Hello guys and welcome back! I have to say, I'm loosing my magic touch. I used to be able to punch out a chapter in five to six hours, but not so much anymore. It's taking me almost twice as long to write these things, and it's really making updating this thing on time a huge pain. So, I doubt I can finish this chapter today, and I'm completely busy for the next few days, so I'm very sorry if this is late! Hey, maybe I can finish it on time. I HAVE been really eager to write this , as usual all feedback is encouraged and appreciated, so give me any and all ideas! See you guys later!

See you guys in a bit,

-Tytonic

Disclaimer: I do not own any of The Underland Chronicles, only the characters I make up and the plot itself.

Return of the Myriapods

Chapter 2: Krystal

Soon after Holly was released from the hospital, she made her way to her room. What Nya had said was completely true. . . She did have somebody to meet.

-O-

"Krystal, there you are! I was beginning to think that you had forgotten, or even worse, blown this off." Said a young boy, as he spotted his friend.

"You know I would never do such a thing. Why in the world would you think I would not come?" The young girl asked, surprised by her friends bizarre thoughts.

"Yes, I guess you are right. It is just that your parents are very strict, are they not?" He asked. "When will I meet them, by the way? It is only right that I pay my respects."

"You could say that." She responded. "And you will meet them eventually. You know as well as I that they are not fond of meeting others."

"Yes, I do." He quickly changed subjects. "Well, It is a good thing that you were able to come."

Krystal nodded in response.

A few days ago the young boy, Tydos, or Ty, as he preferred, had invite Krystal to join his family for dinner. She had yet to meet his parents, and she was very eager to do so. However, they still had a a little time before dinner, so Ty had arranged something.

The underland was very different from the overland; there was much less one could do for entertainment. Due to the nature of the underland, and the lack of entertainment, combat became more than just a means of survival. It became a sport.

And so, Ty had arranged for both him and Krystal to watch an official ranking match. An official ranking match was a concept created shortly after the war of time. Queen Luxa, in order to boost Regalia's moral, had created a ranking system based on ones combat skills. A series competitions was held to determine the base ranks in the system. Shortly after, it was decided that the ranks would not be set in stone, and you could raise of lower your rank depending on the matches you either won or lost.

Upon the warriors return, he had taken the number one position away from the flea bag Ripred. Soon after the war of the myriapods, when the warrior became king, he gave up his position in the ranks, along with Ripred. It was decided that the winner of an official competition would gain the right to challenge Ripred or the warrior. One of these competitions was held each month, and many of the victors challenged Ripred or the warrior, but none have ever won.

A match was to be held today, one between two outstanding warriors. The fourth best against the third best. Ty had invited Krystal when the match was first announced, and she had eagerly accepted his invitation. To be honest, she was kind of flattered that he had invited her, rather than one of the girls who would dote on him. While he was just an average looking boy, his personality attracted many girls.

It unsettled Krystal greatly, how so many girls would try to win him over. It had taken her some time to work out her feelings, but she realized that she had a crush on him long ago. While she had not originally wanted to look at Ty as anything more than a friend, she had been unable to control her rising feelings.

In the end, when Ty had invited her she had been far more excited than she cared to let on. True, she would have been able to see the match normally, but she much preferred going with him. She always loved the look of amazement on his face when he witnessed the fights.

They had been walking for a few minutes, but Regalia was not too large of a city, and they had met up near the arena, so the entrances was already within sight. A battle between top warriors was often a big deal, and many people were witnessing it, so it was very crowded. Along with the crowds came a torrent of sound, which prevented Ty and Krystal from talking to each other.

Due to the crowds, it took them both around another ten minutes to find decent seats. However, once they had they were close enough that they could hear each other if they leaned in.

"Ty, are you excited?"

"More then you could imagine! An official fight between the number four and number three? That does not happen often, so who would not be excited?" He paused and looked off at the royal booth. "Hmm, looks like the princess is not here. I wonder if she sick. There are very few reasons she would miss this fight. . . She is ranked number two, after all; the winner of this fight will likely challenge her."

Krystal could only nod in response. If you did not know Ty, you would think that he had a huge crush on the princess, while in reality he just respected and looked up to her. If she told him to slit his own throat, he would not hesitate. While this would normally make Krystal jealous, it did not, for various reasons.

She tapped on his shoulder. "Stop daydreaming about the princess Ty, the fight is about to start."

He immediately blushed. "I was not daydreaming!"

"Whatever."

Ty rolled his eyes in annoyance, and focused on the scene in front of them. The two warriors had moved into position, and were awaiting the king's word. The king did not usually witness official ranking matches, but when the match was among the top ten, he was required to witness it in order for it to be official.

Without a word, the king flashed a signal, and the fight began.

The two men rushed forward, locking their swords together. From that single movement, Krystal could tell who would win the fight. The number four warrior was slightly more composed, and had greater skill. To the untrained eye, they seemed like two equal warriors, but she could see past that. The way they had locked their swords was in no way random. Four had positioned it so that he could simply twist and push his sword, and it would force three off of balance, leaving an opening for him to strike.

Ty turned to her. "Krystal, who do you think will win?"

"Four will win. I give him say. . . seven seconds. Seven seconds and this fight will be over." She guessed.

Ty looked at her like she was crazy. "How can you be sure?"

"Just watch."

Within three seconds, four utilized his advantage and pulled the sword to the left while twisting it. This left three's entire back exposed. Four used this new opening to strike, but his blow was blocked by three in the nick of time.

By this time, five seconds had passed, and Krystal could see the opening that would be three's downfall. As she assumed, four stepped slightly to the left, and spun, using his right elbow to hit three in the head, knocking him out. Just like that, four won the official ranking match, and stole three's rank.

