Of Gods and Monsters

by Wouskulls

Summary:

In the beginning, there were gods and monsters. All monsters were gods, but some gods were monsters.

Basically, an au where all the kaiju are gods and all the humans are worshippers

Notes:

Some things shouldn't be forgotten

Chapter 1: Prologue

Drip. 

A sound that was accompanied by soft and short intakes of air, the coupled noises being the only things that sliced through the silence. An eerie silence that just moments ago had been filled with roars and screams alike.

So, so many screams. Screams of pain, anger, and fear. They all rang throughout his mind and while for most it would torture them, he felt an odd sense of satisfaction.

Not because these were noises he enjoyed hearing, but because they were over. 

What was the source of these screams? Two ginormous beings who both were fighting. The death of one announced the victory of the other. One fought to keep their title and the other to take it from them. 

The battle had lasted for days, but both parties kept it contained to the same area. It was to the north of one of the gods' temples. Whose exactly he couldn't recall at the moment. The land was covered in smooth black stone, some protruding and forming jagged spikes. They had been strong enough to puncture even his natural blue, scaled armor, their ends stuck in his legs and side. 

His body, which was heavy enough to flatten a building, big enough to fill a cave, and strong enough to contend with larger gods, felt light. He could barely feel his legs and the dull ache of pain that throbbed everywhere on his body. It made him question for a moment if he was even standing or if he had fallen without knowing. 

But it wasn't just his frame, however, his mind also felt light, all thoughts paused as twin orange hues appeared unfocused on the outside, the world around him becoming all but clear. Everything was fuzzy and seemed to melt into another thing to him. There was one exception and that was his contender 

Drip.

Bright, almost ice in color, blue blood oozed from the former deceased kaiju, and into the lake beside it. The liquid flowed into the cracks of the already stained ground. Fresh blood joined and dried on the rocks. What was once a multiple-headed monster now was nearly unrecognizable. Gojira had torn most of the heads off, leaving a singular one that lay limp on the ground, its face caved in from him stomping on it. 

Wounds inflicted by both Gojira and its surroundings let out a rank odor as they were exposed to the air, the stench alone almost bringing him back to reality. 

Gojira couldn't even recall how long it had been since he first killed it, or how he even managed to. The action of killing this creature had been unheard of until now, yet he did the impossible. Maybe he was just lucky, he would consider himself so if he could think, but even his mind was stunned into stillness. 

His brain just barely acknowledged that the same ice-hued blood dripped from his jaws onto the rocky ground, a small pool collecting beneath him. The taste had long become familiar to him. He had stopped trying to spit it out, allowing it to seep between his teeth and into his gums.

Drip.

He tensed as he saw the corpse move, pupils slitting. Or, at least he thought he did.

His body moved without wasting a second, grabbing the last neck of the monster with his teeth and tasting the rotting flesh once biting down. With a harsh pull, he began to hear the weakened bones break. Most would say that this was overkill, but he knew better than to take any chances. This creature had to be dead.

Another tug and they snapped, the head ripping off completely from the neck, veins bursting and splattering blood on the ground, and the huge lizard. His vision focused enough to watch the stump fall back to the ground, but unfocused as he inhaled the scent emitting from the head in his mouth. 

He didn't trust it was dead. Even with its skull beginning to splinter from the weight of his bite. 

During the fight, he made the nearly lethal mistake of assuming that it was dead and turning his back on it. The consequence was the missing chunk of muscle from his right thigh. A growl rumbled deep in his throat as Gojira's grip tightened. There was a small part of him that told him he could relax, it was over. They were dead. But it was drowned out by paranoia. Strong paranoia that put his instincts in a frenzy, tricking his body and most of his mind that he was still in danger, he still needed to fight, it wasn't over. 

"S...Oh wow"

The sudden sound of a voice sent a mixture of panic and bloodlust throughout every fiber of his form. He would have mauled the newcomer right then and there, but they made sure to stay far out of his reach. They flew above and circled both Gojira and the dead body like a vulture waiting for its prey.

This wasn't a scavenger looking for food, at least, not this time. Rodan, a titan among fellow fliers, examined the two, flying lower to do so, much to Gojira's annoyance. It proved to help, however, as he breathed. Fire and smoke filled his senses, a smell that he related to the god of Fire, his ally, Rodan. Further evidence was the sudden warmth that surrounded him and the air around the two.

Gojira snapped back, his rationally returning as he acknowledged the smaller kaiju as a fellow god. He gave a curt and slight nod towards Rodan, a signal that let the avian know it was safe to land. The bigger reptilian god looked down at Rodan as he saw the other's gaze land on the dead head trapped between his teeth.

"You actually did it." Rodan glanced at the body behind him but didn't linger too long on it. Gojira just grunted, not willing to put the head down to speak until he properly disposed of it.  

"Well, come on. I'm sure everyone wants to meet the new king" 

Gojira watched the two wings of Rodan expand to their full length and help push his body off the ground, flying away with the expectation that the lizard would follow. 

But he paused and looked at the corspe. It would surely decompose before any nosey idol came by. As for the head? He turned his neck, and tossed it into the lake.

Splash.

Gojira then turned and followed Rodan. 

