"From the sounds of things we're talking about here... feels a bit more like trying to bring the world from below up to the surface in some ways.", Tristan pointed out. "That is true.", Doc said. "Though maybe just the more peaceful society rather than the whole free love.".
Esme nodded, "Yes, that's it. More of the peaceful society. And besides, I doubt free love isn't that popular up here, despite the fact that there are some free love beaches and hotels, with some rules here and there, but still.".
Link sighed lightly, "Racism is rough. I mean, blacks dating whites, gays wanting to be married, lesbians trying to adopt. I bet thousands of people would want to be free in doing that. Sure, plenty of states are accepting it, but there are cities who doesn't, people who are razing...".
"Well, at least maybe we can make just a little bit of a difference up here.", Tristan smiled. "I bet the others certainly would be happy to hear about all this if they were here right now.".
Esme grinned, "Oh, 100% sure they'd be. That's settled then, the second island shall be called Independence Island, a sanctuary for people who just wants to be in peace, free from all racism.".
Link nodded, "Great. And the third island, how about Hope Island, a sanctuary for people who wants to help raise abandoned babies & children without having to go from place to place in the foster system as they grow? Heck, keep siblings together without going apart and having to leave each other as well.".
"Good idea, Link.", Esme nodded. "Of course, it will take time with a lot of things, obviously, first exploring and seeing what these islands may have entail now.".
"I don't know about you three, but I think people might be hesitant to come here if they don't at least have a good idea about what awaits them on the island.", Tristan pointed out. "With what has been created, a unique ecosystem might have also developed and... well, let's just hope that no dinosaurs also showed up on these islands... I've seen that series.".
Esme grinned lightly, "We're big, Tristan. We can do anything. Let's go explore them!", kissing him on the cheek. Doc chuckled, "Count me in, Esme.", and B.O.B. nodded, "Yeah!", with Link smiling in agreement.
While the group began exploring, things were going on back home that almost no one could've predicted as Carl and Wendy would first discover.
"You know they're not home right now, Wendy, they just left.", Carl tried to remind her as the two of them approached the castle home.
Wendy sighed, "I know, Carl. Esme and Tristan told us of their appointment with the boys...I just feel like I forgot something. I think I left my lucky coin bag out of my purse, you know, the one I use for soda machines or food machines at work, and you know I gotta show up for work tomorrow. Thank god that it's only a half-day shift.".
"You know where we're getting to that point, Wen, that we don't really have to keep working anymore.", Carl chuckled. "Come on, you know Robert and Sue have been insisting we retire soon.", he chuckled as the two of them reached the 'small door' that would allow them to get inside.
Wendy sighed lightly, "I still can't believe that they convinced us to compromise on retiring in three months.", unlocking the small door with their key, heading inside, with Carl nodding in agreement, "You have to admit that Sue was especially worried about us.".
"Well, we're not exactly young anymore, Wendy.", Carl chuckled as he followed her. "We really should've done this quite a few more years ago. I mean, Jonathan already did it.".
Wendy smiled softly, "True. At least Jonathan got a hobby out of it. Building puzzles and framing them for himself and his neighbors. But we have no idea what to do for hobbies. I mean, sure, a book club sounds nice, but I don't like gossip much anymore since some people had the guts to insult our baby girl!", having heard a bit here and there at work by some jerks before she told her boss out on them.
"Just something we've sadly had to get used to... what with our girl being a big hero and all.", Carl chuckled before the two of them stopped when they heard a loud noise from another room. "What was that?", he asked. To them, it sounded like some sort of energy pulse detonating through that might be the closest way to describe it.
Wendy frowned lightly, "Esme said that there's a series of teleporters that's keyed to the DNA of the entire family of Sue and Robert which includes Tristan since he's technically one of them. I think that sound is the castle teleporter.".
"Are you sure? I mean, who else would be coming up here? I thought the others were staying down for a bit longer... for whatever reason.", Carl said.
Wendy blinked softly, "Maybe Phillippe? Or Sue?", shrugging as she has no idea who'd be coming up here. "Couldn't be...", Carl admitted. "They would've told us ahead of time about that, I know it. Or Tristan or Esme would've said something themselves.".