Ty turned to look at Krystal with amazement in his eyes. "How did you do that? You accurately predicted the outcome of the fight, and even how long it would take!"

"I-I just. . . My dad taught me how to fight. . ." Well, it wasn't a lie.

"Really? Then I can not meet to wait you dad, he must be a great guy."

"Uhh. . . if only you knew." She muttered under her breath.

"What was that?"

"Oh, nothing, nothing at all!" She stammered.

The walk back to Ty's house was not a very long one, but despite the quick battle they had spent too much time making their way through the crowds afterwards, and found themselves pressed for time.

"Come on Krystal, we're going to be late at this rate!" He urged, "My parents hate it when I am late!"

"How did we even get into this mess?!"

"I do not now!" He cried. "This way! This alley comes out close to my house. It should save us some time."

As he announced this, he quickly turned and began to run down the alleyway. Krystal tried to stop him, but she could not catch up in time, and she watched as he tripped over a leg, and fell flat on his face. Despite the basic training every underlander received, he could not defend against such an attack as a larger man picked him up by his shirt, and pinned him to the wall. Krystal had seen this attack coming, and had attempted to warn him, but she had been too late.

Regalia has very people people of the sorts, but like any city, there will always be thug's and thief's. Even from Krystal's position, she could smell the alcohol, and she knew that this man, along with his friends, was drunk. Despite newly enforced drinking laws, drunk men or women were fairly common, but few ever caused serious trouble.

Krystal was still a little ways away, and would not be able to immediately help Ty, so he would have to hang on for a little bit.

As Ty struggled to get free, the drunk man punched him in the face with surprising strength. "Stop squirming, you f****** brat! Now give me everything you have!"

Due to his position, Ty could do absolutely nothing, not even give the man what he wanted. The mans anger only grew as Ty continued to struggle. The man pulled his fist back, preparing to punch Ty again. As his fist was about to connect, his entire arm went limp and fell loose to his side.

"W-what the f***?!"

Before the man could spit out anymore words, his eyes bulged slightly, as if he was in great pain, and he collapsed onto the ground unconscious. Next to the man sat Krystal, who had clearly done something to him.

Ty let out a few deep breaths, attempting to calm himself, and looked over to Krystal. "What exactly did you do to him?! That was amazing!"

"I hit a few of his pressure points, and stopped blood flow to his brain. The lack of oxygen knocked him out." She explained, as if it was no big deal.

Before Ty could respond, She started up again. "I'll stay here and watch over him. You go find a guard to arrest him. No need to rush, now we have an excuse for being late to dinner." With a quick nod, Ty rushed off back onto the streets.

Within a few minutes, a brown flier landed as the mouth of the alleyway, and a guard, along with Ty, slid off of its back.

"What exactly happened here?" The guard asked.

Krystal responded, "This man attacked us, but we took care of it; he should only be unconscious, not injured. I think its pretty clear that he was drunk."

The guard nodded in understanding, and hefted the man onto his back. "Ok, I understand. You may be called in later for questioning, so don't be surprised if a guard approaches you."

After the guard had secured the man to the fliers back, Ty turned to Krystal. "I am glad that is over. I felt helpless, pinned against the wall."

Krystal smiled at him, and it visibly cheered him up. "Don't worry about it. Nobody could have done anything in that situation without the proper training."

"I guess you are right. Come on now, my parents will be furious at us." He responded, and began to walk in the direction of his house. Krystal followed in toe.

Ty's parents had indeed been very mad at them when they had arrived, but they had understood the situation, and forgiven them. Dinner had gone smoothly, and Krystal had loved the food. Ty's mom was truly an amazing cook.

Along with dinner, Krystal had held a nice conversation with Ty's parents. They complimented her on many things, but had asked about her hair. It was a touchy subject for her. Krystal had never shown her hair to anybody aside from her parents, and she always kept it tied up underneath a hat that she liked. The reason she never showed her hair, was because it always embarrassed her in front of other, or drew attention to her. She disliked being the center of attention.

"Hey Krystal, can I talk to you?" Ty asked soon after they completed their dinners.

"Sure." She knew that he wished to talk in private, as he signaled to the staircase that led to the second floor balcony.

She followed him up the stairs, struggling to ignore the amused look on his parents faces. As she stepped out through the doorway, and onto the balcony, she took in the view. Due to the houses position, which was slightly higher up than most, they could look out over most of the city. It was truly an amazing view, perhaps one of the best in Regalia.

"So, you wanted to talk about something?" She asked.

"Well, uhhh. . . we've been friend for a while now." He stuttered out. "And well, I-I've wanted to tell you this for a while now. . ."

"Yes?" She thought she knew what he was about to say, but she didn't dare get her hopes up.

"K-Krystal, I-I think I l-"

Before Ty could finish his sentence, a loud sound disrupted them. This particular sound had not been heard for over fourteen years, and struck fear into the hearts of the most hardened soldiers. War horns.

Regalia was under attack.

So, I don't think I did a very good job on this chapter. Bits of it seem a bit rushed, but I really can't do anything about it, unless you want another pile of useless crap. I do like the end of the chapter, though, and I REALLY am looking forward to writing next chapter. I won't be able to anytime soon, so it will also be a bit late, so bear with me. I assure you, it will be worth the wait. Next chapter will be my favorite in this entire story, so I'm sure you will all love it if your anything like me. So, as usual all feedback is encouraged and appreciated, so give me any and all ideas! See you guys later!

Question: Who exactly is Krystal, and how will she play a role in this story? I honestly can't even guess how many of you will get this right. It's possible for nobody to get it, but it's very possible for you all to get it.

Until next time,

-Tytonic