Chapter 2: Chapter 1 (Godzilla)

Summary:

Godzilla just wants to sleep, but his prophet and Mothra won't let him miss today

Notes:

Sleep and rest your mind, but never forget your duties dear king

"Gojira my lord, time to wake up!"

A man's honeyed but worn-with-age voice rang as he did his best to dry himself off.

Prophet Deacon, a guy in his prime, had arrived as usual. It was his job to after all, since he was the personal assistant to Gojira. For years now, he's come down to the home of Gojira every day and at the exact same time. Every day, and like every morning, his lord was still sleeping.

Sleeping or simply shutting his eyes, he had yet to discover. Honestly, he couldn't understand the giant's desire to rest, not here anyway. He didn't see himself resting peacefully on the hard stone that was the ground of the cave. Sure, it was warm, but only in temperature and that was because the god was here. Deacon's time serving him had left him many a time when he was in the cavern by himself while Gojira was out and it was as cold as the ocean. However, it was the spikes of rock that hung from the ceiling that truly used to send chills down his spine. Just the thought of one of them falling and crushing him occasionally made him consider trying to convince the king to look for a safer dwelling to call home.

The only positive he saw was the pool that fed the ring of water on the outer area of the cave, helping to give it a bit of an island feel. But, when surrounded by an entire ocean, it defeated the point.

The slight rumble of the ground focused his attention back to the sleeping mass. A sigh left him, but he walked over to the resting radioactive god of a lizard. As he got closer, the gentle blues that emitted between the cracks of Gojira's scales reflected off the light bronze skin of the man. As well as the bright blue eyes, making them glow a bit in the darkness that surrounded the two.

"Come now lord Gojira, you must wake up. It's your day of worship" Deacon stated, climbing onto the back of Godzilla to begin the process of cleaning him.

As usual, he found seaweed, dead fish, and even the occasional still-living creature in between the plates that ran from the back of his head all the way down to his tail. A long procedure but Deacon found it necessary, after all, today was a special day.

The day of worship. When it occurred varied between gods, Rodan's was once every 90 days and only during the summer months, while Mothra's was once a month and on the days when there would be a full moon. For his master though, Godzilla had made it once every five years, on this exact day. Which is why he needed to get up!

Normally, Deacon wouldn't take too long to clean, the faster the better. But he wanted to take extra care this time, besides it should give Gojira enough time to wake up.

Or, so he hopefully yet foolishly assumed.

When Deacon looked back down, his lord was stiller than stone.

"Looks like we're doing this again today hmm?" Deacon slid down the long tail of the king kaiju and back to the ground yards away. The heels of his high lengthed boots clicked against the rock, going towards the aforementioned alluring aspect of the abode; the moat.

Taking a deep breath, he dove into the water with practiced perfection. Not only was the moat a lovely little luxury, in his opinion, but also a source of transportation. It's how he got to the home of Godzilla every day, not to mention since it connected to the ocean, it proved to be a valuable source of food.

>>>>>>>>>

The time taken to return wasn't much. Which was very much so intentional.

In the arms of the prophet is the tail of a large fish, the body slung over his shoulder as the life of it had been long gone. He dragged it over to lie directly in front of the nostrils of the king. It wasn't a meal, but its purpose wasn't to be breakfast, just to get Gojira to rise.

"Now lord Gojira, if you get up, you can treat your tastebuds to your favorite breed of fish." Deacon began, nudging the fish closer so that it now touched the snout of the resting beast, scale in contact with scale "And did I mention I happened to see more swimming about?" he added with a bit of a knowing smile.

Experience taught him that Gojira liked a few particular prey more than others, even if his effort in hunting them decreased. So he told himself with confidence that the fish being directly in front of Gojira would at least warrant his eyes opening. He could already hear the sniffing of the air coming from the king, and he simply stood in front of him as he watched the scaly jaws part open to first reveal the large and sharp teeth that lined his mouth. Then the tongue poked out..only to lick the fish into his mouth, his maw closing immediately after without so much a word of acknowledgment or a grunt of thanks. Which, to be fair, was expected. Deacon wasn't expecting a verbal response after all, but what truly annoyed him a bit was that Gojira's eyes were still shut, though he now knew his master was no longer asleep.

Deacon's face formed a slight frown of disappointment "My lord, you can't pretend to be slumbering anymore. It's clear you're awake" he spoke, mentally trying to think of how to get the king to at least acknowledge him in some way. Perhaps if he changed tactics?

"If you don't get up and attend your celebration, I'll stop getting your food for you" he continued, scolding himself in his head. Really? That was the best threat he could come up with?

When that didn't do anything, he put on a sterner tone, a bit harsher one "And maybe I'll start worshipping Ghidorah instead. I might even convince all your followers to join his too" Deacon bluffed, crossing his arms to add more effect "So you better get up right now"

The ground shook a bit, lighting some hope in the mortal. His gaze traveled up to Gojira, a small smile growing. Maybe that was finally the push the lizard needed. His satisfaction grew more when Gojira's head rose from the ground.

"There that wasn't so hard was it? Now I know that was a bit harsh but I only said it so that you would get up my lord. Now we can proceed and go-"

Gojira's head simply slumped back to the ground, turned away from Deacon in a clear display of ignorance and uninterest.