Wendy began to speak when the door began to swing open, a sound of a giggle piercing the air as hands and arms appear out from behind the door, and then a face unrecognizable to the couple appeared as the person came out crawling, much to their shock as it's not a person per say, but actually a baby crawling around, nude and just being happy-go-lucky.
Of course, the baby was huge, or at least, huge in terms of the average size of a baby since it was nearly as big as they were. Carl and Wendy could easily tell at least in a few cases whose child this was.
At least, they thought it was, but there were things about this child that didn't match with their daughter and her husband's babies in the past.
Wendy blinked in surprise, "She looks like she's only three months old, but she's crawling quite good!", and Carl nodded in agreement, "She got Susan's nose, though.".
The child in fact is Phillippe and Silvergrace's daughter, Crystalpaw. It turns out that after an early lunch down in the underworld, her parents went to sleep with Crystalpaw nearby. But Crystalpaw, not able to shift fully into her T-Rex form until she's to be 6 years old, has found that her claws helped out in latching into edges and all, hence escaping the crib, and discovered for the first time, she is strong enough now to crawl, thanks to drinking her mother's milk almost all the time.
Wanting to discover things her way, she ventured away from her parents' room, exploring around before she found the teleporter tucked away in a closet-room, and her DNA indirectly turned it on, the location still in place, the Modesto Castle.
"She may have Susan's nose... but that seems almost it... she doesn't look like she's really Susan and Robert's though...", Carl admitted as the baby looked at them and giggled, as it seemed to have somehow recognized them in some subconscious way.
Crystalpaw sniffed lightly and made a gummy smile as she crawled her way to the couple, seeming to find her daddy and grandma in them, like a trace of family DNA.
"She's certainly someone's child... and has Quantonium in them...", Carl admitted as he gently brushed his hand in the baby's hair.
Crystalpaw cooed happily as she smiled at them before glancing over at the living room, and giggled as she excitedly crawled, feeling things and observing things with amazement as the couple ran to chase her.
"Wait! Wait! Don't go over there!" Carl was trying to stop her, though like with Esme and Phillippe in the past, the two great grandparents knew it was hard to stop a Quantonium infused baby at their size.
Crystalpaw found her aunt Esme's scent on the couch, and she struggled to get up and over, whining lightly as she partly shifted her fingers into claws, and gave out a squeal of joy as she rolled over into a cushion pillow.
Wendy and Carl groaned lightly, running over to the side table that has stairs for their size while Crystalpaw nuzzled into the pillow, giggling before a black blocky thing caught her attention, unknowing that it was the remote to the tv in Esme and Tristan's living room which is where she is, as this is the wing of the grown kids' rooms and such of the castle.
Crystalpaw went to the tv remote, tapping and clicking the buttons, and pushed the red 'on' button. Suddenly, the tv went on, blaring, and right on the screen, is an animal documentary, but a bear's roaring at her, causing Crystalpaw to cry out and dive under the pillow, shifting unconsciously to Amazonian size, hiding in fright.
"Easy, there...", Carl chuckled as he went to get the remote. "It's not real, it's just in the TV... it can't get you... I doubt it would want to with how big you are, right, Wendy?".
Wendy ducked partly under the pillow, smiling reassuringly, "That's right. You are bigger than that bear. Come on, it's okay. You're safe, sweetheart.", and Crystalpaw blinked, hearing the same nickname from her, almost like her mother, and cooed lightly as she crawled to Wendy, blinking up at her, hearing mews, and looked to the TV which now has mountain lion cubs playing and meowing outside a den, the volume low.
She remained her Amazonian size as Wendy sat next to her, "See, it's just moving pictures.", with Carl leaving the remote with a relieved smile, "Is she okay, Wendy?".
"Seems like it.", Wendy wrapped her arms around the baby. "Still though, she's obviously quite a handful and I don't know what could happen if we don't keep an eye on her.".
Crystalpaw smiled happily as she felt her great-grandmother's arms around her, feeling safe, but she's still curious as she saw that there's more to explore beyond this great room with a shiny moving picture box. She shifted back to giant baby size, startling Wendy into letting go of her, and Crystalpaw giggled as she moved over the edge, sliding and landing on her two legs, and transferring into crawl mode as she went for the mini library of the wing.
"Okay, well, at least she's not being too much trouble at the moment...", Carl sighed, knowing this situation could be much worse than it was. The good news for the two of them is that at least they had experience before with their grandchildren.
