"Gratitude!" spat out Howard. "You sold us to the rats and now you expect gratitude? Show yourselves!"
"Someone has a very selective memory," said Photos Glow-Glow. "You do not seem to recall how we starved for you, guided you across the Waterway, and masterfully defended you from the squid!"
"I remember you ate some squid," said Gregor. "That's about it." He hadn't even bothered to rise. The shiners were such lazy, inept creatures, he knew they would never attack. He supposed he could chase them down in the dark ... and then what? He despised them, but he wasn't going to go kill them.
But Howard was of another mind. "Nike!" he called. "Let us rid ourselves of these traitors once and for all!" Nike fluttered to his side.
It was Luxa who grabbed Howard by the arm. "Wait," she said. Howard looked at her in surprise. "Do you not join me, Cousin? After all you have suffered at their hands?"
Gregor could barely hear the next thing she whispered to Howard. "They have light."
Howard's shoulders hunched forward as he wrestled with what she was suggesting. Finally, he shoved his sword back in his belt.
"Shiners, will you not show yourselves?" said Luxa pleasantly. "We mean you no harm."
"It seems more prudent to remain aloof," said Photos Glow-Glow.
"He means aloft," said Zap. "He can never keep words straight."
"I meant aloof! As in distant, remote, and detached!" said Photos Glow-Glow.
And the two launched into a big argument about "aloof" and "aloft." When they were winded, Luxa tried again.
"That is too bad. For we find ourselves with an overabundance of food that will soon be unfit to eat. Particularly cake," she said.
"Cake?" said Zap. There was another long pause.
"Has this cake ... been frosted?" asked Photos Glow-Glow.
"Oh, yes. I do not care for it any other way," said Luxa. "But it is such a pity to waste it." She removed a round cake from the hamper and looked at it regretfully. It was rather battered from being tossed over and over in the flood, but it gave off a delicious smell.
"Well, Your Highness has not been rude to us, as some have. So if my eating that cake would please you ... I do not have any objection to it," said Photos Glow-Glow.
"Nor I!" said Zap, and suddenly the pair of fireflies were right in front of Luxa, their rear ends ablaze with yellow light.
For the first time in days, Gregor could see properly. He was immediately aware of things he had missed. That there were large patches of mushrooms growing on the ceiling. That puffs of vapor periodically emerged from cracks in the walls. That Boots had a big bruise on her arm. If he had not seen these things, what else had he been blinded to? What dangers lay out in the dark beyond his vision's reach?
Gregor knew Luxa absolutely loathed the shiners. She also knew they could be of use. He had to admire how quickly she'd assessed the situation and made the decision to make peace with them. He thought Ripred would have applauded her shrewdness. It was something the big rat would have done himself. If he were here. Instead of hunting down the Bane. Or whatever. Hopefully by the time they returned to Regalia, Ripred would have checked in.
Luxa divided the cake in two and the bugs gobbled it down to the last crumb.
"How come you to be in Hades Hall, Most Gracious Queen?" said Photos Glow-Glow.
"We crossed the Swag for a lark and were cut off by an avalanche. Now we must proceed home this way," said Luxa. "And yourselves?"
"We live here," said Zap unhappily.
"You live here?" asked Gregor. He had never thought of the fireflies as living anywhere.
"We were driven out of finer lands by villains who greatly outnumbered us," said Photos Glow-Glow. "The slimers."
Howard gave a snort of derision. "Snails, Gregor. They were chased out of their lands by snails."
"Are snails fast down here?" asked Gregor.
"Fast enough!" snapped Photos Glow-Glow.
"At full speed, they travel one yard an hour," said Nike.