~ GREGOR

"Ah, it does branch off to the right!" Howard said excitedly.

"We'll be out soon," Pandora said confidently.

Clearing his voice before taking a sip of water, Gregor concentrated hard on his echolocation. It didn't look as promising ahead as Pandora made it seem. The tunnel snaked this way and that. It wouldn't be long until they reached another branch.

He took a deep breath and tried his best to visualize what the tunnel may look like on a map. Where did he think Regalia was? In which direction would they be heading after the next few turns? After walking in a straight direction for so long, Gregor knew Regalia was no longer to their right; it was behind them.

Gregor wondered what Luxa was doing. Was she worried why they were gone for so long? She was so busy... had she even noticed? Yes, Gregor thought. Of course she noticed.

He didn't voice anything out loud, for fear of getting Howard worked up prematurely. Who knew? Maybe Gregor would have a "Eureka" moment, or maybe Pandora would have a vision that showed the way back.

"My, this certainly is a... change of pace, isn't it?" Howard commented after a few minutes of twisting and turning.

"I'm not quite sure which direction we're headed in now," Pandora said.

"I'm pretty sure," Gregor answered. "I've been trying to map it in my head. I can't see too far in the distance with the echolocation, but every little bit of extra insight helps make the bigger picture clearer."

Pandora had put her flashlight back in Gregor's backpack a while ago, after Howard had woken up and they started moving again. As they continued to walk, Gregor noticed that the bulb on Howard's light was growing weaker and weaker. It wouldn't be long before the batteries gave out.

He almost mentioned his observation when it happened. With a wink, the flashlight died. Pandora and Howard stopped moving. Knowing they were both plunged in darkness, Gregor took the initiative to take the second flashlight out of his pack, turned it on, and swapped it for the dead one in Howard's hand.

It was like wrenching an object out of a corpse's grasp.

"Howard," Pandora asked once she saw his face in the light of the new flashlight. "Are you alright?"

"I... I'm ok now," he said tersely. "Thank you, Gregor."

He started to walk forwards as if nothing happened, but Gregor knew at once that Pandora was concerned about him. Heck, he was concerned about him, too! Did he seem paler than usual? His movements seemed robotic. Gregor took a couple large steps so he was in front of the two, trying not to impede the flashlight's beam but far enough away from them to give them at least a hint of privacy. He cleared his throat again to try to get a clearer picture of the tunnel ahead. Oh great, another branch.

"Are you sure?" Pandora pressed. "You're acting strange."

"What if... what if the earthquake has shifted the tunnel? Maybe we are walking away from Regalia instead of towards it." As he kept talking, he sounded less and less like himself. "We will be lost for a long time. Perhaps forever. Scouts might never even find our bodies."

"Howard..." Pandora tried to stop his spiraling.

"Our corpses will rot on the cold rock floor. We might not even decompose. We will be poised with the very last emotions we had while still alive etched into our leathery faces for all eternity."

"Howard, stop this. You don't know that!" Pandora said. She sounded extremely upset, her voice breaking towards the end. Gregor tried to erase the disturbing picture Howard conjured from his mind by giving his head a little shake. How could he say something like that?

"There will be no closure for the people who care about us. Without having proof, they could still have a speck of hope we are still out here. What would be worse? Knowing we are gone and having a proper funeral? Or living with endless guilt that they did not find us, and we may still be wandering around with no place to call home?"

Gregor had stopped walking as Howard kept talking. He turned around and was about to tell Howard to shut up, but Pandora had taken a step further and placed both of her hands on his cheeks and forced him to turn his gaze upon her.

"Stop this. Please."

"I thought you had told us to expect the worse," he retorted. He sounded winded... no, he sounded on the brink of a panic attack. Pandora's hold on his face grew stronger as Howard tried to wrench his face away from hers. He avoided eye contact.

"This is not what I mean by 'expect the worst.' You're freaking out. You need to take a breath and calm down. Take a deep breath in through your nose," Pandora said calmly. She waited for Howard to do what she said. "Now out through your mouth. It's only been a day. We're not far away from Regalia. And if the earthquake has changed the paths, we'll be even more likely to run into scouts as they try to map the new terrain."

"That... may be true," Howard said, even though he sounded unconvinced. He finally glanced at Pandora before closing his eyes tightly and taking another deep breath. Pandora's hands were still on his cheeks, but only gently now.

Gregor wanted to turn around and continue making progress, but he knew Howard wasn't ready yet.