Wendy raised an eyebrow, "Come on, we gotta keep an eye on her. She's fast!", scrambling to head to the side table's stairs.
"Well, obviously! She's almost as big as us!", Carl chuckled as they went after her. "Did you notice those things on her, by the way? Those tattoos?".
Wendy nodded, "Yeah, but for some reason, they look like they're born on her, not made.", quickly running faster after Crystalpaw disappeared around the edge of the door, and they went in, looking for her when Carl gasped in shock, "How did she get up there?!", staring at Crystalpaw who's climbing a bookcase, her eyes locked on a stuffed lion on atop the bookcase.
Crystalpaw can smell her daddy's faded scent on it, thinking that her daddy slept with the stuffed lion years ago, and now she wants to grab it and cuddle it, all while she's climbing with her fingers and feet shifting into T-Rex claws into the wooden planks for better traction.
"Well, those claws might be a bit of an answer." Carl said as he watched her trying to reach for the lion. "I don't know, Wendy... I'm a bit hesitant to move underneath her to try and catch her... she'd crush us to death under her weight if we tried."
Wendy looked anxious, "Sweetheart, stop!", and Crystalpaw sort of heard Wendy, looking down with a gummy smile before turning her attention on reaching for the stuffed lion with futile attempts when she felt the bookcase shake and break off from the hinges, unable to hold any longer under the toddler's weight.
The couple screamed as the baby scrambled for a grip, absently holding the stuffed lion to herself, falling as she wailed, and before the couple knew it, a mostly full-formed T-Rex jumped over them, catching Crystalpaw on the snout, earning Crystalpaw to squeal happily as the T-Rex shifted into a nude woman as she brought Crystalpaw down to eye level with her arms.
"Oh, Crystalpaw, you nearly gave me a heart attack!", the woman reprimanded with a stern frown before Crystalpaw whined apologetically at her, and the woman then looked relieved, "Thank goodness you're unharmed! Just don't escape like that ever again, sweetheart.", kissing her all over the face as Crystalpaw nuzzled and hugged her over her face.
A relieved chuckle sounded out, "For once, I am glad that you're darn faster than me, Silvergrace.", revealing Phillippe at the doorway. They woke up like 15 minutes ago at the cries of the twins, and went to check Crystalpaw's crib, finding her to be missing. They tracked her scent to the teleporter and feared the worst for their daughter.
"Phillippe!?", Both his grandparents shouted out which caused the young man to quickly cover himself as he completely didn't realize that they were there.
Phillippe grinned sheepishly, "Oh, Grandpa and Grammy! Sorry!", before hearing Silvergrace call out, "Phillippe, no need to be embarrassed. They're family, aren't they? Grandpa Carl and Grammy Wendy, correct?", holding Crystalpaw a bit more relaxed as Crystalpaw's focused on cuddling her newfound stuffed lion friend.
"Well, yes, love, but... they don't know a thing right now.", Phillippe tried to tell her as he kept himself covered and was trying to look for something to throw on. "Sorry, you two... I think there's a lot we need to explain...", he blushed.
Wendy raised both eyebrows, "You certainly do, young man.", as Phillippe found a throw blanket off one of the library chairs and tied it around his waist.
Silvergrace sighed heavily and followed Phillippe's example by sitting down in a chair with a pillow covering her womanhood, cradling Crystalpaw who snuffled softly, tugging one of Silvergrace's strands with a gurgle, "Alright, Crystalpaw, you clearly had an adventure, you want food again.", tilting her baby up to one of her breasts, with her other breast covered by her long hair.
Crystalpaw giggled before going for her meal, her hand holding a bit tight into her stuffed lion while her other hand treaded on the breast, and Silvergrace smiled softly before glancing at Phillippe's grandparents, "You obviously met our daughter. I'm Silvergrace, Phillippe's mate.".
"Mate?", Carl now raised his eyebrows. "Yeah...", Phillippe rubbed the back of his neck. "So, it turns out... there was a large underground society at the center of the Earth and all...".
Wendy pursued her lips in thought, "Is that why Susan and Robert are staying?".
"Well, one of the reasons...", Phillippe bit his lip. "But for starters... I'm now a father myself, Silvergrace is my mate/wife, and this is our daughter. You're great grandparents now.".
