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Chapter 1

3 Years Later

Gregor was running his fingers through the soft, silky fur of his bat Ares, when suddenly, out of the blue, everything faded to black, and in the darkness, all Gregor could hear was his bat say, " Why did I die? Didn't the prophecy call for the warrior's death? Are you not the warrior and not I? WHY ME, WHY MEEE?"

Even before Ares could finish ranting, Gregor began to weep, which was something Gregor hadn't done since the day that Ares died. Through the ugly and desperate cry, Gregor managed to get only one sentence out while he was morning

"I meant to save you. It should have been me who died. I have nothing at all. It should have been me!".

"Lies, You let me die. You never came back for me; now it's your time to join me". Respond Ares.

Before Gregor could get another word out, Ares suddenly changed direction and started to get higher and higher up. It seemed as if they weren't in the Underland anymore as they kept going higher and higher, but eventually, they seemed to level off ever so nicely. But then suddenly, out of the blue, Ares flipped over and thrusted Gregor off of his back…

All he could think about or see was darkness, but the only thing he was able to think about was, "So this is death. I guess it's not too bad".

Soon, there was nothing around him, and there was nothing at all.

All he could hear when he woke up was sister Lizzie yelling at him to wake up; he realized that everything that just happened was a nightmare, and he honestly didn't know if he felt relievedthat he wasn't dead. Life has been rough for him. He was a 16-year-old boy who constantly had nightmares. To his brain off the topic of death and depression, he questioned his sister Lizzie about why they were in his room. He already knew why. He must have been shaking and sweating and screaming so loud that it probably might have woken up his whole family. But to answer the question, Lizzie responded with a scared look, which gave Gregor the creeps, " You were screaming in your sleep again and wouldn't wake up even after I punched you. I know you miss the Underland too; you're not alone, Gregor. I miss it so much; it was almost so perfect now that I think back to it. You know Gregor, if you ever need someone to talk to, I'm here for you"

"Thank you Lizzie, but I'm doing just fine," Gregor replied with an obvious fake smile.

Gregor didn't want anyone to know that he was not ok. He had fought in a war and seen thousands of creatures and humans killed, and he had probably killed hundreds of not thousands of creatures himself. At 13, Gregor had already lived a lifetime; everything—his friends, family, and love, Luxa—had been stripped away from him. Gregor knew his life would never be alright. Just bringing up the name of his lover, Luxa, gave him chills. Whenever he had a moment to himself, or even when he was occupied, his thoughts constantly and increasingly returned to her. The more he thought about her, the more he missed her, almost 10 times more each time. He told his sister to leave, and she complied. Right as he left, he got his sore and scared body up and headed to take a shower.

After he had finished his shower, he got dressed in a pair of baggy sweatpants and a sweatshirt, which was to hide the maps of scars that had been a byproduct of his time in the Underland. The scars each held a unique and interesting story, and even though it had been three years, the scars hadn't even started to change at all.

After doing a little light stretching, Gregor noticed that there was a good smell coming from the kitchen, and it was the scent of bacon. Once he had smelled that there was bacon, Gregor flew down to the kitchen. When he arrived in the kitchen, he saw a huge feast of breakfast foods which his mom must have prepared for his family.

The food was so amazing even though it was made by his mother. It almost seemed as if a professional chef made it, but nope, his mother made it. Gregor and his mother don't talk or communicate much anymore after Gregor's mother moved his family away from New York City to Virginia. It wasn't the fact that she wanted what was best for her family; it was the fact that she didn't care what her family wanted at all. Though all of her kids protested, and even her husband said it was ok to stay in NYC, she moved everyone against their will. Even though they weren't on the best terms, he was grateful for the breakfast. So he said thanks, which he knew was the respectful thing to do, and left for school.

Going to school was something Gregor wanted just to get over with, which was mostly everyone's reason for going to school anyway, so in one aspect, he was somewhat normal. Gregor was always alone in his mind but in school, but even though he tried his hardest not to stand out, all the girls would fan over him because he was over 6 feet tall, jacked, and had pretty eyes. He never tried to talk to any one of them; even the prettiest girls in the school wanted him, but he couldn't get over Luxa's love. He hoped that eventually, once he turned 18, he would get to go back and see her at least. But for now, he would have to wait and only dream about her.

Gregor was unusual; he would run to school every day even though it was a 5 or 6-mile run from his house. He enjoyed it because it gave him time to dream about his past, but also just to calm down. So, as soon as he got to school, he walked straight to class and sat down in his seat in the back of the classroom, which was right next to his only "friends'" desk. Gregor and his "friend" weren't that close to Gregor. At least Gregor had smiled once at this guy whose name was Carol, and ever since, Car has been all over Gregor. Gregor was a smart kid, but he never tried that hard in class. He struggles a bit during class due to the PTSD trauma and anxiety from his past life, but at least he can daydream about the Underland during class.

Once class finished for the day, all the girls in the class started to head to Gregor's desk, but before they could reach his desk, Gregor had already left, going to his dad's car. His dad had recently found a job as a long-term substitute teacher. The reason he's not a full-time teacher is because he still has some days where his sickness starts to flare up, so he would miss too much school, but it's starting to get less and less frequent, thankfully.

The car ride was always almost completely silent; Gregor uttered only one word, which happened to be an accident. Gregor and his dad just like to listen to music. Music to his family just seemed to be one of the few things that brought them joy and happiness. When they got home, Gregor instantly took his stuff to his room, set it down, and climbed out of his window onto the roof of his house. The roof has the best view of the entire house, and it happened to be right outside the window of his room. Gregor would just sit or lie down on the roof of his house, wondering if things would have been different if he had stayed in New York. Would he be happier? Would he and Luxa be a thing? Who knows what would happen? But then suddenly, Gregor heard a loud shriek that seemed to come from the house next door.

Hello, readers; I hope you enjoyed this updated chapter of my fanfiction. I started this a while ago, and I hit writer's block, then I forgot, but guess what? I found it again. I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Make sure you follow this fanfic because I will be posting more often and hopefully better. Also, if you have any suggestions or comments, don't be afraid to comment on this down below. Thank you so much for reading the first chapter. Sincerely, W3hn.