~ PANDORA

Gregor and Pandora met up with Howard and Nike in the High Hall, which housed a crowd larger than Pandora had ever seen. It didn't surprise her, what with the ever-growing-closer presence of the cutters.

"Are you ready?" Howard asked her, placing a hand on her lower back as she climbed up on Nike. He quickly followed her.

"Yeah. Let's leave before the crowd gets even worse."

"I'll say," Gregor agreed as he hopped on behind Howard.

Nike coasted towards the spot Howard must have told her about previously; it didn't take them long to arrive. Nike said a quick farewell before heading back to the palace.

"How far to your picnic spot, Howard?" Gregor asked as Howard picked up the lunch basket and started to walk.

"Twenty minutes perhaps," Howard answered, already starting to huff under the weight of the basket filled with royal goodies.

Without saying a word, Gregor took the basket from him. Howard smiled as a way of thanking him. As fast as Howard recovered, Pandora could still tell he wasn't quite 100% yet. He still limped slightly on his bad leg and his strength hadn't fully returned. At least he didn't look like a string bean anymore. Pandora laced her fingers through his.

"Just through here. This is a lesser-known way to the Fount. It's not as fast as the popular route, but it's one of Nike's favorites. The river that feeds the Fount runs underneath it, and I think it branches off afterwards."

Pandora stopped walking. She pointed to the rock wall ahead of them, where a large opening led to a tunnel. Torches lined the wall, so the opening was unmistakable, even if it was too dark beyond it to tell how large the tunnel was inside. "Through there?"

"Yes," Howard answered. "Is something wrong?"

"I... don't know," Pandora answered. It was the cavern. The one from her dreams that she talked with Nerissa about. Seeing it in person made her stomach drop. What was it about this cavern that made Pandora so upset? It wasn't like her other dreams, where she could figure out the story as it played out in front of her. There was no story with the cavern. It was unmistakable, yet Pandora knew nothing about it. Maybe that's why it made her so wary.

"It's just... I've seen this cavern before. In my head. I see it often, but I don't know why. Something seems off."

"Are you sure it's this exact one?" Gregor asked. Pandora nodded her head in certainty. "What seems off about it? Looks fine to me. They even marked it with torches. They only do that if it's safe."

"I know," Pandora said. "You know what? If I don't know what's up with this cavern, it shouldn't be anything important. Maybe I'm just feeling energy from something that happened a long time ago. Kind of like what psychics feel around old buildings and cemeteries and things like that."

"I don't want to force you to go this way if you don't feel comfortable with it," Howard said.

"No, I'm fine. Really. It's only a feeling."

"Are you positive?"

"Yes," Pandora assured Howard. She kissed his cheek and gave him a half smile. "It's only a short walk from here. I'm sure the place you have in mind is beautiful."

"It is," Howard replied. "There's this large rock outcropping in front of a steamy section of the river. It's got moss growing on it, so it makes the floor soft. It smells fresh, free from the burning smell of the many torches in Regalia."

"Sounds like a nice place," Gregor nodded. Pandora agreed.

They continued on their way, past the entrance and into a spacious tunnel. Their footsteps echoed off the smooth rock walls. Howard lit the torch he had brought, explaining that he'd rather use it before they arrived at his special place, where they would prefer Pandora's and Gregor's flashlights to preserve the nice air. The flame cast flickering, dark versions of Pandora, Howard, and Gregor onto the walls.

The flickering of her shadow made Pandora think about the tingly sensation running up and down her spine, as if her nerves were flickering along with it. "Oh no," Pandora said aloud.

Pandora attempted to kneel on the tunnel floor as another sensation passed, causing her muscles to spasm. She practically dragged Howard down with her as she fell. Howard didn't seem too concerned, quickly discerning what was the problem. He knelt beside her, never letting go of her hand. Pandora was aggravated. Why would her body do this now, before a nice, relaxing lunch?

"Get away from the walls," Pandora warned.

"What?" Gregor asked, his eyebrows furrowing in confusion.

"Get away from the walls and brace yourselves," Pandora said.

"What is going to occur, Pandora?" Howard asked.

The environment answered his question before Pandora could open her mouth. Everything started to shake, and the floor felt like quaking jelly. Loose pebbles and dust clattered as they were loosened from the walls and dropped to the floor.

"Earthquake," Pandora ground out just before a more intense wave hit.

Gregor quickly kneeled with Howard and Pandora, placing a strong hand on both of their shoulders. Howard tightened his grip on Pandora's hand and the torch.