Carl looked at Wendy, "I wish I could have seen this coming, but no, I didn't. Wow, and to think, barely 20 years since we had Susan and Robert's wedding, and the birth of Phillippe and Esme...This gotta be a record for this family, at least.".
Wendy nodded in agreement, and glanced at Silvergrace, "Well, she certainly takes after you and Phillippe, not to mention that she got Sue's nose as well. And Crystalpaw, what's up with that? Please, don't be offended, it suits her perfectly, but well...".
Silvergrace chuckled warmly, "No harm done, Wendy. It's a tribe name basically, and everyone born in the underworld has a 'paw' name from birth to 16 years old, and on their 16th, everyone gets a warrior name, changing the 'paw' name to anything they desire to be called by. Phillippe here is a rare case, but the tribe calls him Lionheart.", sending Phillippe a fond, loving smile.
"Yeah, there's quite a bit of things that we need to explain as well, considering the Eternal Tribe and all. But mostly, it's an untouched society that is almost like a total utopia... and we're very hesitant to say anything because we don't want to ruin it." Phillippe explained. "There's also a few things that Quantonium down there has done to Eternals... that Papa has experienced firsthand..."
Wendy blinked in surprise, "Is it bad?", and Silvergrace responded, "No. Why, you could say, in your perspective, it's a miracle, through it's very common for the tribe.".
Carl nodded, "We can deal with miracles. And uh...I suppose nudity is common down there?", a gesture at the nudity, relieved for the fact that Phillippe and Silvergrace covered their private parts for the sake of the older couple.
Phillippe chuckled sheepishly, "Clothes are optional, but not necessary as the underworld is very warm, like tropical warm all the time. And as you probably would guess, nudity means more freedom to have relations all the time, or in Silvergrace's words, free love all around.".
"Sounds a bit like the 60s, in a way.", Wendy admitted. "Yeah, it's kind of like that in some ways.", Phillippe agreed.
"But that still doesn't explain why Susan and Robert are still staying? You already mentioned beforehand when we first got back in touch about the two of them having another pair of twins...", Carl argued.
Phillippe grinned lightly with a sheepish chuckle, "Now that's a tad harder to explain. Papa actually got pregnant hence the baby twins, and he cannot afford to be back in public up here because he's feeding the baby twins, Calvin and Dawn the way Silvergrace does it.".
Both Carl and Wendy were stunned with that information. It was shocking to hear that was the case, but it did also answer a few questions. "Wow... I...", Carl was speechless.
Wendy exhales lightly, "How long before they can be back?", and Silvergrace replies to her question, "Four months."
"We just wanted Papa's... breasts to revert back to normal before coming back. Meanwhile... I've kinda decided to more or less just stay under the Earth.", Phillippe told them.
"He's found a place he truly belongs, so to say.", Silvergrace told her in-laws. "Not that it wasn't the case with his own family and all, but more of, I guess, the world around him.".
Carl smiles lightly, "I can understand that. There was something missing, and now, look at you, you're actually happy.", and Wendy nods, "All the same, you better visit occasionally, clear?".
Phillippe grins lightly, "No worries there. After all, I can't afford to miss your famous Halloween fun and the awesome Christmas family time.", with Silvergrace chuckling in agreement, "I am quite curious to experience a bit of this world even if it's only in this castle, right, sweetheart?", ruffling the growing tufts of Crystalpaw's hair warmly.
Crystalpaw gurgled happily as she let go of the nipple, smiling gummily with a giggle as she cuddled her stuffed lion, and everybody laughed fondly all around.
And so, after a good time in the castle, the small family returned home to the underworld, and everything proceeded quite wonderfully, and like Silvergrace said, Robert and Susan is able to return back home to the surface with the twins, Calvin and Dawn, old enough to explore and crawl, and grow all the same.
Esme and Tristan eventually explored the islands fully and was glad to find out that no dinosaurs or any other 'extinct' animals got there, and with Monger and Susan's help, the islands became sanctuaries over time.
Susan and Robert became rulers over Modesto, and within a few years, of California, and before everybody knew it, they became rulers of the entire USA a week before the entire brood of the giant family's warrior ceremonies, but of course, there came some sadness as well. Jonathan and Monger passed away, with Carl and Wendy having sold their house and actually decided to travel for the last remaining few years of life.