The hope Deacon had previously felt was quickly squashed as he looked at his king, exhaling. Well, that didn't work either. But thinking over it now, it made sense. Not only would Gojira have no reason to feel threatened by someone who served him, he also didn't act on threats much anymore, unless it was from the three-headed hydra himself. But it was frustrating nonetheless.

"My lord, if we don't go soon, I'll be seen as an awful prophet. Not to mention the people who came to see you, they only get to celebrate their favorite god once every half-decade. They'll be so sad and disheartened if you don't attend"

It had really come down to this, hadn't it? Deacon didn't particularly enjoy nor was proud of using this kind of strategy but he had been backed into a corner. His mind was beginning to draw blanks as to what to do if this didn't work, which was a high chance, knowing his lord.

The only reaction he got was the low almost quiet guttural growl that rung deep within Gojira's throat. He could hear the tinge of annoyance to it, matching his own growing one. Truly, for a king, Gojira reminded Deacon of a cranky baby at times. A giant, scaly, and oversized radioactive baby who controlled the seas and tides.

An idea came to him "Well my lord, you've left me with no choice" he dived into the water once again, but this time it wasn't to hunt fish.

>>>>>>>>>

The sound of fluttering wings greeted the land as Mothra, a giant moth, landed on the ground, beautiful blue orbs facing the ocean in front of her. She then tilted her fuzzy head down towards Prophet Deacon, who had summoned her.

"you called me to help you wake Godzilla?" she chirped, her voice having a bit of a trilling to it

"Yes, my queen. See, he's in one of his moods again. I've done all in my power to try and get him up but he's been ignoring me. Its more so I need your assistance in convincing him to attend his celebration" Deacon explained "I feel awful for bothering you but this is very important."

"Little Deacon, don't feel bad, like you said, this is important. And Godzilla needs to learn that it's essential for a god, especially the king, to interact with their worshipers. Otherwise, we wouldn't have our power and status," she waved off his concerns, stretching her wings out and beginning to let out her high-pitched yet melodic call.

A few minutes of silence passed, and Deacon began to worry that Gojira was even going to ignore Mothra. But the earth began to shake and the waters thrashed as the familiar head of the king emerged from the sea below, rising until he was fully out of the water, with a less than pleased look in his eyes. His eyes bounced between his queen and his prophet but settled on looking Mothra dead in the eyes. He didn't need to ask why she called him, but she still saw the brief flicker of confusion behind those lifeless orbs.

"Godzilla," she began tilting her head up, in response he lowered his and allowed her to give a brief nuzzle of greeting to the crown of his head. "I've heard you've been giving your prophet some difficulty. How inconsiderate of you. He's just doing his job and trying to prepare you for your special day"

Deacon felt the side glance he received from Gojira "Don't give me that look, my lord. I tried rousing you myself but you weren't being cooperative. So I had to summon Madam Mothra"

"And now that you're up, we can all go to your temple" Mothra chimed in, Gojira turning back to give her his full attention. She knew he wasn't going to argue, even if he didn't want to go "And after you can probably sleep for another five years". The gentle but playful jab elicited a small snort from the king as he rose back to full height.

Seeing that they were finally going, Deacon climbed onto Godzilla's tail, feeling himself be lifted to the kaiju's head as he followed the now-flying Mothra.

>>>>>>>

Gojira grunted as he walked through the waterfall that hid the back entrance to his temple. As the god of the seas, of course, his building of devotion was surrounded by water. The temple itself had been built into a mountain, one side being the entrance and tunneling all the way to the other where the exit lay hidden by the cascading gallons of clean clear liquid. He didn't understand why it needed to be hidden, but he didn't care enough to ask. Walking inside he was met with the newly polished blue stone that made up the floor and walls, hints of onyx gems embedded mainly in the ceiling, pillars, and main arch. In fact, the whole front half was covered in arches, the area being circular in shape. It reminded him vaguely of a colosseum, just shiner and more obnoxious in his opinion.

He let his prophet slide back down and begin to reorganize some things. In the center of his temple was a throne of sorts, which was really more like a carved-out spot for him to lay, which was covered in pillows from previous offerings. Surrounding him were torches lit by blue fire to help illuminate the place, torches that Deacon apparently deemed necessary to readjust.

Gojira slid into his spot, adjusting himself to be comfortable but not too much so, lest he fall asleep and risk getting scolded by Mothra again. He felt her land on his side, and he relaxed ever so slightly, leaning up into her fluff. Even though they weren't mates, despite popular belief among both their worshippers, he did enjoy her touch. It was soft, light, and reminded him of better days.

Unfortunately, it couldn't last. He heard Deacon walk back their way and Gojira pulled away. Not because he was embarrassed to be seen relaxing with Motha. He just didn't want Deacon to think he was enjoying himself, not even it the slightest, not yet anyway.

"My lord, shall I let in your followers?" the prophet bowed to him, Gojira giving a slight nod.

That seemed to encourage the man enough to leave and at the same time prompt Mothra to begin speaking.

"This is going to be fun ok Goji?" even her whispers were like melodies sung by songbirds "I'll be here with you the whole time. Though I did expect a bit more for decoration from Deacon" she trailed off, looking around.