If Howard or Gregor said something to Pandora, she didn't catch it. The thunderous noise of giant rocks falling came from every direction. It was hard to tell what was a new rock hitting the floor and what was an echo.

Gregor gasped and spun around as he got to his feet. "The entrance," he cried over the continuous crashes around them, trying his best to run despite the tremors.

"Don't worry about that now!" Howard yelled at him.

Gregor looked back towards them with wide eyes, the eyes of an animal who knew they were trapped.

"Dive to your right, now!" Pandora shrieked.

As soon as Pandora's threat registered in Gregor's mind, he looked up, only to see a boulder growing larger as it got closer to his head.

~ GREGOR

Without another moment of hesitation, Gregor jumped to his right. Unable to land on his feet on the rolling surface, he tucked and somersaulted. He righted himself with his hands before getting up and moving back with Pandora and Howard.

"We need to move away from here!" Pandora told them. "This way!"

Pandora reached behind her and grabbed Gregor's forearm. Together, the three travelers tried their best to run. The unrelenting movement of the floor made it seem to Gregor as if they were taking a large step back for every three they moved forward. It seemed to be clearer of debris ahead, to Gregor's delight.

Pandora crashed into Howard, almost making him fall right on his shoulder. She yanked on Gregor's arm, causing him to follow. He narrowly dodged another falling rock. Within three seconds, Pandora repeated the same move on the opposite side, running into Gregor so Howard moved out of the way of a rock. It seemed as though she knew where they were falling even before they broke loose of the ceiling.

"Hug the wall!" She screamed, shoving Howard to his right and then reaching back to yank Gregor across the tunnel. Pandora pressed on the men's backs, keeping their chests and faces on the cold, shaking surface.

A final heave from the quake sent down an enormous wave of rocks and dust. Gregor was lucky that only his calf was scraped from the incident. He would've been a crushed puddle on the floor three times over if it wasn't for Pandora!

Gregor tried to take a deep breath in to calm his thoughts, but ended up putting a large amount of dust inside his lungs. He coughed as he pulled the collar of his shirt over his nose; he would have to be careful about breathing until the dust settled.

He turned to face Pandora and Howard. "Are you two okay?" They were still making themselves small on the tunnel wall.

"I think so," Pandora answered with a small cough. She brought up her fist to cover her mouth. She turned her head from side to side as if to clear it from the dust that made everything look hazy.

"Gregor, where are you?" She asked.

"Right beside you," Gregor answered her. "I'm fine. I stayed up against the wall like you said to."

"Howard, are you okay? The torch must have gone out. The last large fall of rocks caused a big rush of wind."

"The torch?" Gregor asked. But he could see just fine. "Oh!" Gregor pulled the backpack off his shoulders and rummaged through it to find his flashlight. "Here. Take this." He flicked on the flashlight and gave it to Pandora. Her face was covered in a thick layer of dirt.

"Thanks," she said. "Howard? Are you hurt?"

"Sorry, it's the echolocation thing. Sometimes I forget... is he alright?" Gregor stopped midsentence when he saw Howard's face in the beam of the flashlight. He looked as though he had just seen a demon that had been taunting him for years. It was more than just terrified. He was frozen in a state of complete and utter terror. One you could not escape because it lived in your mind. Gregor knew exactly what that felt like.

"Howard?" Pandora said to him again. She picked up one of his hands and held it up near his chest. "Please answer me."

Howard stayed silent as the dust slowly settled onto the tunnel floor. He finally seemed to register that Pandora was standing just in front of him. He held her face in between both of his hands, stroking her cheeks as if he was afraid they would melt away in a matter of seconds.

"I..." he tried to form a sentence. "The darkness."

"Take a deep breath. It's ok. We're all ok," Pandora assured him.

"My apologies," he said slowly. "A rock knocked the torch from my hand. It went out as it was buried in the rubble. The dark reminded me of my time alone. I haven't been in darkness since then. I didn't know it would affect me like that."

"You don't have to be sorry, Howard," Gregor said. "We've all got problems. Just like you watching out for Pandora, making sure her head didn't hit the floor back there, well... now she's got your back. Why don't you hold onto that flashlight? I've got another one in here."

"Thank you," Howard said, accepting the light.

The three of them took the opportunity to finally survey their new surroundings. "Why is it that every time we try to go on a picnic, there's an earthquake?" Gregor grumbled.

"I don't think we can go back the way we came," Pandora said.

"No, we can't," Gregor affirmed. "It caved in."

"Shall we press on then?" Howard asked.

"I guess that's all we can do," Pandora said. "There's no turning back now."