Susan and Robert made Tristan and Esme duke and duchess of their islands, made Link a lord of Florida, and are looking to rule Canada and Mexico. And now, they are watching their grandchildren, nieces/nephews becoming warriors at last.
"You doing alright, love?", Robert asked his Queen as they along with the rest of their family was watching the ceremony. Both Susan and Robert still didn't look a day older than the moment they first were struck by the Quantonium asteroid. "I know this has really been a very hectic month with things...", he smiled as he kissed her cheek.
Susan nodded, "Yes, I'm alright. It feels weird without Jonathan...To be honest, I thought you'd be telling the others to postpone the ceremonies since...well, you know...".
"I know...", Robert sighed as he looked up. "I mean, I always knew this day was coming, but, especially so close to today and all... guess it's just still so surprising and all.", he admitted. "But I don't think anyone wants to be sad today, we already have done a lot of our immediate mourning and all.".
Susan squeezed his hand with a small smile, "At least his spirit's free and he's with your mom.", and Robert returned a small smile, "Yeah, you're right.", before looking on to observe the ceremonies.
Phillippe, in Lionheart mode, having been trained for this, announced loudly, "We have a band of our tribe becoming women and men as warriors today as they agreed to do it all today instead of a few days apart. Crystalpaw, Echopaw, Rabbitpaw, Squirrelpaw, Lakepaw, Birchpaw, Rockpaw, Windpaw, Silentpaw, and Spottedpaw, please come forward.".
The ones who are spoken in turn came forward, smiles and excited looks all around. Silvergrace announced firmly, "You all have hunted well, and we all are proud that you all agree to be your own hunting patrol for the lands beyond our sea. Now, here's my first question. What are you, if not warriors or people?".
The group spoke out as one, "We are seekers of faith!", and Phillippe, now Lionheart in this moment, he nodded, and then asked, "Do you all swear to uphold your family, your home, your pride and love in your warrior names as long as you live?".
The group spoke out as one, "We do swear on our lives, great chief!", and Lionheart nodded, "You have spoken well, all of you. Now, Crystalpaw, step forward.".
Crystalpaw, at pats and smiles from her friends, went forward, and bowed before her parents, smiling softly as Silvergrace announced, "From this day onwards, before the Eternal Earth Tribe, in our presence, I now give the name of Crystalmoon to this warrior, and so it shall be, Crystalmoon of the T-Rex Clan!".
The cheers were kept silent, everyone was waiting until it was all over before starting. "Silentpaw, step forward.", Lionheart announced before the first of Bea's eight children moved forward.
She stood firm and waited for the moment she had been expecting for years now. "From this day onwards, before the Eternal Earth Tribe, in our presence, I now give the name of Silentleaf to this warrior, and so it shall be, Silentleaf of the Butterfly Clan!".
Silvergrace smiled lightly, "Echopaw, please step forward.", and her little brother, now grown, stepped forward, a wide smile at her, standing proud before Silvergrace then announced, "From this day onwards, before the Eternal Earth Tribe, in our presence, I now give the name of Echohawk to this warrior, and so it shall be, Echohawk of the T-Rex Clan!".
"Great job, you." Lionheart whispered to him for a moment before he went back. "Lakepaw, please step forward." The next of Bea's children moved up. "From this day onwards, before the Eternal Earth Tribe, in our presence, I now give the name of Lakeglide to this warrior, and so it shall be, Lakeglide of the Butterfly Clan!"
Silvergrace nodded, and called out, "Rabbitpaw, please step forward.", and the next of Bea's children stepped forward, and Silvergrace announced, "From this day onwards, before the Eternal Earth Tribe, in our presence, I now give the name of Rabbitspring to this warrior, and so it shall be, Rabbitspring of the Butterfly Clan!".
"Rockpaw, please step forward.", Lionheart called as another one of Bea's children stepped forward, "From this day onwards, before the Eternal Earth Tribe, in our presence, I now give the name of Rockcarve to this warrior, and so it shall be, Rockcarve of the Butterfly Clan!", he proclaimed as the young warrior bowed, a large grin on his face, full of pride.
Silvergrace smiled warmly, "Windpaw, please step forward.", as another one of Bea's children came forward with a smile, "From this day onwards, before the Eternal Earth Tribe, in our presence, I now give the name of Windstream to this warrior, and so it shall be, Windstream of the Butterfly Clan!".
