Chapter six is here! And so you know, school is starting soon, so anyone who is reading this; if I don't put up chapters for a few weeks, it's because I'm really busy with school. I'm in band and drama club, both of which are pretty big commitments, so I may not have a whole lot of spare time.

Disclaimer: I do not own the Underland Chronicles. It's all Suzanne's, dude.


Within minutes, Gregor and Luxa were once again seated on Aurora, who was speeding toward the exit in Gregor's basement. As they flew, Luxa asked him,

"What will you teach me?"

He had to think about that for a second. What could he teach Luxa about the Overland? There was really so much she needed to know, he had no idea where to start. Then a brilliant idea struck him; to let someone else have a brilliant idea.

"Mrs. Cormaci will teach you," he decided. "She's so much better at teaching than I am, you'll learn a lot faster with her. But you won't be learning how to fight Overland-style, if that's what your expecting. We aren't at war every other month in New York. You'll be learning how to talk, how to dress, how to basically act like an Overlander. But if I tried to teach you, people would probably think you were a terrorist or something."

She frowned. "A what?"

Gregor was grateful he wasn't going to be the one explaining everything to her.

About ten minutes later, Aurora had reached the long, vertical tunnel that led to Gregor's laundry room. The gold bat gently flew to the very top, stopping at the entrance. Gregor clambered awkwardly off her back and crawled through the grate, which hit him in the backside on the way out. He turned back and lifted it up to help Luxa through, but the young queen looked as though she was having second thoughts. Aurora was hovering as close as she could to the hole, but Luxa was making no move to get off.

"C'mon, Luxa," he said, reaching out his hand. "It's gonna be fine, I promise. But you have to take the first step."

She nodded, and reached out to take his hand. He used both of his arms and pulled her through the grate, and Luxa stepped for the first time into the Overland.

She didn't even look around, but immediately stuck her head back through the grate and called for Aurora. Without passengers, the bat was able to fly vertically as opposed to horizontally and could hover right next to the hole, which she did then. Luxa wrapped her arms around Aurora's neck and buried her face in the golden fur.

"I will see you again," she promised. "This is not goodbye."

Aurora fluttered her wings agitatedly. "I do not like this," she said. "Letting you go where I cannot go as well. I am uneasy."

"As are we all," responded Luxa. "But you cannot come this time. It was said in 'The Last Prophecy'. All fliers and gnawers and cralwers must stay."

"This I know," said Aurora. "But that does not ease my mind when I see you leave."

"You will see me again," promised Luxa for the second time. "But now you must go back and assist Regalia in preparing to leave."

They locked hand and claw, the symbol of bonds, which Gregor thought was pretty impressive considering Aurura was still flapping her wings to remain airborne. Then she was gone.

Luxa turned and looked around at the laundry room. Her reaction was almost the same as Mareth's had been.

"What is this place?" she asked in amazement, all anxiety apparently forgotten.

"It's the laundry room," replied Gregor, and then he had to explain all over again about washing clothes and electricity. By the end of his rant, Luxa looked thoroughly lost.

"My dad could explain it better," Gregor said apologetically. "C'mon, let's go. If you're going to live in the Overland, you have to see something besides the basement."

He took her hand and as Luxa squared her shoulders firmly, led her to the door leading to the stairwell. At first, he considered letting her take the elevator, seeing as it might be educational, but decided he would only confuse her even more, so together they climbed the stairs until they reached Gregor's floor. Slowly, he led her down the hall, the same way he might lead someone who was blind, although that probably wasn't necessary. Luxa seemed fascinated by the carpeting and the electric lights that lined the hallway, but she didn't ask any questions. Upon reaching the apartment door, she stopped for a moment.

"What?"

"This is your home?"

"This is where I live," said Gregor, not exactly contradicting her, but not confirming what she said either.

"Just behind this door?"

"Yes."

"Your entire family?"

"Uh-huh," he said, watching her face and wondering what she was getting at.

"So this place is not your home, it is just the room behind this door?"

"Oh," he said, getting it finally. "Yeah. It's an apartment. It's a really big building with lots of little homes inside of it, so a bunch of people can live in the same building but still live apart from each other. They're not just one room, even though they're pretty small. C'mon, I'll show you."

Gregor opened the door and brought her inside.