Gojira kept back a chuckle, a puff of air leaving instead. Compared to her temple, his probably seemed too modest, bland even the lack of gold, previous material, flowers, food, and other items to cover the pillars and floor around them. Truth be told, he preferred his chapel to be structured like this. Words were never spoken to him, but Gojira saw Deacon had learned that he didn't enjoy the extra 'toys'. The food was always eaten within days, and he often regifted the flowers to either Mothra, Kong, or one of the closer demigods. So what often happened was that Deacon would clean up everything and use some of it, with Gojira's permission, for his own personal things. What things exactly? Gojira never knew. He didn't ask, Deacon didn't say, they both understood that it was a thing between them.

Yelling, cheering, and gasps of awe all flooded his ears as quite a large crowd of worshipers were let in. Everyone was so packed together that Gojira could barely tell individual faces from each other. Deacon stepped in, organizing the crowd into a single line, signaling and reminding Gojira what was about to occur.

All the days of worship were different between gods, but the ceremony itself followed the same rules in general. First, the giving of gifts. Where one by one, each worshipper would give a gift to the god, and give their gratitude by thanking them for a blessing they bestowed onto them during the period between the last day of worship and the current one.

It made Gojira internally sigh, it was the longest part of the ceremony. He didn't understand why the people couldn't just leave their gifts today and thank him whenever he performed the life-saving act. This part would go by so much quicker if things were done that way.

Gentle yet subtle nudging of Mothra broke his train of thought, casting his gaze downwards to land upon a young woman. Or maybe an old woman? He couldn't tell by the face alone. It wasn't until she spoke that he could hear the years in her voice.

"Gracious lord Godzilla" she bowed to him, carrying a basket of fruits and baked goods. They were placed in front of him as she continued, starting to go into some speech about how grateful she was to him for bringing them food from one source or another. He really tried to at least seem like he was paying attention to her, he was still looking at her after all. But his brain turned most of her words into a soft buzzing noise until she ended it all with a "Thank you, thank you so much for all that you have provided me and my village."

A final bow was given to him, her place quickly being taken by someone else, a man this time, who offered him diamonds and precious gems. He addressed Gojira the same way the woman did and went into his own monologue of gratitude. It was the same story for all of them. One after another humans left their offerings and uttered their words of appreciation for him. They looked so happy. Even the ones who were farther back in the line had faces of anticipation and eagerness. Gojira swore he could even see some joyous expressions.

Why? All they were doing was coming to see him and say thank you. He knew that most of them had traveled by foot to his temple and had to continue standing for hours.

And it did take hours. By the time the last person finished, he had almost fallen asleep from sheer boredom.

"Now to move onto the second part of this dear celebration!" Decaon's voice was like an alarm to Gojira, his eyes jolting open, "The dance!"

Gojira watched as some of the people present left to go get the supplies needed, while others took it upon themselves to take a seat, discussing among themselves. His gaze continued to travel until he saw Mothra with some children. When had she got off him? Though, seeing that she was off his back, now was his chance to try and get a breather, or better yet, leave. No one would question his actions, and Mothra was distracted.

He carefully got up, often taking quick glances back at Mothra before slipping away.

By the time he got outside, he released a breath that he was unaware of being held. The sky had darkened from the passage of time, shades of lighter blue blending into darker blues with dark clouds scattered about. It reminded him a bit of the ocean, and how he longed to return to the depths. Where he could rest, and think, with the occasional chatter of his prophet to keep him company.

All he needed was a bit of space.

"Godzilla, what are you doing out here?" He knew she would probably come after him, just not this soon. "You have a temple full of devoted men and women waiting for you and you're outside?" An eyebrow would raise if she had any as she waited for Gojira to turn around and face her.

The king could feel her gaze on him, those brilliant royal blue optics examining him, trailing up and down his form for any signs of what was wrong. Exhaling in the form of a silent sigh, he kept his back to her, shutting his eyes. Everything was silent, and, for a minute, the only thing he could hear was his own heartbeat. He thought about whether he should just relent and go inside with her or ignore her and allow himself to remain here for a bit longer. The first option would use less energy and might help things go faster, but the second option was very tempting at the moment. Maybe-

"Goji," the gentle touch of fluff pressed against his head opened his eyes, bringing him face to face with his queen, "look at me. I know you didn't want to come here. You never really want to." Mothra spoke, pausing as she felt the slightest of nods from him. "Just, don't stay out here too long ok?" She pulled away and made her way back towards the waterfall "I don't think you want to drag this out longer than it has to be," her joke made Gojira relax, shaking his head in agreement.

He let her go in first, then took a look at the sky, letting the gentle light fall on him a minute longer, and followed her.

>>>>>

The crowd greeted the return of their god with cheers and applause, and Deacon could see the flicker of annoyance flash over his lord's eyes once more. To keep back a gentle smirk was all he could do as he gave the signal to start the dance, all dancers practically flying to their positions as the instruments played. The prophet took his place beside Gojira, enjoying the fluidity of the dance, replicating the shifting tides of the seas. His hues traveled to the king and queen to see their reactions and it was as expected. The male kaiju seemed expressionless for the most part, albeit a little tired, and the queen?

