Five Years Later
...
New York City
...
A small child ran across the grass, a gleeful smile on her face. Her eyes wide with joy, she chased a small grasshopper, trying to catch it. Suddenly, she stumbled and fell to the ground, her head hitting the dirt. She began to bawl, and her mother rushed over. "What happened? Are you okay?"
Looking back towards the father, the mother yelled "Get bandages!" She began to brush the dirt off her daughter's wound when she noticed a small crack in the dirt where her child had fallen. The crack slowly began to widen, and the earth started to tremble. A large slab of stone came loose, revealing a gaping hole in the ground. All around her, the world began to shake.
The mother didn't hesitate. She grabbed her daughter and ran, only one word upon her lips.
"Earthquake!"
...
Virginia
...
Gregor lay on the ground, staring up at the sky. A airplane passed overhead, so high up in the sky its shape was hard to make out. The wind rustled the grass around him. Life buzzed all around him, bees flying from flower to flower and the sound of bird's chirping filled the air. A small farm lay behind Gregor, about 100 meters back. Sunlight illuminated the entire landscape. He let out a deep sigh. It was beautiful out today, but even so his thoughts were about a sunless land many miles below New York City.
It had been five years to the day since he had said his last goodbyes to the Underland. Five years since Bane's claws had torn his chest open, leaving permanent scars. Five years since his bond, Ares, had died. Five years since he had left her.
It was all so long ago, but the pain remained. His friends at school didn't understand why he suddenly went quiet at times, or why he refused to wear anything that didn't cover his arms, legs, and chest completely. They didn't understand the pain that was always present in his eyes. They didn't understand. He clenched his fists.
About a month after leaving the Underland, his grandmother had suddenly died, her ill health finally getting the better of her. It had been a time of grief; family from all over the country had flown to New York for the funeral. And after the funeral was over, his mom packed the family's bags and moved them to the family farm in Virginia without a second thought.
Gregor never felt as comfortable in Virginia as he had in New York. The big city scene suited him better, he supposed. The farm was too quiet, too sheltered from the tragedies of the world. He isolated himself at school, having only a few friends and barely passing most of his classes. Not that he tried anyways. The only club he did was band, and even that he didn't take too seriously. He spent most of his energy honing his rager abilities and his echolocation in an remote area after school.
As for his sisters, Boots (who now went by Margaret) had completely forgotten about the Underland. Lizzie, on the other hand, did have memories of it, but only happy ones. She did have a desire to go back but it wasn't anywhere near as strong as Gregor's.
His thoughts returned to the Underland. He wondered how she was doing. She'd be Queen by now.
Gregor sighed, and shook his head. He wouldn't let his thoughts linger in the Underland like he had during the first few years. He slowly pulled himself to his feet, not wanting to be outside any longer. He walked back towards the farm.
Much like the land around him, the farm itself was quite scenic. It had been in his family for generations, and had an old-time feel to it; the barn bright red with a bit of white, with wooden fence surrounding the entire property. Next to the barn was the small house where his family lived, colored white. It had a shingled roof and a long front porch, western style.
Going up the few steps to the doorway, he opened the door and walked inside. Without even bothering to take off his shoes, he walked into the kitchen to grab a snack. But as he walked in, he heard noise coming from the connecting living room. Curious, Gregor walked into the living room.
There, his dad sat on an old rocking chair, watching the TV, the only modern electronic device other than a telephone in the house. But what captured Gregor's attention was what the TV was currently showing. A newsman was speaking.
"...small earthquake hit the city of New York yesterday, damaging Central Park and a few of the surrounding buildings lightly. Minimal damage, no casualties. However, the earthquake did dislodge a large stone slab in Central Park, which apparently covered a large tunnel leading down into an earth. Where this tunnel leads is unknown. Currently, the police have the area on lockdown and are sending explorers down into the tunnels. We will report back once we have more information. Meanwhile, the weather..."
"Gregor?" his mom asked. She appeared in the doorway behind him. "I hope you're not thinking of doing anything involving the Underland."
He looked at his mom in anger. "The Underland will soon be discovered by the modern world, people are in danger, and the first thing out of your mouth is 'I hope you're not thinking of doing anything?'!?"
"Of course!" she fired back. "I'm worried about you. I don't want you to get involved with- them- again. You've done more than enough for those people. Please, stay here and have them deal with their problems on their own for once."
Gregor became as cold as ice. "That's what you don't understand, mom. It isn't 'them' and 'me'. It's us. I felt more at home down there than I have anywhere else, not on this farm, and not even in New York. The Underland is where I belong, and they are in need of my help. I need to warn them." He stormed away to his room, slamming and locking the door behind him. He needed to start packing.
...
New York City
...
Helena Morten was a cave explorer and the youngest member of her team, which consisted of two police officers, two elder explorers, and herself. Her heart was beating fast in her chest. She was so excited! To be offered this once in a lifetime opportunity to explore the newly discovered cave system beneath New York was a true blessing!
This was the biggest thing that'd happened to her since she had left Montana for good and came to the big city. For awhile, she'd been desperately trying to find work to get her career off and running. She'd always had a fascination with caves and anything underground really. She bounced a little with every step, ignoring the strange looks she got from other members of her team.
They were quite deep underground, miles even maybe, when they reached a dark pit with currents of air coming up out of it. Peering down the hole with her flashlight, she saw nothing but darkness. She turned back to her team excitedly.
"Who knows what this leads to? Who knows what could be down there? We must tell the authorities immediately, and get a team down there and start exploring!"
...
Hey everyone, thanks for reading! This is my first fanfiction, please don't flame, but constructive criticism would be appreciated :)