldn't change the law and allow her to become queen. So, she's still just a princess but does the work of a queen." Lizzie began to interrupt, but Ripred put up a hand as if to say I don't know. "There are still a few supporters of the Bane, but they've been kept at bay. No one's been able to find out if there are any surviving Moles are not, but I'm betting there are, since we're supposed to beware of them. The cutters seem to be coming closer ever so slowly and the mice's numbers are growing larger. As you can see, the reconstruction of Regalia has gone quite well, but Vikas is not. The side of his ace not moving, it's worse than that. He promised he would make it 'till the coronation, but he spends hours in the hospital every day. Anyway, how have things been with you?"

"Grandma died, we moved to Virginia, Gregor's been homeschooled, Boots has remembered and draws wonderful pictures of this place. Mom still has relapses but works as a manager at a restaurant. Dad has nightmares and continues to go to therapy, but he's a history professor at the high school."

"Good, I guess. Mrs. Cormaci, how about some more cookies?"

Boots wondered the halls of the palace eventually reaching a dark, cold room with nothing but a giant cockroach in it. The roach's shell was graying and one of its antennas was bent.

"Temp?" Boots said, not knowing what the name meant or where it came from; maybe she had just connected the dots without realizing out: One cockroach in the castle named Temp, one cockroach in front of her. Not only that, but she hadn't said in English, a weird series of clicking noises had emanated from her mouth.

"Princess?" Came the click-like reply.