She was enjoying herself. Like for her own day of celebration, she always adored the music and dances worshipers tailor make for their beloved gods. It was one of the qualities that made her see mortals as above them, the devotion they expressed through their art would bring a tear to her eye if she could cry.

Dancing and singing all ended after an hour or so, and Deacon stood up "I wanted to thank you all for coming here today. Your god thanks you. Have safe travels and may Astrophel's stars guide you home" he announced, voice bellowing across the room.

An eruption of cheers and applause followed the farewell, which was the third and final part of the ceremony. Whether it was done by the god, the prophet, or both, didn't matter. As long as the worshippers were sent off with a proper goodbye, a way to help inspire them to remain loyal to that god and want to return again the next time.

The man watched and helped everyone to leave, making sure the temple was completely empty. Only after did he turn to the royals among gods "Now for my gift my lord. If you can follow me"

Mothra tilted her head, getting off her king and following the human, Gojira right behind her. His gift? She had assumed that he already gave his gift either earlier that morning, during his time at Gojira's home, or during the first part of the ceremony. Her face turned slightly behind her to see if maybe her king had an idea as to what kind of gift this was.

Gojira himself had no idea. Deacon knew him fairly well, enough to know how he viewed gifts. So for Deacon to still take the time to make him one honestly did ignite a small flame of curiosity within him.

Deeper into the temple they followed him, until he paused his walk in front of a room, stepping aside and motioning with a hand inside "Here it is my lord"

Inside was a large bed of sorts. The room itself was circular in shape, the floors and wall made of the same material but they had been painted over to remind Gojira of home. Small dim blue lights cast a cozier atmosphere, perfect for relaxation. Where the floor and bottom of the walls should have kissed was a carved-out ring filled with shimmering water. In the center of it all was the bed. It was a slab of cool stone whose sides had been chipped away at to form the word 'king'. A single ginormous blue pillow rested at the top, a bowl of fish beside it on the ground.

Gojira just stared at it all, looking surprised for once, and Deacon felt pride swell in his heart "Well, go ahead"

No sooner than those words were uttered did Gojira slowly go and lay down on his bed. Mothra moved and rested beside him, deciding to stay a bit longer until he truly fell asleep.

Seeing that his king was enjoying his gift, Deacon turned to leave but the tip of a massive tail stopped him.

"Thank you"

He was released and off he went, a smile on his face "You're welcome, Gojira"

Chapter 3: Chapter 2 (Mothra)

Summary:

While relaxing, Mothra is called to help solve a dispute between two villages, which she thought would be easy.

Notes:

Peace is a hope not a promise, my queen

Days like these were made for flying. A warm welcoming sun in the sky casting down its rays of light, puffy pockets of white clouds floating amongst a sea of light blue, and the gentlest of breezes whistling through the air. Smaller creatures like deer and bunnies grazed below, nibbling at the vegetation. They would occasionally also play with each other, hopping and jumping over one another. These qualities made the atmosphere so peaceful and perfect that not even the large shadow that approached deterred them.

But why would it after all? It was just Mothra.

 

The queen of the monsters flew around the land enough that its inhabitants no longer fled at the sight of her. As the goddess of peace, her presence naturally radiated a sense of calmness and relaxation to all living beings whether they were of the same intelligence or lower, big or small. Not a creature even stirred when she landed, carefully and gently did she let the tips of her limbs touch the lush blades of grass and tickle the exterior of her skin.

A small sigh of content breezed past the opening of her mouth as the queen laid down, spreading her wings to their limit to lie atop the earth. The light from above bathed her in its glow, warming her body to a pleasurable temperature. So, sunbathing. She would close her eyes, but, as a moth, she could not. She had no eyelids to do so.

When was the last time she did this? Despite being the Goddess of peace, she barely had any time to enjoy it. Typically, her time was spent bringing peace and harmony to her worshippers or other deities, and while she did enjoy her duties, it could be tiring, nonetheless.

Mothra tilted her head to the side, nuzzling into the vegetation and cooing. She watched as her sounds attracted a particularly small brown bunny. Its innocent gaze warmed her heart, enough to allow it to climb onto her and burrow into the white fluff that covered the majority of her chest and was one of her striking features. The paws repeatedly poking and rubbing her lower neck prompted light giggling, the ticklish touch stopping at the slight shaking of her body.

“Oh, I'm sorry,” she chuckled, using one of her front legs to brush aside some of her fuzz to get a better look at the young mammal “You did not have to stop, I was just giggling. You can-”

“Madame Mothra!”

“Mistress Mothra!”

Of course.

The flicker of disappointment couldn’t be helped. The goddess turned her head in the direction where the additional voices originated from.

“Why, hello!” she greeted.

In front of her stood two humans that seemed of the same age, one male one female. Both had long red hair that cascaded down their backs, with the woman wearing her locks loose and free. The man, on the other hand, had it tied back. Both wore what Mothra considered middle class clothing, with no noticeable jewels, silks, or gold adorning their frames. But they weren’t filthy either, the man wearing an all-white attire and black shoes; the woman wearing a white robe and a flower crown. The man spoke first, bowing before he did.

