Hi everyone, yes, this is officially the next chapter in this Underland fic. I'm very sorry for all the delay caused by my procrastination. While you weep your tears of joy that I have returned, I want to let you know that chapters might be a while following each other, just because I'm doing so much shit. So dont bite my head off while I try to keep this story alive for you guys. Thank you, come again.

Disclaimer: Je ne suis pas le propriétaire de la Chronicles de Underland. (That's French, for those of you who don't speak it)

Gregor glanced at the clock above the kitchen table. He was running late: it was already 8:45, and the Underlanders would be expecting him by nine. On the other hand, this was the perfect opportunity to test Luxa's time-telling skills. She had been working with his father to learn what the times of day meant, seeing as specific times and dates had so much meaning in the Overland.

"Hey, Luxa?" he called. "Can you come in here a second?"

"What is it?" she replied, walking into the kitchen from the living room where she had been tying her shoes. He shook his head when he saw her: it was still strange seeing her in jeans and a jacket, with half-laced sneakers on her feet and her skin losing transparency.

"What time is it, right now?"

She studied the clock for several moments, brow furrowed in concentration. "It is…9:45. No, wait, 8:45."

"AM or PM?"

"AM, of course. It is morning."

"Very good. Okay, keep tying your shoes. We're going to be late."

The Underlanders had been in the Overland now for two months. The transition had been difficult for all of them; particularly the bonded humans. Many tearful goodbyes had only been stopped by Gregor and Luxa dragging the humans away, toward the surface of the tunnel in Central Park. Whole families had stood shivering in the park, blinking at the snow and the stars in wonder and confusion, sad and cold and lost.

Gregor and Luxa and Vikus had come up beforehand and sold everything in the Regalia museum to Overland museums, which had earned a lot more than even Gregor had estimated. Enough for the three of them to rent an extremely cheap, rundown hotel big enough for the Underlanders to stay in for any amount of time. Then the Underlanders had been moved in.

For exactly a month, Mrs. Comaci, Gregor's father, and Gregor went down to the hotel every day and taught the Underlanders everything. And by everything, it meant EVERYTHING. Not only did Mrs. Cormaci plan a lesson for everything modern-day, but the Underlanders were also taught a basic world history. Gregor thought it was amazing all the stuff he took for granted that the Underlanders would have no idea of.

Then it was job-hunting time. The ones in the right age-frame who's skin had tanned the most got the simplest jobs - bagging groceries, shelving books at a library, that sort of thing. Then the really super educated ones got better paying jobs: Vikus became a tour guide at the very museum that held the stone knight Gregor had gone to for support so often.

Gregor hadn't thought it would help much, but was quickly proven wrong. The sheer amount of Underlanders now working in jobs around New York city was enough to support the economy of a small suburb. Then there were the really outlandish jobs that some of the Underlanders had managed to find with the help of Gregor's father. Stuff Gregor never would have imagined in a million years. A bunch of 11-year old kids were offered parts in some big history-reenactment troupe because they were seen sword fighting with sticks in Central Park, and then when the troupe discovered that there were adults who also had the skill, they were hired on as well.

It had been four months since the Underlanders had become immigrants to the Overland, and now it was late May. A good time in the year for the kids to be outside more often and not have people wonder why they weren't in school. Today, Gregor had promised to take them on a picnic in the Central Park, and they would be expecting him at the hotel in 15 minutes.

"Okay, Luxa, time to go. Like, right now," he said, lifting up the huge plastic basket from Target that was filled with food. It was everybody's job to bring something, but Gregor knew he would end up bringing the most anyway. Food was the one thing the Underlanders were still not accustomed to.

"Right. Coming," said Luxa, walking quickly to Gregor's side. "What should I carry?"

"The water cooler. And if you could grab the cups; they didn't fit in the basket. Thanks. Okay, I think we're set. Let's go."

Gregor let Luxa lead the way; it was one of the best ways to ensure that she was learning, and that she could remember where they were going. Luxa didn't have any trouble. She walked confidently out of the apartment, locked the door behind her with dexterous fingers, then went through the hall, down the stairs, and outside onto the street. They fought their way cheerfully through the throngs of people that gathered on New York City streets on Saturday mornings. Luxa knew exactly where she was going, turning at all the right corners and crossing all the right streets. When they reached the train, she boarded without a hesitation and got off at the correct stop immediately. Gregor had to admire her adaptation to the NYC environment with a twinge of pride thrown in. She had come a long way from being the courageous girl who had been crowned queen of an underground world, but she had had to use a new kind of bravery this time. Gregor was only too happy to see that she had been able to do so.

An hour later, Gregor and Luxa were sitting in Central park with about 90 Underlanders, mainly children and those who didn't have work on Saturday mornings. Everyone had actually held up their end of the deal and brought food, so it worked out rather nicely. They were seated on all their own blankets, all overlapping each other until it looked like a giant patchwork quilt covered in food and people right in the middle of the park. Luxa was watching Hazard run around in loops, pretending to be a bat, with a small smile on her face. Vikus, Mareth, and Gregor were watching her watch him.

"She has done well these past months," murmured Mareth so Luxa couldn't hear.

"So have you, man. So has everyone. I can't believe it's actually working out for you guys. It's fantastic."

Vikus looked at the ground, Mareth looked at the sky, and Gregor looked at them both. Like the rest of the Underlanders, they had adapted to New York life in ways Gregor never could have expected. And it wasn't a big secret that he was insanely proud of them.

"Luxa! Luxa, look at this!" shouted Hazard, picking up a stick from the ground and swinging it around. "It's a sword!"

"No, Hazard, put it down," said Luxa, standing up and walking over to him. "We should be glad we no longer have to fight, not pretending that we still do."

Hazard looked at the ground, handing her the stick. Luxa threw it to the ground, where it crumpled.

Gregor stared. Sticks shouldn't bend like that. In fact, the only time before when he'd seen a stick break in half that way was. . .

He had a sudden flashback to the same park where they were now. It was the middle of winter, and snow had been everywhere, and a small dog had been parking at a stick on the ground, and Gregor had picked it up and bent it...

Only half-aware of everyone else around him, Gregor stood up and walked over to where the stick lay on the ground. "Oh, man," he thought as he stared at it. "Oh man. This can't be good." Because there was no doubt about it. It wasn't a stick.

It was the leg of a cockroach. An Underland cockroach.

And there was only one thing that could mean.


Kind of a cliffhanger, maybe? I don't know. Sorry it took so long. The next chapter WILL come without a 9 month break, I promise. This was the best way I could figure something out without just kind of wrapping up the whole story (that sentence didn't make a lot of sense) but I hope you guys liked it. See you soon.
~TRMark