It must have later than he had thought it had been when he left, because Boots was already up, attempting to pour herself a glass of milk. She was standing at the edge of the counter with a cup in one hand and was trying to wrap her pudgy little fingers around the carton. She succeeded and picked it up to pour into the glass, but the carton was still to big for her and began to slip out of her grasp. Gregor jumped forward and snatched the carton out of her hand before she could spill it all over the floor and waste what little they had left.

She turned, a confused look on her babyish face, but the expression quickly melted into one of joy as she saw him.

"Gre-go!" she squealed happily, and immediately stuck her arms up. "Up." He hoisted her onto his hip and touched his forehead to hers. A few months ago, Boots had finally succeeded in correctly pronouncing "Gregor", but seemed to prefer her own original name, so he was "Gre-go" most of the time.

"Hey, Boots. Up early this morning, huh?"

"I no sleep," she announced. He rolled his eyes. Boots had been getting up before anyone else for the past six weeks, her body seeming to have some unexplainable energy that only three-year olds could have.

"Great, kiddo," he said. "Hey, guess who's here?"

Boots immediately sat up straighter, looking around expectantly.

"Temp?" she asked hopefully. "Temp is here?"

Gregor sighed. It had taken Boots a few days to realize that the family was not coming to the Overland again for a visit, that they were staying for good this time. Since then, she had become obsessed with her crawler friend. Every dinner was silent except for the frequent "Where is Temp?" and "We go see Temp?"

"Not today, little girl," he said. "Brought someone else." He turned around so Boots could see Luxa standing in the kitchen, looking slightly uncomfortable but obviously attempting to hide it. Boots' face lit up like a lightbulb, all thoughts of Temp forgotten.

"Luxa!" she squealed happily, and squirmed out of Gregor's arms to run over to Luxa and wrap her arm's around Luxa's knees in a three-year old hug. Luxa smiled.

"Hello, Boots. I see you have been growing well."

"You is here?" asked Boots, stepping back and sounding a bit confused. "Why?"

So even Boots was able to understand the abnormality of an Underlander in New York. "And it's not like she would get anything we said about a prophecy," thought Gregor. In all the prophecies Boots had taken part in, she had never once learned that she was fufilling the role as Cockroach Princess in poems written by a crazy guy hundreds of years ago.

"I am here to learn," Luxa told Boots, resting a hand on her curly head. "And my people will be soon to follow."

This obviously did not make much sense to Boots, but she giggled and hugged Luxa again anyway.

Luxa looked back to Gregor."It is very bright in here," she said. "What is that?"

She was pointing to the kitchen ceiling, where a bare light bulb was shining dully.

"Umm...it's a light bulb."

"What is-"

"My dad will explain. Later. But right now," added Gregor, having a sudden idea. "you should come with me. There's something you ought to see."

Looking nonplussed, Luxa allowed Gregor to tow her by the hand out of the apartment and down the stairs again, until they reached the lobby. Pulling her over to the door, Gregor opened it and they both stepped outside into the cold morning. He hadn't thought to bring jackets, which would probably have been a good idea. But they would only be outside for a minute. There was something Luxa really needed to see.

It was technically nighttime. But the sky was a clear grayish color, the color it turned right before the sun rose. That's what he was waiting for. The door of the building faced east, so they would have a clear view of it from where they stood.

Luxa was shivering, even with Gregor's arms around her shoulders in an attempt to shield her from the cold. It was never this cold in the Underland, he realized. Another thing he took for granted that would be completely new to the Regalians.

After a few minutes of silence, Luxa asked with chattering teeth," Gregor, why are we here? Can we not go back to the warmth?"

"Just a minute," he said, watching the tops of the trees in the park across the street. "Any minute now."

She was already rubbing her eyes. Even without the sun up, it was already brighter than anywhere in the Underland, except maybe the jungle.

"Here,"murmured Gregor suddenly in her ear. "Watch."

He had spotted the sun, not exactly visible yet behind the scrawny tops of the trees. But after a few more minutes, it had risen high enough to be seen, and warm light spilled down to the earth and touched them standing there.

Luxa the Underlander, at 12 years old, had just seen her first sunrise.


And that is all! I'm ending the story here because it's a good stopping point and I'm afraid I'll ruin it if I keep pushing. I really hoped everyone liked it! Please review and tell me your thoughts.
PS: If I get enough demands for more, I'll consider writing a few more chapters. But as for now, the story is officially complete. Thanks for reading!
~TRMark