As they turned and walked down the only path the tunnel now had to offer, something dawned on Gregor. If there was another dead end ahead, they were trapped. It was a miracle the earthquake didn't cause Gregor's rager sense to kick in; what's to say that the panic of knowing he had no way out triggered it? Gregor tried to keep himself calm, but his mind continued to race.

He had a sick feeling that Howard and Pandora's picnic lunch was going to turn into a bloodbath, and the person who was only trying to help would now be the one who would cause it.

"Does anyone know where we're going?" Gregor asked as the three of them trudged on. He was hopeful that Howard had some clue, but he had been silent for some time. Maybe Pandora had some vision that showed them the way back.

"No," Pandora answered.

"I have never gone this way down the tunnel. The Fount is that way," Howard pointed directly behind them.

"Well," Gregor said, "I have a pretty good sense of direction. It's gotten way better since I learned echolocation. Regalia is somewhere to our right. We're not that far away to begin with. I say we turn right when we get the chance."

"That's as good a guess as any," Howard said in a distant voice. It wasn't like Howard to sound pessimistic; he was just as hopeful as Nike... usually.

"Let's walk for another hour. And if we haven't found anything then, let's stop for a few and eat something."

"Yeah, at least we have the food," Pandora said.

"We shall have to ration it if we can't find our way back soon," Howard said.

"Don't worry, man," Gregor told him. "We're only twenty minutes away from the edge of Regalia. We can't be that lost." Gregor could tell Howard was on edge. Pandora had taken the flashlight from him because of how badly he was shaking. Even though Howard was mostly physically recovered from his time alone after the cutters attacked them, Gregor could tell that emotionally, he was not.

"Yeah," Pandora agreed. "This tunnel doesn't seem to twist and turn much at all. It won't take us long to reach Regalia. We're just taking the long way."

"Mmhmm. The long way." Gregor repeated, consoling himself as much as Howard that they would be out of this mess before it turned into a real problem.

~ PANDORA

Walking down the tunnel was a lot different than when they had started. At the beginning, the tunnel was very smooth, and they were all excited to go to Howard's favorite lunch stop. Now, rocks and debris littered the floor, and everyone was on edge, all wondering when they would get back to Regalia, or at least a place they recognized.

Howard was a mess, and Gregor was little help. Sure, he said a couple of things in an attempt to cheer Howard up, but Pandora could tell by the tone of his voice that he was nervous, too.

"How about we stop right here? There's barely any rocks on the floor. We can sit and eat something."

"Alright," Gregor agreed. He placed the basket of food on the floor and sat in front of it. "Howard, do you want to pass out lunch? You're the one who put it together."

"Of course," Howard said. As he opened up the basket, he thought out loud. "We'll start with what will go bad first."

"Sounds like a good idea," Pandora said with a smile, "especially if it means we get to eat cake first!"

"You're starting to sound like one of the shiners," Gregor said with a half-smile.

"Just call me Photos Glow-Glow."

"When my sister Boots was down with me, she could never say his name. She ended up calling him 'Fo-Fo,' and it drove him crazy."

"Yes, I remember that," Howard said. Pandora was glad to see him smile. She hoped he would remain in good spirits throughout their meal. "How much does she remember from her time spent here?"

"Not much, to be honest."

Howard shrugged. "It is for the best."

"Yeah. Both she and Lizzie do really well in school. Virginia was a good decision. My family's really happy up there."

"I'm sure you get a lot of support from your relatives as well?" Howard asked.

"Oh yeah. We practically have cousins over every weekend. The farm beats the tiny apartment we were living in in New York. That place was a dump."

Pandora laughed and nodded her head. "It's not the greatest. I can't imagine more than two people sharing one of those apartments."

"My bedroom was literally a closet," Gregor laughed. "But at least I had a little privacy."

"What was Virginia like for you?" Howard asked him. "You've told us that your sisters are doing well and your family is happy. What about you?"

"I... couldn't adjust. Then again, I wasn't doing much better in New York. I liked the fresh start at a new school where people wouldn't be asking me why I was absent all the time. I loved the huge piece of land we were on. I rode my bike everywhere. The air cleared my head. But then school got harder, and my friends came and went. Changes, responsibilities... girls, and drama. It made my head spin."

Pandora and Howard listened silently as Gregor talked. They ate slowly, chewing thoughtfully over what Gregor was telling them. "Everything got cloudy. Yeah, it was the winter so it was always cloudy, but my head was cloudy, too. For a while, I couldn't tell who I was anymore. Did I like the saxophone? Science? Was I even good at science? Who were my friends? Was he my friend, or just some poser pretending to like me?