“Madame Mothra, we’ve traveled in search of your presence. We need your aid in solving a conflict” he explained as he rose again, his comrade speaking up.

“My mistress, our village has conflict with our neighboring village, and nothing the leaders have done has solved it. So, we beg of you, please help us” she added, curtseying.

“Of course. If you could tell me where your village is, you may climb onto my back and we shall fly there,” she gently removed the bunny from her fluff, setting it on the ground and watching it hop away to rejoin its group. The ground quaked as Mothra rose, getting onto her six legs and lowering her wings to allow the duo of humans to climb onto her.

>>>>>>>>>>>

All three were launched into the air from a powerful pump of the queen’s astonishing aileron, the limbs gliding across the air. Directions were given until they reached what could be considered a duo of villages average in both size and population. Below were the humans, from each of their respective villages, bustling about. To her, they resembled the many bees of a hive. If it weren’t for the clear divide between the two communities. An imaginary wall appeared to divide the two, people from either side unable to cross over.

“There’s our village,” the man pointed to the town to the right. In response, the queen tilted her body in that direction, gliding toward an open field large enough to contain her without destroying any buildings.

Any heavier of an ariel god would have caused a small earthquake, but since she was among the smaller in the weight class, her landing only caused a gentle tremor. She lowered her wings, allowing the two humans to slide off, spotting another, older, one approaching.

“My queen” his voice was scratchier than sandpaper, but his kind expression made up for it. He bowed to her, long grayish-red hair cascading down his face as the younger man quickly went to his side to help him stand straight once more.

“Madame Mothra, this is the leader of our village”

Mothra nodded, lowering her head down to the old man “Its a pleasure to meet you. I’ve been told that there’s an issue between you and the other town that you need my help with. Please, tell me what’s the problem?” she cooed.

“Well my queen. For quite some time, we lived in peace with the other town. Until-”

“We found out how barbaric they are!” the woman blurted, mumbling an apology to her elder after.

“I wouldn’t say it like that, but yes. Within the past few years, they’ve displayed types of behavior that I dare say, are inhumane. My poor heart would give out if I said what they were, but can you please talk to them? Me and the other leader just can’t seem to come to a conclusion about the awful actions of her people” he explained.

“I see, I’ll go talk to them” Mothra rose back up, making her way over to the other village.

Well, that wasn’t helpful. But this wasn’t going to take too long, it was just a civil matter, most likely the other village stole something and refused to return it. Nothing she hadn’t seen before. It would at most take an hour, maybe a bit of godly persuasion, and she could go back to relaxing with the small critters of the land.

Gasps and awes emitted from the humans below as the giant insect’s form passed through, and she would be lying if she said she didn’t bask in the adoration a bit. Sure, it would have been better if she wasn’t here to solve this discord, but a goddess has her duties, and she was going to do them well.

This time, Mothra had to call out for the leader “hello?” Another word wasn’t fast enough to leave her mouth before a woman, not much younger than the old man, rolled up to her in a wheelchair.

“Oh gracious Mothra! Thank Astrophel’s stars!” like her male counterpart, this female’s voice was scratchy but had a sweet smile “I’m so glad you’re here!”

“Yes. I’ve heard that there’s an issue between these two communities, and I've been summoned to help. But I wanted to listen to your side of this story as well”

“I bet his people said that” a breathy, wheezing laugh left the old woman “Let me guess. My people and I have been called monsters? Or maybe inhumane?” She shook her head, “and I bet that old RollingRock agreed”

“RollingRock?”

“Typical, and he calls us the barbarians. I’m StillStone, leader of the left side village. You want my story? My story is that everything was fine until they opened their stinking mouths and showed who they really are!” Her outburst was followed by a fit of coughing, Mothra listening.

“And what did they say-”

Her question was cut off by shrills not that far away. The sound of wheels rolling against the stone path was barely audible to the queen as the now dubbed StillStone went to the source, grumbling to herself. Mothra followed, confused about this whole matter but still optimistic that it could be easily solved.

“Of course, your side is sneaky enough to ruin our harvest of to-MAY-toes!” a male voice yelled

“Who would want to ruin the harvest of heathens who pronounce to-MAH-toes that way!” a female voice screamed back

“What is this I hear about the undoing of our harvest?” demanded StillStone as she rolled up

“Oh, just some false accusations about ruining your tomatoes” RollingRock rasped, looking down at her.

“You mean my tomahtoes?” StillStone snapped

“No, dear, you heard me the first time”

“Don’t you ‘dear’ me mister! It’s tomahtoes and you know it!”

“You ought to calm yourself before you have a heart-attack StillStone”

“You’ll go before I do!”

“Enough”

All words phased out of existence, time himself felt like it had ceased to move as a steady, firm, and calm cautioning came from the consort. Auroral azure oculi observed the growing assembly, small light sighs leaving her trap as she thought. This whole issue, the reason why she had been summoned, was over a miniscule debate about how to pronounce tomatoes? If there was a tiniest bit of malevolence in her bones, she would have just scared the village into stopping this ridiculous mess and then leave, returning back to her previous activities. However, that wouldn’t be the right way to achieving peace, and it would be a lie if said that this didn’t intrigue her the slightest bit.

