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A creak woke Gregor immediately and he quickly flipped onto his back, his hand lashing out at his perceived attacker.
“Woah! Dude, it’s just us!” A familiar voice exclaimed, and Gregor frowned. He knew that voice and it didn’t belong in the Underland. Gregor blinked and looked around, his vision sharpening as he took in his small, bare room.
“Gregor, are you okay?” Gregor turned back to the familiar voice. Larry and Angelina. His best friends. All at once the events of last night came rushing back to him. Gregor grimaced and tugged self-consciously at his shirt. A hand landed on his shoulder and he flinched, twisting away from the contact.
“I’m fine,” he huffed and shoved his thin sheet down as he swung his legs over the side of the bed and stood. “What are you doing here?”
“Hey, don’t do that. Don’t keep pulling away from us. You already told us about what happened to you. We believe you, remember? You don’t have to pretend to be fine around us,” Angelina said softly. Gregor sighed and nodded once.
“I suppose I can’t talk you out of wanting to go down there?” He asked hopefully.
“Not a chance, man. I want to see these Underlanders. I’ve got a few things I want to discuss with them.” He muttered under his breath.
“Fine. I’ll write them a note, but I can’t promise they’ll send someone for us,” Gregor relented, rummaging through his backpack for a piece of paper and a pen. He sat cross-legged on the floor and set his pen to paper and his friends knelt beside him.
Luxa,
I’m sorry if this makes trouble for you but I couldn’t keep what happened to me a secret forever. I told my two best friends, Larry and Angelina. About you, about the Underland, and the war, and the prophecies. About Ares. And they believed me. They want to come meet you, see the Underland for themselves. I know I probably don’t have any right to ask you this and I don’t want to make things harder for you. But please, I need them to know.
Gregor Campbell
Gregor took a moment to just stare at the short letter, his hands trembling slightly. He heard one of his friends shift behind him and could feel them reaching out to him. He stood abruptly and started walking to his door.
“Come on. The sooner we send this the sooner we’ll get an answer,” he called over his shoulder and Larry and Angelina stumbled out after him.
Gregor led the way down the hall and hesitated when he noticed his mom and Lizzie in the kitchen cooking breakfast.
“Good morning, Gregor,” Lizzie said softly, glancing once at him before turning her attention back to the stove where she was stirring a pot of oatmeal. Gregor walked up to her and wrapped his arm around her shoulders, pressing a kiss to her hair.
“Hey, Lizzie. Mom,” he greeted, walking to where his mother stood putting jelly on a stack of toast.
“Morning, baby.” She looked from Gregor to his friends and back. “You going somewhere?” Gregor stifled a sigh at the faint not of panic in her voice.
“Just to the park. I’ll be back in an hour,” Gregor assured her.
“Are you sure it’s safe?” His mom whispered, reaching for his hand and squeezing tightly.
“Yeah, mom. I’m done with all that. There are no more prophecies. And even if there were I killed the Warrior. I won’t go back to fight for them,” Gregor carefully worded his promise. His mom stared at him for a long moment before nodding slowly.
“One hour and then you come back,” she stressed.
“I promise.” Gregor squeezed her hand one last time before leaving the apartment with his friends. They were silent until they reached the laundry room. Gregor pushed the door open and walked over to the grate where he and Boots had fallen. He knelt in front of it and reached a hand out, his fingers stopping just short of touching the grate.
Larry knelt next to him, so close their sides were pressed together and he could feel Larry breathing. Angelina knelt on his other side and clasped his hand in hers.
“We’ve got your back,” she said encouragingly. Gregor nodded and leaned against Larry as he reached out to push the grate open. A gentle breeze washed over them as Gregor slipped his folded letter into the open space and let it go. The letter fluttered along the current and disappeared.
“I don’t know how long it will be before they find it, if they find it. I don’t know if they’ll write back either,” Gregor said.
“We’ll just have to wait and see,” Larry said, pushing himself to his feet. “Come on. Might as well go to the park for an hour. We can check it when we get back.”
“Good idea, Larry,” Angelina said as she hopped up.
“It’s been known to happen,” Larry said with a shrug and a smirk.
“When?” Gregor asked curiously as he followed them out of the laundry room and to the park. Larry turned to him, a confused frown on his face. Gregor stared back innocently for all of ten seconds and then his lips twitched. Larry snorted and shoved Gregor lightly and Gregor, for the first time in a long time, felt like things would be okay.