Gregor remembered all the things that happened in the Underland. The hate, the torture, the death. But also, he missed his friends. Deeply. "When I go back there..." then he stopped his thoughts and realized, "I am never going back there." he sighed, a bit too loudly, because his friend Larry said, "What's wrong?" "Oh, uh, nothing. Just..." his voice trailed off. Angelina giggled, "Just' what?" "Nothing." Gregor said under his breath. But, obviously, it was something. He stood up and said, "Gotta go." and left the luncheon area.
Once he got home, his 3 year old sister, Boots, squealed with joy. "Gregor! I saw baby Temp! Your home!"as if she just realized he was home. "I made you a picture!" she squealed. She held up a picture of sticks and scribbles, to her, it was a pretty picture, to Gregor, torture. It was supposedly Ares, his bond that a giant white rat, named the Bane, killed. He still smiled warily. His family tried to make him happy, because of the things he'd seen in Regalia. He'd seen too much down there. Waaay to much.
"Simon!" his grandmother called. She was very ill, so were his parents. It was like the kids raising their parents. Simon is what his grandmother called him. He didn't know who it was, but also, he didn't know why she called him that.
"Coming!" Gregor called.
"Oh, Simon! Your scars! Did the scythe hurt you? Did you drop it? When?" his grandmother sounded worried. But a scythe? Really? "I'm fine Grandma." Gregor replied, touching the scars that a giant squid gave him.
He thought of Twitchtip, Howard, Luxa, Mareth, and the baby Bane. Which were the people on this journey. Mostly he thought of Pandora, Howards bond who was eaten by termites, and Ares, who the Bane killed. "Gregor?" His grandmother said, "Are you alright?" "I have a question, who's Simon?" Gregor asked. A quick, sad look passed over his grandmother's face. "This piece here, on my quilt, is a piece from his suit." was all she said, pointing to a navy blue square on her quilt.
After his grandmother was asleep, it was about 9:30 at night. He suddenly saw Luxa on the couch. He blinked and she was gone. "I'm tired." He thought. "But I am going back. I have to. I am. Tonight." he said to himself. After all, it was March Break. Well, the beginning of it.
"Going back, where?" Gregor saw his eight year old sister Lizzie, standing in the living room. "Liz, you can't tell." Gregor whispered. "I promise." She said "Back to Regalia. Tonight." He replied. "I'm, wait, you, I, I - I am - wanna go!" She stammered, like she was about the have a panic attack. Even her voice cracked. She was worried. "You can't Lih-" he cut himself off. She missed people too, like Ripred. "Fine, you can come, get your stuff" he sighed, "We leave at 10:00." "Kay." She smiled.
Gregor knew, this would be a long, long way down.
Characters by Suzanne Collins, I own nothing.