“Don’t you all think this is quite childish?” the query was met with soft gasps and murmurings, but no agreement, so she continued “the presence or absence of an extra letter shouldn’t cause this much arguing. No matter how you say it, the fruit remains the same” words were carefully chosen as to not make either side assume she was picking favorites. The last thing she needed was word to get out that the goddess of peace was biased.

It seemed to work, the humans around her quieting.

Until RollingRock spoke, “yes, it's still the same, but tomato is the better way of saying it,” he stated

“No, tomahto is” StillStone snapped back.

Ah, back to arguing. Thankfully, she knew how to tune out this kind of sound, having learned over the years to do so thanks to Gojira and Ghidorah. Disputes became a soft buzzing noise as she took the time to think, trying to think of quick but efficient solutions for this oddly particularly specific problem. An idea came to her and the suggestion instantly travelled to her maw.

“What if we rename it?”

She scanned the ground before finding a patch of tomatoes. Gingerly, she reached out one of her forelegs to every so softly pluck a tomato, bringing it to the group’s attention “Perhaps it can be called the red fruit instead? Or soft apple?” Internally she winced at her own ideas. But she then reminded herself that the purpose wasn’t to come up with the perfect name.

“Soft apple huh?” StillStone’s brow furrowed in thought, it wasn’t that bad in her opinion.

“I suppose it isn’t that bad, soft ahpple is an acceptable substitute” RollingRock agreed

StillStone looked at him slowly, eyes narrowing as she asked, “..what did you just say?”

“Ahpple”

“It’s Apple”

“No, it’s Ahpple”

“It’s Apple you old kook!”

And with that, the argument began once again. Mothra allowed the tomato to drop and splatter on the ground as she somehow managed to slip away from the now two yelling sides and to a quieter part of the left village.

Why?

She breathed as she allowed irritation to softly simmer within her. Why were humans so stubborn sometimes? This should have an easy 10-minute fix at most. Her presence alone should have soothed them enough to prevent such squabble, coupled with the fact that as a god, humans respected her opinion more. But this group was just so gung-ho on this insignificant detail!

Her wings flared, knocking down the top of a building, something she wasn’t aware of as she tried to calm herself down. How could she bring peace if she herself contained discord? She needed to calm down. She NEEDED to calm down.

She laid herself down on the ground, exhaling and burying her face into the surface of her appendages and fluff, shielding her face as her scent began to fill her nose. The two giant wings lost their firmness and flopped down onto the ground on either side of her.

Breathe. Just, breathe.

The glow in her eyes dimmed, her way of shutting her eyes since she possessed no eyelids. Within her mind, she pictured herself back in that field, letting the warm rays of the sunbathe her large form. She imagined small creatures like the bunnies and deer grazing around her, occasionally climbing onto her. Her thoughts drifted back to an older time, when she was younger, when Gojira, was younger. How both used to enjoy each other's company, as well as the company of others, in different ways. The warmth she once constantly felt. The touch...

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

When did she fall asleep? And why was she waking up?

Oh yes, because there was a battle approaching.

During her brief period of sleep, which was a couple of hours, the humans had noticed the lack of a goddess and went to find her. The search led to the left-sided village people discovering the destroyed third story of their library. Instantly, the first thought that occurred to them was it had to be the other side’s doing. One thing led to another, and now, both sides were preparing to fight each other. Chants echoed through the air as she saw the two sides marching towards the invisible border. Hastily, she crawled over to the gathering masses as the leaders spoke.

“This is your last chance to admit what you did RollingRock!” StillStone screamed as she waved her battle cane.

“Never, I rather die before admitting to lies!” RollingRock hollered back, glaring at the handicapped woman.

“Then you will pay!” she roared, wheeling up to him with her people following behind.

“Onward!” RollingRock shrieked as they stomped on.

“Oh. My. Stop!” Mothra came in between them, eyes widening in slight exasperation “There’s no need for this!”

“My queen, this must happen, they accuse us of falsehoods!” RollingRock interjected, glaring at StillStone

“False?! Look at our library!” StillStone motioned to the rubble and stones that lay on the ground, causing Mothra to turn her head in that direction.

A realization sparked within her eyes as she saw the damage. It was her fault; she must have knocked it over during her session.

“Actually, I caused that to happen” she admitted, slowly turning her gaze back to the two. She didn’t go further into detail, as it wasn’t necessary. They didn’t need to know exactly the why and the what; nor would they ask. It was a perk and grace of being a god, and definitely saved her the embarrassment of explaining how the Goddess of peace lost her cool and destroyed the top of a building.

The silence fell upon every soul there after the queen spoke, glances exchanging not just among their group, but also with the other side.

StillStone was the first one to speak up “Well, this was a waste of time. But thank you for telling us the truth.” She tossed her battle cane, and someone in her village caught it before it hit the ground.

“Yes, it was” RollingRock agreed “But my people will gladly help you repair your library”

“How kind of you” StillStone rolled her eyes but let RollingRock pass with his people, some returning back to their own homes.

Mothra stood back and watched, confused but relieved that a battle was avoided. She was about to leave, seeing that there weren’t any issues left, when StillStone’s voice called out to her.

