Underland Chronicles: 1 - The Border's Edge (A Gregor the Overlander FanFic)

Chapter 7

Luxa rolled her eyes and impatiently slapped her hands against her sides. "Fine. He can come. But since you are so adamant on his coming, you can ride on him." She turned on her heel and headed toward the opening that headed back to Regalia. "Let us head back now, there is still much planning to do."

Pan waddled beside Pandora, since bat's legs were quite short. "How long have you been staying in Regalia?" he purred.

This question made Pandora think before she answered. Time felt different down in the Underland because there was no way to determine whether it was day or night. "About a day, I think," she answered.

He huffed out his chest and sighed. "One day and they already have you performing tasks for them."

"If you are meaning they forced me into staying, it's not really like that," she answered quietly, thinking of Vikus, Nerissa, and Howard who were very nice to her. Luxa and Ripred weren't technically mean to her, but they were the ones who came up with the plan to visit the stingers.

"Oh?" he replied. He fluttered his wings as he jumped over an uneven stone; now they were walking on a pathway in the city of Regalia.

"Yes," Pandora said. "It was like I... helped them make up their minds." She said carefully, not wanting to scare the young bat with the details of her two strange outbursts she had had since arriving in the Underland.

Pan took a moment to study her face, looking directly into her eyes for several moments before speaking, as if he knew she was holding something back. "How did you manage to do that?"

Pandora shrugged awkwardly and was relieved that his gaze went back on the city. "I don't know."

Her answer seemed to satisfy Pan enough to quiet him about the touchy subject. They walked together in silence for a bit until Pandora piped in, "Why did you want to come with us so badly?"

For a minute or two, Pandora didn't even think Pan would answer until he spoke up. "I want to show the others. Show them who I am. They do not appreciate me very much. I may be quite small, but I can do everything the others can! They just have not seen me accomplish anything truly memorable yet."

Pandora believed what Pan said, despite what the other bats said about him. They made it seem as though he was still practically a baby, and what made it so believable was that he was a whole foot shorter than them. "I believe in you, Pan," Pandora said encouragingly. "I've seen underdogs pull through before, and none of them had as much confidence and persistence as I've seen in you so far."

Pan smiled, "Thank you. I don't blame the others for not seeing me the same way as you. It'll just take some time." Pandora gave him a small smile.

They had all reached the base of the palace, where the platform rested that could be raised to re-enter the fortress. Vikus and Ripred climbed onto the platform, so Pandora followed them. Howard sat on the back of Nike, Luxa on Aurora; along with Pan, they flew in the air to the top, where the edge of a balcony could be seen, in a matter of seconds. The platform followed, though Pandora thought it was painstakingly slow compared to the bats' flight up.

When they finally reached the lowest window, Pandora, Vikus, and Ripred stepped off to meet the others, who had already traversed through the building and were waiting near the entrance. Luxa came right up to her. "Come with me," she said and started to walk towards a staircase.

Pandora followed Luxa down so many corridors and staircases that she didn't remember the way back up; she finally entered a spacious room through a large, rounded opening.