"Being closed-off isn't good for a guy like me. I don't know how Ripred handles being alone all the time. He loves being alone, and I hate it. It makes everything worse. I ended up hating Virginia. I hated everything. My family is wonderful, and I love them all, but they couldn't understand me. Not at all. At least I didn't get in trouble at school, even though I was involved in a lot of fights." He looked up from his food and added, "I was always the good guy helping out the little guy. I never got suspended or anything, but I think people started to be afraid of me. I got carried away a lot, and I could never help it. The final straw happened a few weeks ago, right before the school year ended. I've been wanting to come back to New York for the longest time, but it was just something my parents couldn't afford to do. I'm eighteen now, so I have a bit more freedom. I convinced my parents... it didn't take much to convince them. It was really hard for them to let me go, but they knew it was the best for me."

"And when we get back to Regalia," Pandora said hopefully, "you can prove to them that it was best for you. Make progress..."

"I'm just scared it'll take too much time. I'm scared I missed my chance. If I caught it early on, I could've had a grasp on it by now."

"No one could have predicted that. You do not know that," Howard said gently.

"Yeah," Pandora agreed. "Sometimes it's not the best to dwell on the past and think what could have happened. Sometimes you have to look to the future."

"There was a time when I refused to allow myself to dream about the future, back when my dad was trapped down here. I would start to dream that one day he would walk through our door and everything would be ok again. But things like that only happen in movies."

"I look to the future all the time. Heck, more than most people do in their entire lives," Pandora said. "I can't give you much advice, but I can give you this: hope for the best, expect the worst. You'll never be let down and you'll always have better news than what you expected."

"Your advice is easy to remember but a bit harder to actually put into use," Gregor commented.

"Might be. But that's all I got," Pandora shrugged.

The rest of their short lunch was silent, and although Pandora loved cake, she only partially enjoyed her time eating the rest of it.

Pandora guessed they had been walking for several more hours, with no change whatsoever found in the tunnel. There were no curves, no branches, and no other path. Pandora could tell it bothered Howard. She tried to spark a conversation occasionally, to no avail. No one seemed to want to say more than a few words at a time. They experienced a couple smaller episodes of shaking... aftershocks... but nothing as intense as the first wave.

After ten times the walking Pandora had originally planned for on their luncheon, they decided it was time to put a little bit of food into their stomachs and try to get some rest.

"Here, Howard," Gregor said, handing him the flashlight they had been using. "I'll put the other one close to Pandora. That way, you'll both know where a light is. I'll keep watch."

"Are you sure?" Howard asked. Gregor gave him a confident now. "Thank you." Howard accepted the flashlight.

Gregor fished the other flashlight out of his backpack and placed it on the floor in between where he was sitting and where Pandora was laying. "Can you reach that easily?" Pandora nodded, trying to read his face and see if he was just as upset about spending the night in the tunnel as she and Howard were. If it did trouble him, he had a very good poker face.

Before Pandora closed her eyes, she watched the last bit of light go out, when Howard very hesitantly turned off the light. She didn't expect the object to leave Howard's hand anytime soon.

***

Pandora was standing alone in the tunnel, nothing but a flashlight in her hand. "Howard? Gregor?" She called. Where could they have gone? Not far, she hoped.

"Where are you guys?" Panic bloomed inside Pandora's chest when no answer was heard.

Moving the flashlight from right to left, she continued onward. The tunnel hadn't split directions yet, so there was only one way they could have gone.

"This isn't funny," she warned nervously.

As she swept her light to the right once again, a furry figure came into view. A huge, menacing rat. His hungry gaze slowly turned into a malicious smile.

"What isn't funny?" He growled at her. "Fangor, do you know what isn't funny?"

"Oh yes. This girl has had nothing to eat for hours. And she's so thin. There is nothing funny about that at all."

"She is extremely thin."

"Disgustingly thin, wouldn't you say, Shed?"

"Definitely. Why, she wouldn't be a meal at all. Not even a snack. Perhaps her tiny bones can pick things out of our teeth?"

"Yes, Shed. Good idea!" Fangor and Shed stalked closer to Pandora. She backed up against the opposite wall, where she had nowhere else to go. There was no point in running.

"Do I have a say in this?" Gregor asked in a sarcastic sort of tone. He walked near Pandora and made his way into the flashlight's beam, from where, Pandora didn't know and didn't care to ask.

"He just spoke to us, Fangor," Shed said. His eyes narrowed.

"He smells familiar," Fangor said. "Mark you, his shade?"

"Yes, I do. He's grown stronger since we saw him last. Soon he shall be more powerful than..."

