Gregor And The Prophecy Of Doom (Book VI)

Chapter 6

       Gregor's mom came back at 8 pm. She no longer had to work the night shift duties from 7;30 pm to 12 pm since Gregor's dad had a job. She was in a spirited mood as they ate dinner, happily chatting with Boots and Lizzie, while Gregor and his dad wolfed down their food and waited impatiently for the meal to end. When it finally did, they pulled her into Gregor's room right after she'd finished cleaning the dishes.

After they'd sat down on Gregor's bed, with Gregor's dad standing, Gregor decided to just start right off. But before he'd even opened his mouth to speak, Gregor's mom interrupted him.

"It's about the Underland, isn't it?" She asked calmly. "They want you to return, because of another prophecy? Or war?"

Gregor was shocked out of his mind. He looked at his dad, and then realized his dad was looking at him. They mirrored each other's shock. And then they both stared at his mother, and nodded in unison. His mother sighed.

"You two always have the same look of exaggerated impatience on your face." She was silent for a few seconds. Then she said something Gregor never ever expected to hear from her lips. "You know, Gregor," She said very slowly, as if it cost her a lot of pain to speak, "what must be done must be done. Running from the prophecy will only make the loss when you face it stronger. You have to do what you are meant to, me stopping you to do so will only make it worse. You must go." She gave a pause. "And I don't like the person you now have become. When you kept going to the Underland you were happy, or at least, you were lively. Now you seem distant, always in your mind. Perhaps a revisit like this will do you good."

"But mom," Gregor said, still not quite sure of what just happened, "Lizzie and Boots are called in the prophecy as well." His mother thought for a moment. "But why? Why do they need Lizzie?" It was Gregor's dad who answered. "They don't know which is the princess the prophecy means."

"Then both of them will go," his mother said calmly, "but one needs to come back as soon as they decide who is the actual princess."

Gregor paused. And then he flung his arms around her. "Thanks mom." He whispered. She held him for a moment, and then stood up.

"But this time, "She started. Gregor and his dad tensed, ready for her crazy idea. However, it didn't come. "This time, you need to properly prepare your trip. What do you need?"

Gregor thought for a moment. Before he would have immediately asked for a flashlight and as many batteries as he can take. But that was then, now he had echolocation to help him. His mom was looking at him. "Do you need a flashlight?" She asked. If I don't, Gregor thought, at least bringing one would help Lizzie and Boots. "Yeah," he answered. "What else?" What would help him survive down there?

"This prophecy," he began, "is about war again. I think bringing some kind of protective gear from the overland would help a lot."

"Well," his dad said, "We don't have any protective gear better than the Regalians can offer, and we don't have the time to go and buy one."

This was true, until Gregor remembered what Mrs. Cormaci had once told him. "Mr. Cormaci was once a soldier in the army." She had told him one morning, when he was helping her scrape the mold of a plate that once contained some salad that she'd forgotten and left outside for 6 days. "I still got his bulletproof vest. Thought I might need it someday." She looked at Gregor sincerely. "You never know."

You never know. Gregor had a sneaking suspicion that Mrs. Cormaci had somehow foreseen this day coming, that she and her deck of taro cards where somehow in on the secret. But one way or the other, Gregor was sure glad that she'd kept that bulletproof vest.