"Tell me what happened when you were alone," Pandora requested after a moment of silence. "When the cutters attacked last time I was here."

"I... no. I can't." Howard gently removed Pandora's hands off his face. "Not in this place. It's too..." he shuddered. "It's too similar."

"It's not that similar," Gregor finally spoke. "You've got friends this time."

"And light," Pandora added.

"Yes, but for how much longer?" Howard said shakily.

"We should keep moving," Gregor pressed, turning back forward and continuing to walk.

Howard and Pandora followed silently, Howard gripping the flashlight tightly with one hand, Pandora using both her arms to hold his other and draw little circles on the back of his palm.

***

~ PANDORA

As they broke for lunch, Gregor grabbed his share of food. "I'll be back soon. I'm gonna scout ahead a little bit."

"Be careful," Pandora said. Gregor gave her a thumbs up after he tore a hunk of bread off with his teeth.

Howard seemed a little too focused on his sandwich. Even though he ate slowly, he didn't look up from his food. Pandora thought he must've been trying to avoid conversation.

"I know I can't force you to open up to me," Pandora said softly. "But it may help you. So... whenever you want to talk about it... I'm here for you."

Howard met her gaze. "I know you are. And I know Nike is as well. It is something... you just cannot understand it all. What was going through my head... the utter torment of not knowing. The certainty of death."

"That's the sort of thing I'll never be able to understand. And that's ok." Pandora gave him a reassuring smile. "No one, except maybe Sandwich, knows what I go through. Sure, Ripred is a rager just like Gregor, but he didn't deal with being a part of two worlds at once. We don't have to understand each other perfectly to be of some help."

Howard nodded.

"Whenever you're ready," Pandora repeated. She heard Gregor's footsteps as he returned.

"I think I recognize a place ahead."

"You do?" Pandora exclaimed as she stood.

Howard threw the rest of his food into the basket and stood as well, flashlight at the ready. "Lead us to it, Gregor."

"This way."

The group walked with renewed vigor in the direction Gregor led them in.

"What makes you think you recognize it?" Pandora asked, curious as to how Gregor could recall anything in the tunnel that never seemed to change.

"I passed it on the way into Regalia. Only on this trip, so I'm not one hundred percent positive. It was a different way in, just in case there were any cutters around. It's just up ahead. Maybe five minutes," Gregor explained. "There's this cavern. You can't miss it. I haven't seen one like it before. It's tiny width-wise, but seems to have no ceiling. It's so high up I can't pick it up at all. The fliers could easily, I'd imagine. I'm just too new to see that far."

"That's quite discernible," Howard observed. "I would take your word."

"Me, too," Pandora agreed.

Gregor stopped as he made it to the entrance. "Here it is. I'd say from here, it's an hour or so from Regalia. It was faster when I was on Aurora, so that's just a guesstimate. We must've walked some crazy, crisscross trail that took us all the way around the perimeter to the other side of the city."

"It's refreshing to have an actual route now," Howard said with a sigh of relief. Pandora took his hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze. She knew they would be alright eventually. There was no doubt in her mind. They just had to be patient and have faith.

"Yeah, here, I'll show you the cavern," Gregor stepped towards Howard and outstretched his hand to take the flashlight. Howard gave it over willingly. "It's pretty cool."

He stepped up to the mouth of the cavern and swept the beam from side to side to show off the inside. Pandora and Howard looked from over his shoulders. He was right – there wasn't a ceiling in sight. What was visible, however, were bones scattered along the floor. It made her skin crawl.

Pandora felt Howard's grip on her hand tighten. "I... I cannot go through there," he said quietly. Pandora turned to look at him; he took a step backwards, his head shaking slightly. His eyes were wide.

"Then we don't have to," Pandora reassured him. "We'll find a way around this. There has to be another tunnel around here that'll lead to Regalia. If it's as close as Gregor says, it shouldn't be that hard. There are many routes into the city."

"There might be," Gregor said. "But without knowing where we're going, we might just make ourselves even more lost. And who knows what that earthquake did."

"We won't get lost. You have a great sense of direction. You said so yourself. If we feel like we aren't headed in a direction that leads to the city, we'll just turn around."

"We can't know for sure which tunnel will lead us to Regalia and which one won't," Gregor countered.

"We'll have to pick one at random and take a chance. If it's a bad choice, we'll turn back."

