Disclaimer: I don't own the damned series, for the last time.

A/N- Updating again. I want to get this story over with. It's my first, and not exactly good...but I'll finish

Chapter 7: The Prophecy of Falling, And The Traitor

Gregor POV

The Prophecy of the Fallen

Don't be ignorant, Underlanders,

Your city will fall first.

Next your allies will walk away,

And soon your connections will burst.

A traitor will be first to leave,

After his talk with the foe.

Watch that he is destroyed,

Or know that your civilization will blow.

A quest to the forgotten land,

Completed when the Overlanders descend.

And when the gnawer decides to stand,

Humans will be something pretend.

When the end comes, good or bad,

Make sure you're not hanging on a thread.

Also know that at the end of the quest,

Some of your company will be dead.

"Wow," Shannon muttered. Then, clearing her voice, she asked, "Are these prophecies always like this?"

Gregor, Shannon, Luxa, Lizzy, and Zack were currently in the Fount's war room, bending over a piece of paper. They all started talking, very quickly too. Luxa had ranted for a few minutes about a prophecy. She didn't know who had written it. Gregor was scowling, thinking of another quest. At least he wasn't mentioned specifically, for a change. Shannon was plain curious, but a little freaked out. Luxa was acting like...herself. Lizzie seemed really worried, and Zack was looking uncomfortable for various reasons. Boots was also in the room, playing with her long-lost crawler friend, Temp.

After they had all bathed, with the exception of Luxa, they had gathered in the Hall. She had been looking annoyed and agitated. It was easy to see something was bothering her. Just what, they weren't sure.

But the truth was soon told.

Luxa admitted that she had found the prophecy...in Ares' old hideout (here she glanced at Gregor). Then she had brought it back to Regalia, to find the human capitol under siege. Apparently it wasn't a pretty site, as Gregor had imagined.

When she first said 'prophecy', Gregor had rolled his eyes in exasperation. But his irritation didn't last, for soon she mentioned Ares. A single tear rolled down the boy's face, and then he went numb. His whole being froze, perfectly. The only reminder that the world wasn't frozen was that people were moving in front of him, waving hands in his face, asking what was wrong, et cetera. How predictable.

After finally managing to box up his feelings, Gregor asked, "Who do you think the traitor will be?" True, it wasn't like any of the others knew, but he could ask, right? Anything to change the subject if, indeed, they had been talking. Whatever.

Luxa shrugged. "It could be anyone. I'm prepared to bet it's Stellovet, though. She's always been odd. Just don't tell Howard I said that. He'd be terribly depressed. In fact, he's been acting strange lately too. I wonder if he thinks it could be her too..."

Luxa trailed off, a thoughtful look on her face. There was silence in the hall, then...

"Well!" Shannon's voice echoed a couple of times, and everyone turned a questioning eyebrow to her. "I meant, well, shouldn't we go sleep? I mean, I'm awfully tired."

Gregor looked at her weirdly and pointed out, "We slept on the way here."

Now she was getting flustered. "I just meant. Well, you see...What else are we supposed to do?"

Gregor, Luxa, and Lizzie exchanged devious looks.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Two hours later, five people entered a mini version of the Arena at Regalia. Waiting for them were Aurora, Atlanta, Nemesis, Daedalus, and a small black, gray, and white striped flier named Thea.

Luxa mounted Aurora, and Shannon climbed on top of Atlanta's white fur. Gregor hopped to the back of Nemesis smoothly, and Daedalus let Lizzie scamper onto him. Thea stood there awkwardly until Boots jumped onto her. Gregor was pleased to see that Boots seemed perfectly at ease with the flier, and made Thea a little less uncomfortable.

Zack hadn't come with them; none of them knew why. But no one really cared but Shannon. They had all come to the conclusion that he would ruin things but her. After a while, though, she just shrugged it off and went with the other four, blind-folded.

She was now laughed while Atlanta flipped. The white bat was to instruct her until she got the hang of things. She seemed to be doing fine, though. Gregor supposed that she wasn't afraid of heights. He was jealous for a second, until he remembered how nauseous she got from airplane rides.

"Gregor, take this!" Luxa called, and threw a sword through the air to him. Nemesis quickly dropped down a bit then knocked Gregor into the air, and when he plucked the weapon out of the air, doing a somersault before neatly falling onto the gray bat's back. Everyone clapped, and he grinned.

Lizzie and Daedalus were just flying around, awkwardly exchanging a few words. They were catching up with each other.

That was the exact opposite of what was going on with Luxa and Aurora. The two were now performing a series of acrobatic moves, chatting normally while doing so. They made things seem so easy. It was beautiful.

It wasn't until much later that nine headed back to the 'Palace.' Daedalus had parted with them earlier; he had places to be, unfortunately. Gregor was sad to see the creamy-colored flier go. He was a good friend of Lizzie's now. It was a very good thing he hadn't died when the rats invaded Regalia.

But the rest happily laughed and talked like old friends, which, in a sense, they were. Shannon was Gregor, Lizzie, and Boots' cousin; Thea and Boots were totally comfortable around each other; Atlanta was a friend of Aurora's; and Nemesis was pretty friendly and out-going, though had a lot of sense. He was very likeable.

Gregor was somewhat surprised, because he heard that Atlanta and Nemesis were mates. Of course, he was happy for them. It was a nice thing, to be tied eternally to someone throughout love. Of course, they could have two they loved completely. They could have bonds. But, oddly enough, neither did.

Sadly, the festive mood didn't last. When they entered the Hall, they were met by grim faces and strange looks.

A member of some type of council cleared his throat after a few moments of silence. Everyone looked at him, and then he said, "The Overlander, Zack, has disappeared. We believe he is he traitor in the prophecy."

A/N- Ok, I updated. I hope you all liked it. Please review!