Last time of The Prophecy of Grey:

"Bye-bye, Dul-cee." Boots waved at her. "See you soon!"

"Fly you high."

"Fly you high Gregor." With that the three of them left.

As Gregor entered High Hall, the mission was readying for their departure; several bats were being loaded with supplies.

He also saw Henry hugging an unhealthily skinny girl who was weeping uncontrollably, no matter how much the other royal attempted to comfort her. "The dreams brother, they have worsened. Some terrible evil awaits you."

"Do not distress yourself, Nerissa, I have no plans to die." Henry tried to sooth.

"There are evils beyond death." His sister said. "Fly you high, Henry. Fly you high." With one last hug, Henry turned to talk to the Queen behind him as she loaded Aurora.

Gregor shifted on his feet nervously as she came his way. He never knew what to say to Nerissa when she was like this but she had pulled herself together by the time she'd reached him. She held out a small roll of paper. "For you, Gregor."

Unrolling it quickly, Gregor saw it was the prophecy written out in her neat handwriting. Nerissa was a mind reader, he was sure of it because Gregor was just wishing he could read Sandwich's first prophecy again. "She is good." He muttered, half to Boots half to himself.

"She has a gift." A boy agreed as he mounted Aurora. Realizing that no one would ever even think of touching the bat made Gregor take a second look which, on his second take, helped him realized it was his best friend.

"What happened to your hair?" He tried to sound serious but a small chuckle blended with his question which was a legitimate question, Gregor had never seen the queen-to-be with her hair much shorter than her waist.

"Long locks are dangerous in battle," She gave him a look that screamed why did you not know that?

"I mean - it looks good short, too." He tried to save but it didn't really work because as soon as he said it, Luxa burst out laughing.

"Gregor, think you my beauty is of any matter is such times?"

The comment made his face flush red with embarrassment and he managed to mutter "That is not what I meant..."

Luxa merely shook her head at her cousin who had come over when Luxa entered the room, and to make it worse, he was cracking up too. "The boy speaks true cousin, you look like a shorn sheep."

"All the better," Luxa exclaimed with a large smile. "For who would attack a sheep?"

"Baa," Boots' sudden addition to the conversation startled Gregor almost to the point he physically jumped. "Baaaa." Henry laughed so hard he almost fell over. "Sheep says baa," Boots finished with a defensive pout that only made the visiting royal laugh harder.

Through it all, Gregor almost laughed too until he remembered the reason everyone was laughing was on the innocence of his new baby sister. However, he didn't know how to make it stop so he opted to fiddle with his bag until he got it hooked on the side strap.

When he looked up, he found Luxa looking at him curiously. "What wear you on your head?"

"It is a hard hat," He told her, flicking it on and off to demonstrate. "They use them for protection in the Overland if I remember correctly." Gregor easily picked up the subtle hints of her desire to try it on. He was a bit ticked at her for making fun of him and Boots but she was his friend, and for now, he couldn't help but get over his grudge and held the hat to her. "Check it out."

Luxa tried not to show her excitement and Gregor blamed it on Henry's judging gaze, if it was just the two of them taking an adventure in the museum she would have been grinning her head off, snatching his newest find from his hands to have her turn to fiddle with it, but anytime her cousin visited she acted indifferently to any exciting thing that came up.

As she worked the light switch, some of her normal excitement came to the surface. "How do you keep the light inside without air? Does it not get hot on your head?" She asked curiously.

"It runs on a battery," Gregor scrunched his eyebrows together for a moment as he tried to remember what he knew about the small squares that powered the hat and flashlights. "Electricity, and there is a layer of protection. Try it on."

Without hesitation, Luxa popped the hat on her head. Gregor almost laughed at how odd the bright yellow plastic looked on her short cropped hair, super pale skin, and violet eyes. "Vikus told me of electricity," She tilted her head around the room sending a beam around before removing and returning it reluctantly. "Here, you must save your fuel."

"You will begin a new fashion," Henry commented happily, grabbing one of the small stone torches off the wall and laying it on top of his head. Flames seemed to be shooting out of his forehead but it was all Gregor could do to not hit him in the mouth. Fire boiled in his stomach and he had to take several deep breaths to keep his rager instincts down. "What think you Luxa?" He exaggerated his haughtiness as he presented his new idea.