"That would take forever," Gregor said, taking another step towards the cavern. "This is a sure-fire way. I've been here before."

"So have I," Howard said. "And I will not go in there again."

"Gregor, we can't go that way. I won't make Howard do that." Pandora hoped Gregor would change his mind, for Howard's sake... and sanity.

"If it hasn't already occurred to you," Gregor said impatiently, "this is our only flashlight and the only set of batteries. We don't have much time to get back. You've seen Howard's reaction if there's no light!"

Gregor's tone stung. He was getting frustrated, but so was she! "Yes, so let's spend less time arguing and more time finding a different route!"

"I'm not going a different way," Gregor said, not budging from his position.

"You're going to have to," Pandora said with what she hoped was finality. She didn't want to start a fight.

"I only remember one way!" Gregor shouted back. He pointed angrily at the entrance. "This way! Now let's go!"

"We don't know what Howard has been through!" Pandora took a breath and kept her voice in check. "Obviously, that way bothers him," she said more calmly.

"Not as much as no light," Gregor ground out. He flicked off the flashlight and yelled at her in the darkness. "Do you want this to happen?"

"Turn it back on, Gregor!" Pandora yelled back. Howard froze like stone, keeping a tight grip on Pandora's hand. She tried to take a step towards him, free arm outstretched in an attempt to wrench the flashlight away from Gregor. Howard's grip was so tight that she found it impossible to take more than a half-step forward.

"We keep arguing like this, and this battery will run out!"

All of Pandora's patience for maintaining a calm demeanor crumbled. "Turn that flashlight on now!" She wasn't in the mood for Gregor to not listen to her. Pandora was afraid they were at a stalemate, which was almost worse than being dead in the Underland.

Gregor flicked the flashlight back on. It was raised up and created menacing shadows on his face. Pandora hadn't heard Gregor move, but he suddenly was right up in her face. He grabbed her by the neck with one hand and pushed her into the nearest wall. The quick movement forced Howard's hand to leave her's, and she tried to put her arms behind her to cushion the blow. It didn't help much. Pandora would have cried out in pain if Gregor wasn't pressing hard on her throat.

"You don't tell me what to do," he growled, a murderous look in his eyes. For a second, his eyes matched the pure hatred found in the eyes of the rats in Pandora's dream. But these eyes were on a human, an Overlander like herself, not on a giant menacing rat. Even though her adrenaline was pumping, Pandora was not scared.

Pandora dared to glare right back, trying to match his ferocity. With as much force as she could muster, she pulled a hand out from behind her back and popped Gregor right between the eyes. She had never struck anybody before, and was surprised to find her knuckles hurt, but it had the desired effect. Gregor instantly let go and pinched his nose between his two hands. The flashlight clattered on the rocks, rolling to land by Howard's feet. Snapping out of his trance caused by the blackout, Howard picked it up and ran towards Pandora, putting a hand on her shoulder and asking if she was alright.

After a couple of coughs, regaining her breath, and assuring Howard that she was fine, Pandora spoke to Gregor. She tried to sound strong, but her voice was slightly hoarse. "You're not in charge." Bent over, Gregor turned his head sideways to look up at her. "In case you haven't noticed," Pandora continued, "we're all stuck in the same boat. Get a reality check." Gregor wasn't the poor kid who lived on the floor above her anymore. The Underland had hardened him. Life in general had done a number on him, but he didn't intimidate Pandora.

"And let me guess, it's a reality you help shape with your poems and prophecies?" Gregor said quietly. His voice sounded dark at the beginning, but lightened to a more frightened tone by the end. Pandora shook her head, letting his comment roll off her back. Whatever came over Gregor to make him act as violently as he had was now gone. A shiver went down Pandora's spine as she remembered thinking a similar thought about Damien.

"Stop this," Howard said, helping Gregor get upright again and using the flashlight to check on his now-bleeding nose. "We need to think of a compromise. And I think... as long as we have a working flashlight... I should try to go through the cavern. We need to stick together, that's the important thing."

"You aren't alone this time, Howard," Pandora said comfortingly. "That should help." Howard gave a small smile but Pandora could tell he was still scared at the prospect of entering that disturbing place.

"You don't trust me, don't you?" Gregor said towards Pandora.

"That's not what I'm thinking at all. What happened back there was not a matter of trusting your judgement. I'm just looking out for everyone's well-being," Pandora replied. She took a step towards Howard and took his hand once again. "Can you take Howard's other hand and hold the flashlight steady? If we're going in there, we're all staying together. That's the way Luxa would have us do it, right?"

