The Seeker from Above: A Gregor the Overlander Fanfic

Chapter 15

Previously...

Luxa stood up, her face paler than usual. She went to her cousin, sat beside him, and put her arms around him. Pressing her forehead into his shoulder, she said, "She will fly with you always. You know this. She will fly with you always."

Howard buried his face in her lap. She leaned her cheek against the top of his head. And it was a long time before either of them stopped crying.

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Stella sighed, this journey had been the longest of her life. She wondered when she would be crawling back through the ventilation shaft and into their basement again. Going up to Nora and being like, "hey Nora, I'm back." Would Nora believe her bizarre story? About going on a mission to kill a giant white rat that could possibly be the extinction of the underland if she and Gregor didn't kill it. Probably not, but then again, Nora did trust Stella. Or would telling Nora the whole story end up with Stella in the mental ward?

Thinking of this made her head hurt. There was so much to sort out. Stella cleared her mind as Gregor came and sat next to her.

Gregor spoke up, "hi Stella, how's your recovery going?"

"Not bad, I guess. I bet I'll be okay by the time I go back...if I get back."

There was a silence as dark thoughts flooded Stella's mind.

"You know... all this time I've been secretly half-hoping they'd gotten the whole thing wrong," said Gregor. "That maybe the Bane was like a fairy tale or a myth or something, and the rats had just been planting the rumour it was around."

Stella laughed and whispered, "I've been hoping the same. It's hard to believe that a prophecy could actually come true."

There was that pause again and then Gregor said, "but the first prophecy did. I didn't believe in the first one... until it came true."

"That just makes it sound scarier," Stella laughed nervously.

Gregor sighed, "all I wish, is for this whole thing to be over so I can take Boots home... alive."

"Yeah the prophecy does say..." Stella's voice trailed off.

They were silent again, until Stella said, "Well... comparing the situation we're in and the situation that I would meet if I went back... I'd rather be here."

They laughed, "my mum freaked out when she saw me walk into the house with Boots and my dad. We were interrogated very seriously," said Gregor.

"Hopefully Leo has covered me in with some lame excuse. Or Nora would've called the police by now."

"Nora's your caretaker, right?"

Stella nodded.

Gregor was silent. Then he spoke up, slowly as if what he was about to say would affect Stella, "So... what happened to your parents?"

"My... parents?" Stella murmured under her breath. Suddenly, there was a ringing in her ears and everything around her vanished. Memories flashed before her eyes, too quick to recall. They flooded into her mind, filling up all those empty spaces. Stella gripped her head in pain and shut her eyes tight. But her eyes flapped open to the roar of a rocket engine to see the familiar rocket shoot into the sky in front of her. Tears spilled from her eyes and she watched the rocket soar with wide eyes. BOOM! Fragments of the rocket plummeted towards her; one piece hit her... and the scene faded. "Mum?" She whispered. The scene averted to reveal a burning capsule darting towards Earth. A voice called in her head "Stella...Leo...I'm sorry..." and the capsule exploded. "Dad?" Stella whispered. The vines again and the bitter voices. The weight of those memories; too much of a burden.

Then a distant voice called to her in concern, "Stella? Stella? Are you okay?" There were white lights in her blurry vision as the world reverted to its original form. "Stella?" It was Gregor's voice.

Stella buried her head in her knees and sobbed. The memories had crushed her. Her parents. She remembered now. She remembered everything. All those things she had tried to forget. Stella felt a hand on her shoulder.

"Stella, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have asked that. I really am sorry," Gregor's voice pleaded.

Luxa's voice called from the other side of the boat, "Gregor? What has happened?"

Stella could almost feel the shame in Gregor's voice as he spoke, "I... made a mistake."

Stella lifted her head from her knees and wiped her eyes with her sleeve, taking a deep breath. Gregor's hand left her shoulder.

She heard a voice from her other side, "Stella, you are recovering. What are your worries?" It was Mareth.

She turned to him and forced a smile, "I'm okay. Thanks for looking out for me Mareth."

"If you are sure," he said and nodded, walking back to the rudder.

Stella turned to Gregor and tried to catch his gaze. He was looking down in shame. "Gregor?" He didn't look at her. "Gregor, look at me." Gregor moved his head so that their gazes were in line. His eyes were filled with guilt. "Thank you!" She said while enveloping him in a hug.

Gregor sounded perplexed, "Wait... what are you thanking me for? I made you cry. How's that something to be thankful for?"

Stella pulled back and laughed, "Ha, you sound like my brother."

Gregor looked confused.

"My parents... I can't believe I forgot them." Stella said, shaking her head. She was aware that everyone was watching them. She continued, "my mum died when she was going to the International Space Station when the rocket exploded due to some technical failure. And to make things worse, my dad tried to come to her funeral from the International Space Station... but there was another technical failure in the capsule he was in. So it exploded as well. I tried to forget their reason of death because of all the rumours that people were spreading about my family. They made up all these false conspiracies about my parents' death. I didn't like it. I knew Leo didn't like it too. So I stopped talking about them. I forgot how they died soon enough. I remembered everything in a dream I had when I was unconscious." 

She turned to Orion and said, "that's probably why you said you heard me talking in my sleep."

Orion gave out his friendly laugh.

Stella turned back to Gregor, "so don't think I'm mad at you or something," she said while laughing.

Gregor smiled and then laughed, "okay, I won't."

Stella's supper consisted entirely of raw fish as she gave her small ration of bread and meat to Boots. Gregor, Temp, Howard, and Ares did the same, and she seemed satisfied. Giving a big yawn, she said, "We shut eyes?"

"Yeah, we shut eyes, Boots," Gregor said, and she snuggled up next to him on the floor.

Howard, ghost-white except for the purplish bruise that stained his jaw, insisted on steering so that Mareth could get some rest. Temp went on watch with Zap for light.

Stella moved back to her bed and lay down.

Before the rest went to sleep, Twitchtip spoke up. "We're getting close now. I can smell rats ahead."

"What of the serpents?" asked Mareth. "Do they still sleep?"

"Yes, but it won't be long before they surface. And they are deadly," said Twitchtip.

It really wasn't the last conversation Stella wanted to hear before she went to bed. Rats...serpents...deadly...especially when she was already preoccupied by words like Seeker...killing...Bane. And not to forget the memories! They were really bugging her. Although she was grateful to Gregor, the memories ached her heart. She had to turn the other way and sleep so no one saw the tears streaming down her cheeks. But eventually drowsiness overtook and she fell into a fitful sleep. But it wasn't long before she was awakened by Temp's alarm.

"Going, the shiners are, gone!" the cockroach croaked.

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