Luxa gasped suddenly and pointed to the top of Henry's head. He immediately dropped the torch and beat at his hair as the two of them collapsed in hysterics, realistically leaning against each other to avoid crushing Boots between them.

When Henry realized he was the target of his cousin's joke, he reached forward to bring Luxa into a headlock and rubbed his knuckles across her short hair while she laughed helplessly.

Gregor was the first to notice the old man as he entered. "You two are in a merry mood, considering we are at war." He frowned as he launched himself onto his bat.

"It is only an excess of spirit Vikus." Henry said, releasing Luxa. "Who am I to ride with grandfather, you or Luxa?"

A spark ignited in Gregor's gut and his mouth moved on it's own. "Henry may ride on Ares, he will not mind."

"He will mind." The black bat growled lowly so only the soldier could hear him who elbowed him accordingly.

"I would not dare take your bond Overlander." Henry all but sneered at him.

"Henry." Luxa gasped at the outlash.

Vikus too seemed shocked at the comment but hid it better than his granddaughter. "Henry, all of Regalia has accepted Gregor as one of their own, no matter of his descent."

"He has incented the fact himself," He defended somewhat carelessly, not completely caring about being yelled at. "Two over, two under of royal descent, that is the first line of the Prophecy of Grey, the prophecy Gregor insists is upon us. If he is correct, he must be the second Overlander spoken of."

"There is no argument the Prophecy of Grey is upon us," Vikus insisted with a glare down at the boy. "Now, Gregor has been gracious enough to offer the service of his bond, you shall be grateful."

"Yes, thank you, gracious warrior." Henry stood from his mock bow and made his way onto the black bat who, if bats could, looked very displeased.

Keeping his comments and negative actions in, Gregor mounted Aurora behind Luxa. "I cannot stand him." Gregor muttered to her after they had flown for a bit. The golden bat they were riding on heard his statement and reduced her speed and elevation to allow them the privacy needed for a conversation headed in the way she anticipated.

"Henry?" Luxa laughed quietly. "He takes amusement from your rage, Gregor, your retort is what he is aiming to hear. You only encourage him by giving in to his advances."

"I encourage him?" The eleven year old tried to keep his exclamation under control as not to alert their fellow travelers who, despite being familiar to the two friends isolating themselves to speak, would turn their heads at a loud or violent conversation. "You are the one who giggles at the responses he gives."

Luxa opened her mouth to retort only to be cut off by her now vividly quiet riding companion. "And it does not stop there. When he visits you behave very differently than the Luxa we all know. Your parents have noticed this change in you as well, they have asked my opinion on my occasions. I suggested to limit Henry's visits, they more than agreed."

Gregor received no response from the young queen and he almost thought she was mad. Instinctively he tightened his legs around Aurora's midsection to avoid being thrown from the bat, only the shove never came. Luxa continued to be mute but reclined into a comfortable position, using Gregor as a back rest.

The gesture relaxed the boy's nerves and he wrapped his arms around her waist in an attempt to relay his own apology. Aurora flew back to the group and the rest of the trip was a comfortable silence between the two while the rest of their party chatted.

As they advanced through the cave systems, Gregor noticed the number of bats hanging from the ceiling increasing. Vikus led them into a vast cave and suddenly hundreds upon hundreds of bats. A towering pillar of stone sat in the middle of the cave, it's sides smooth, round, and flat on the top.

Waiting for them on the flattened surface sat a group of bats. Once they landed on the smooth black stone surface, all parties dismounted and bowed respectively. The impressive silvery white bat in the middle stepped forward. "Queen Athena, meet you Gregor the Overlander." Vikus waved a hand in the eleven year old's direction.

Despite the Overlander part of his introduction, Gregor bowed again. "Be you the warrior? Be you he who calls?" Her soft purr was almost soothing.

Standing up straight, Gregor gave a firm nod. "I am the warrior, I am he who calls."

:) Little different from the book huh? :P

Always yours,

~Arty