After a moment of silence and a deep breath, Gregor nodded and reached out to take Howard's hand. Pandora could tell Gregor was a bit shaken by the experience and decided not to hold any anger against him for the violence. "You're right," he said. His voice sounded much different now. Softer. More like himself. "Let's go."

~ GREGOR

Gregor was terrified.

Sure, they now knew how to get back to Regalia, but it didn't matter how close they were to the city if he inadvertently slipped completely into rager mode. Howard and Pandora simply wouldn't make it back alive.

He was able to reign his uncontrollable sense back into his subconscious... this time. Gregor concentrated on keeping the flashlight beam straight ahead of them. Howard was right – this cavern really was unnerving. It didn't affect Gregor the first time he passed through it, but at a second glance, it was horrifying. Where did all the skeletons come from?

Thankfully the cavern was much taller than it was wide, and it wouldn't take them long to get to the other side. With every step, Howard was even more of a wreck than he was before. Anytime they had to sidestep a bone, he acted as if it was going to suddenly grow a conscious and try to bite him.

"Relax, Howard," Gregor tried to soothe him. "There's nothing in this cavern with us. Nothing at all. Just the bones. We're not going to get attacked." Not by anything else, he continued to himself. He wouldn't admit it to the others, but he believed he was the most dangerous creature in the Underland at this moment.

"Now that I have seen it with my eyes, I realize that now," Howard stammered back. "It was much different in complete darkness. I didn't know where I was, and I couldn't stand on my feet. I crawled through here." Howard's voice broke and a tear fell down his cheek. "Every single bone I felt with my hands made me think I was one inch closer to whatever it was that allowed that creature to decay here."

"Oh, Howard..." Pandora tried to comfort him, but he continued to talk.

"If I had known how close I was to Regalia at the time... no, no that knowledge still would not have helped." At this point, the trio had left the grim cavern behind and Gregor kept them on the path that he remembered led back to Regalia. Listening to Howard's story, along with focusing on the way back, helped Gregor completely regain his composure. Howard continued to talk. "I believed my time was up every corner I turned, and any sound I heard echo through the tunnels played with my thoughts. Every drip of water was the sound of saliva leaving the maw of a beast. Every scrape or skitter was the ten-inch claws of a monster. Wind was the breath of a terrifying creature.

"I apologize for being in such an awful mood," Howard wiped the streams of tears off his face and looked at Gregor and Pandora. "I've been no help this entire trip. I was trapped in my own thoughts. I focused on the fact that I was lost again; it didn't even occur to me that I wasn't alone anymore."

"Howard, don't apologize," Pandora said. "We both know you've been through a lot. It's ok to not be ok."

"It's ok to not be ok," Howard repeated with a little laugh. He sniffled and wiped his eyes again. "How I love you and your funny phrases."

"And I love you, too," Pandora replied. "Whenever you want to talk more about this, I'm always happy to listen." She leaned forward to see Gregor, since Howard was walking between them. "The same goes to you, Gregor. You're the only other Overlander down here. We've got to stick together."

Gregor gave her a sincere smile. "Thanks. Even though I know Ripred is the only one who understands, he's a terrible listener."

Howard chuckled. "Terrible listener, but great storyteller."

"What's with everyone and praising Ripred on his storytelling skills? My mother was a way better storyteller!" Pandora said.

"No one's a better storyteller than Ripred," Gregor said with dripping sarcasm. He caused both of his companions to laugh. As they passed through what Gregor believed to be the final passage before they reached the outskirts of Regalia, he suddenly remembered one of the reasons why he volunteered to accompany Howard on his date with Pandora.

"You know," he said, "you two make a great couple. You really do. And I'm going to make sure I tell York that he's completely wrong."

They turned a final corner and came upon the short wall that surrounded the fields outside of Regalia. Glowing lanterns at regular intervals kept the place sufficiently lit, so Gregor turned off the flashlight. They approached the nearest gate and were allowed in immediately.

Then Gregor glanced around them and noticed they weren't alone... not by a long shot.

It looked like Regalia was preparing for the cutters to siege the city. Underlanders flocked towards the gates, and Gregor's eyes floated to the tops of the higher walls, where soldiers were stationed and higher-ups gave orders for them to carry out to get everything prepared.

"Sorry guys," Gregor said. "It lookslike my meeting with York is going to have to wait."