"Don't say his name!" Shed yelled at Fangor. For a second, Pandora thought they were distracted. She took a step to the left, away from Gregor.

Not distracted enough, it seemed. Fangor's eyes flickered back to her. His smile came back as he playfully watched his next meal wriggle like a worm on a hook.

"He will not grow more powerful if we kill him!" Fangor countered.

"Flee, Overlander," Gregor said in a creepily steady tone. He pulled a sparkling golden sword from his hilt.

Pandora realized he was talking to her. Shed and Fangor seemed more on edge than ever, their eyes never leaving the weapon in Gregor's hand. They stalked closer to the threat on Pandora's right.

"I said flee! Flee, Overlander," Gregor said more firmly. His face took on a more stern and focused look. He looked ready for a fight, seeming to be both tense and relaxed at the same time.

Pandora struggled to get to a run. It felt as if her feet were dragging through mud. She looked down to see the rock bottom of the tunnel was now sand.

The sand was covered in blood.

Pandora gasped and looked behind her, still trying to put distance between Gregor and the two rats.

One rat already lay dead, the other dragged its bleeding belly across the beach. Blood from the fresh carcass ran down towards Pandora, making her sink farther into the wet sand now that she stood still.

The rat pulled its body along with one claw, using his other front paw to staunch the overflow of blood in his neck.

Gregor stamped along in the now-crimson sand towards him, dragging his sword behind him as if it was only an extension of his arm and it had been there his entire life.

The rat turned to face Gregor as he got closer, writhing around to stare his murderer in the eyes. "We hunt you," it gurgled out of the hole in its throat. "We hunt you to the last rat."

When Pandora woke up, she recalled having several strange dreams throughout the night, but none that she remembered as clearly as the one with Gregor and the two rats.

She reached out her arm until she felt the flashlight that Gregor had placed between them before they fell asleep. She checked up on her companions. Howard was still sleeping.

Sitting up, Pandora stretched out her tight back.

"I guess it's time to get a move on," Gregor said quietly.

Pandora nodded, too tired to respond. How much longer were they going to be away from Regalia? How much food should she leave for the three of them to have for a midday meal?

As she opened the basket, she thought back on her dream. Obviously, Gregor had a run-in with the two rats named Fangor and Shed in real life, but the dream still struck Pandora as strange. Usually she was just in the background of her dreams, observing what was happening to others. The rats had seen her first. They had wanted to eat her. Then Gregor showed up to defend her.

That's what was strangest about the dream: he had called her an Overlander. Why would he refer to her as an Overlander when he was one, too?

Just as she was pondering this, Gregor put a hand on hers. Startled, she jumped back into reality and realized she had stopped moving.

"Nightmares?" Gregor asked.

"A few," she responded.

"Do you have them most nights?"

"Not every night but more than the average person, I guess."

Gregor sighed, tore off a hunk of bread, and put a piece in his mouth. "Wouldn't it be nice to be average." He looked off down the tunnel, seeing more than just the pitch blackness Pandora could see, she assumed.

"I don't think so," Pandora said. Gregor gave her a questioning look so she continued her thought. "Being average would be boring... doing the same thing as everyone else, liking the same things, having the same aspirations. Not only are we different, but we've got these awesome gifts. Don't get me wrong... they can be pretty awful. You might think you're dangerous, but I think you're powerful. I thought I was crazy for the longest time, but Sandwich chose me to finish his work. It's all about perspective. And I think once you accept that being a rager doesn't mean being dangerous, I think you'll find that the suffering you've gone through so far will be worth it."

"I really wish just changing perspectives could make all of the problems go away," Gregor started to pace, walking several extra feet deeper in the tunnel. "When I'm in the zone, everything else gets blocked out. I'm not thinking about my morals or what other people think. I can't control myself."

"And in a while, you'll learn. It'll take some time, yes, but once this war with the cutters ends, you'll have all the time you need. That's what you came here for, wasn't it?"

"Yes," Gregor said.

"You don't sound very sure of yourself. Are you sure there aren't any other reasons you came back?"

"Listen, I..." His head snapped to the side. "Hang on. I think... I think there's a branch in the tunnel up ahead."

"Gregor? Pandora? Have you both eaten, or will I have some company?" Howard said with a smile, flashlight in one hand and a hunk of bread in the other.

"We'll be right there, Howard," Pandora answered him as Gregor took a few extra steps deeper to make sure. "Gregor thinks there's a break in the tunnel ahead!"

"Is that so?" Howard said excitedly. "In that case, let us eat as we walk. I am ready to be out of here!"