Gregor And The Empress

Chapter 3

*Hey It's me again. I know I haven't published a new chapter in a while but I really do like this story and I want to continue it. I feel like I should be working on my more popular stories but yolo ig."

Gregor was taken aback. He narrowed his eyes at the large rat, "What do you mean?"

His mouth moved into a smirk, "What do you think I mean?"

"I think you're crazy."

Ripred grinned even harder, "We know this. I am a crazy old rat. But what reason do you have not to believe me? Have I ever lied to you?"

Gregor gave him a look and resisted the urge to roll his eyes, "Yes. Many times."

Ripred was an expert at deception. He lied to anyone if it would mean he would get hid way. In a sense Gregor sort of admired that about Ripred.

Ripred dropped down to all fours and began to circle around Gregor, "Nevermind that. You know you aren't finished here yet."

Gregor sighed, "What do you mean? I thought 'the warrior was killed' when I smashed the sword... when A-" Gregor avoided Ripred's sympathetic gaze. He swallowed the lump that was beginning to form in his throat.

Ripred looked back at Lizzie who was also watching Gregor.
Gregor hadn't been able to talk about what happened since he left the Underland.

"You know as well as I, that Sandwich's prophecies are always misleading. How many times have we interpreted them wrong?"

"But we always manage to understand what they mean after they're finished."

Ripred ran his tongue over his teeth and scratched absentmindedly at his ear, "Who says the prophecy ended?"

Gregor made a face. Ripred was always making up silly theories about Sandwich's prophecies. He couldn't figure out if the old sat was a genius or crazy. Maybe a mixture of the two.

Gregor turned to Lizzie who gave him a hesitant glance, "How much do you know about this? And how long have you known?"

Lizzie took a deep breath, "I know that we were never supposed to leave this world behind. We are a part of it now. We have been for a long time. And I think you know that too. Why else would you be training all the time?"

Gregor swallowed as Ripred's ears perked up.

"So... warrior. You've been training, have you?"

Gregor shifted on his feet, "I wouldn't call it 'training'..." he trailed off.

"Really?"

"I mean, you never know when you're going to need to fight or something..."

Ripred looked up at Gregor slyly, "But you're a rager. A rager doesn't need to know how to fight. Right?"

Gregor stared into Ripred's eyes. "Even though you're a rager, that doesn't mean you're invincible. You taught me that."

The corners of the rat's mouth turned up, "So you've been listening to me this whole time? I thought my words were going one ear and out the other."

"I listen." Gregor said defensively.

"Then why won't you listen to us now? I know you like to pretend like you don't owe the underland anything. I know you like to pretend that you don't care, but you know that deep down... you belong here."

Gregor's jaw clenched, "And how do you know that?"

Ripred sat back on his haunches, "Have I ever told you why I'm so fascinated with you?"

Gregor made a face, "Because I'm a rager?"

"Precisely. Not just any type if rager. You're a human rager. I've never seen one in my lifetime. Especially not one with so much potential. Don't you find it weird that your family happens to fit in down here?"

Gregor pursed his lips but didn't answer. He had thought about it. A lot.

"Don't you find it strange that you're a rager, and your baby sister can communicate with cockroaches, and your sister Lizzie is super intelligent and can interpret things well, and your father is an expert in science."

Gregor squinted, "And my mom?"

Ripred snorted, "Grace has the power to terrify every creature in the Underland. Most fearsome swatter indeed."

Gregor chuckled, "Well she hasn't killed any since we came back home."

"I'm sure she still despises them."

Gregor nodded. His mother never liked bugs. She always associated cockroaches with dirty and bad.

Her last trip to the Underland opened her eyes to the fact that every creature has thoughts.

Gregor was also guilty of that. He never expected rats, cockroaches, or even bats to have feelings.

Most humans just regarded animals as wild beasts with murder on their minds.

If you asked Gregor you could almost describe humans that way.

Ripred dropped his smile for a moment, "Do you really believe that you're don't here, Gregor? Do you believe that after everything you've been through that you can just walk away? You've never even thought about the people down here? About your friends?"

Gregor looked away in shame. He had thought about how his friends were doing. He missed all of his friends down there. Especially Luxa... He felt horrible leaving her down there.

Being queen at her age had always stressed her. Gregor remembered when she would constantly nudge her crown like she wanted to push it off. Gregor wondered what she'd been up to. He wondered how she was doing. Not just her, he wondered how Howard was doing... how Nike and Aurora were doing since...

Gregor fell quiet for a moment.

Ripred continued, "That's what I thought. Like it or not, you belong here Gregor."

"But I thought-"

"Who cares what we thought the prophecy meant! You are here. Warrior or not."

Gregor swallowed and chewed on his bottom lip, "Why am I here?"

Ripred looked at Lizzie and she nodded, "It turns out that Sandwich knew we'd interpret it wrong. Maybe it was the way we were supposed to think."

Gregor scrunched his eyebrows together, "What do you mean?"

"A new prophecy room has been discovered, Gregor. And it has your name written all over it.