"Birchpaw, step forward, please.", The young warrior followed the chief's order and moved up. "From this day onwards, before the Eternal Earth Tribe, in our presence, I now give the name Birchwisp to this warrior, and so it shall be, Birchwisp of the Butterfly Clan!".
Silvergrace gestured with a smile, "Squirrelpaw, step forward, please.", and the second to last of Bea's children came up, an excited smile on her face, as Silvergrace announced, "From this day onwards, before the Eternal Earth Tribe, in our presence, I now give the name of Squirrelfrost, and so it shall be, Squirrelfrost of the Butterfly Clan!".
Finally, there came the last of Bea's children. "Spottedpaw, step forward.", Lionheart announced as the young male stepped forward. "From this day onwards, before the Eternal Earth Tribe, in our presence, I now give the name of Spottedstar, and so it shall be, Spottedstar of the Butterfly Clan!".
Cheers finally came so loud as the new warriors traded hugs, laughs, and in a couple of cases, kisses as well, for Crystalmoon is giving a kiss to Spottedstar and Echohawk is being kissed by Rabbitspring.
"I bet those four were waiting all day to finally kiss again." Robert chuckled as the cheers began to ring out from the tribe in honor of the new group of warriors.
Susan smiled lightly, "Indeed. Those four are special, alright. You were right about Crystalmoon and Spottedstar intending to be mates. They never looked at each other as cousins or siblings, just plain best friends until their hormones came in, and now, look at them.".
The earth then shook with a green glow, and Robert yelped out, "What's going on?!", and Susan shook her head, "I don't know, but Silvergrace looks like she knows something.".
Silvergrace announced out loud, "Eternal Mountain has granted us a gift. Before, it happened every century or two, but now, we are feeling it again. It's the mating ceremony, and you all know what that means, Eternals!".
The village cheers even louder, and Silvergrace smiles, "With our territory expanded, we are free to live anywhere here in the underworld, build more families! But first, our chief must give permission for the village to begin the mating ceremony.".
Phillippe took a deep breath. He knew something like this would be coming for him one of these days, but thankfully, Silvergrace as well as his inlaws had helped him prepare.
"As Chief, I give my decree that the mating ceremony shall commence, forthwith!", Phillippe announced.
The village cheered even more louder and waved with a bow before leaving the now finished ceremony, with anticipation, lust, and love in their eyes and bodies, leaving the family and group of warriors in the clearing.
Esme whispered lowly to Tristan, "I think it's time to have children, my lord. We've been waiting long enough.", having finished college long ago, and have been living alternatively between their manor home on Ripple Island and Modesto Castle.
Tristan chuckled as he leaned over to her. "You sure, my little minx?", he whispered to her. "I mean, I know we've talked about it for years and all, but somehow never really gotten around to it, but do you think now's a proper time?", he asked. He knew what their answer was going to be after all. If she wanted it, he was going to say yes, and she obviously was wanting it now.
Esme smirked lightly at him as she whispered back, "100% sure.", her hand craftily squeezing his butt. Meanwhile, Spottedstar is asking Lionheart aka Phillippe with an important question, "May I have your daughter, Crystalmoon to be my mate, great chief?".
Lionheart smiled as he gave him a firm pat on the back. "Well, as chief, first of all, I shall say that, yes, you may take my daughter to be your mate." He then leaned in, "But, considering we're much closer than I am with most of the rest of the tribe, the formality wasn't required. You two are more than happy to mate even without our permission.".
Crystalmoon smiled widely, "Thank you, Daddy.", squeezing Spottedstar's hand proudly, knowing that Spottedstar is still a bit shy even after having lived in happy chaos with the entire family, thanks to Thanksgiving and Christmas.
Spottedstar smiled softly, "Thank you, Lionheart.", and Silvergrace chuckled softly, "You two are a lot like most of us. Now, scoot, make it the best time of your lives.". The new couple bowed and left quickly with excited smiles, shifting as they traded a kiss.
Echohawk and Rabbitspring also left after talking to Thunderwolf and Stormfire, and Bea and her lovers respectively.
The last six warriors of the group approached Lionheart, with Squirrelfrost at front to speak, "Great chief, as we haven't claimed anyone here in the underworld our entire lives, do we have permission to search for our mates up above?".