“Thank you”

Her head turned back a bit, and she nodded “Your welcome”

With that, she left.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

The trip home oddly felt longer than it typically did. The setting sun casts the sky in its beautiful golden glow, causing the pinks, reds, and oranges to gently shine. These colors were reflected against the waterfall as she descended into her sacred grove where her main temple and home rested.

Her home, which was surrounded by waterfalls with a large island down in the center, was more specifically under what could only be described as a hybrid of a willow and cherry blossom tree. Wings glide against the air, carrying her under the tree, gently brushing against the hanging leaves, providing the privacy she adored. As she landed, she sighed happily to herself, turning over to rest on her back, wings sprawled out against the lush grass.

“There you are my queen”

Said queen didn’t even rouse at the voice, immediately recognizing it as belonging to her prophet, Sergia. She heard the young woman walk up to her head, and she tilted it towards her. In response, Sergia affectionately rubbed her crown in slow, smooth brushes, essentially petting her.

“You seem quite tired. I’ll prepare your lavender scrub. I’ve heard about your travels to the villages of Tomate.”

So that was what their villages were called.

Sergia began to hum a soft tune as she picked and plucked out any pieces of dirt or grime from Mothra’s fuzz, as per routine “I also heard about the destruction of the library” she added with a hint of a smile.

Mothra made a noise at that but didn’t fully respond.

“However,” Sergia paused “They’ve started arguing again, something over potato versus pahtahto”

Chapter 4: Chapter 3 (Ghidorah)

Summary:

Ghidorah, in an attempt to one-up Godzilla, decides to pay a visit to the first village they gained, only to realize their loyalty is strained

Notes:

Loyalties forgotten often shift golden trio

Booming, thundering, clashing.

When one makes the clouds harden with so much spite that they transform from a white to a black, bearing the burden of water molecules condensing into a downpour aching to be released, it takes focus. Or, at least, mortals would assume it as such.

Lightning flashed above and illuminated a small fraction of the beast in the darkening skies that were crafting the carefully woven storm. Below, people on the ground could only definitely see the middle to end of two long tails that narrowed at the ends. However, instead of a singular point, a barb, with moving spikes, tipped each extremity. The tails didn’t move in unison, each appearing to have a mind of its own as when one dipped down, striking the soil of the earth, the other rose into the darkness. Another flash, a brighter, bigger one, highlighted an outline of the creature, if only for a fraction of a second.

After a third scintillate, drops of water poured in rapid succession, seeping into scales whose hue was hidden, much to the slight annoyance of the beast, more particularly the left head of it.

This monster went by many names among the mortals; the False King, the Three-headed Devil, even the Terror of Skies. But more commonly, they were titled King Ghidorah, God of Thunder and Storms. A hydra with 3 heads was attached to long yet strong necks, all connecting to a broad torso. Where arms or forelegs should have been were 2 ginormous wings, which were strong enough to knock over a forest with a single pump. These wings often cause winds during storms, managing how intense they were, though they also currently held up a body of 521 feet in height, allowing the hind legs to suspend in the air. Said body was covered entirely in golden scales, excluding the select few areas where the color was replaced by bronze. But the color didn’t matter, the fact was, water was quickly covering their whole frame, most sliding down against the smooth surface but some droplets unfortunately creeping into the crevices between the scales, sending signals of discomfort throughout the body and their neurons.

Ni, the left head of the god, scowled as he shook his head to rid himself of the water, though he already knew the relief would only be temporary. Until they, no, Ichi, finished the storm, they wouldn’t be going anywhere. As he blinked to shield his eyes from the aqua assault, he occasionally let his gaze flicker around, keeping watch in the off chance another entity would approach them, or it was him. He didn’t catch either of those in his sight, instead, his glare landed on the right head, San, or more commonly known, Kevin.

Kevin, in his opinion, was acting like he usually did, an idiot. When he should have been either keeping watch or helping the center head Ichi with creating the storm, he seemed to have opted to try and catch the droplets on his tongue. Like an annoyingly innocent child.
The right head of Ghidorah had been lost in his own little game when he was promptly slammed into by another head, emitting a whimper from him. Out of reflex, his teeth instantly bared, the spines on his neck and the 4 pairs on either side of his lower jaw flaring out. However, blood red eyes caught who the aggressor was, and he immediately lowered his head in submission. The split section decision seemed to have worked when all he received was a snarl and no further physical punishment from the second in command Ni.

“What the fuck are you doing? Playing around like one of those mortal children?” The hiss of Ni was covered in disgust and Kevin practically felt it dripping off every word.

“I was just playing a game...” mumbled Kevin in response, perking up a second later “You could play too Ni! See first you open your mouth-”

“Playing a game! Of course, you’re playing a damn game. What else should I expect from you, the one who always gets his head ripped off by everything, dies by everyone, even idols” Ni snapped

“I don’t get my head ripped off by everything! Besides, your head is always covered in scars”

“It was ripped off by the lizard last time we fought, you were too busy ‘playing’ to notice him charging up. We were better off when you were nothing but a stump, then we wouldn’t have a weak link on our body”

“Hey! It's not my fault that Godzilla beat us! You should have thought of a better plan!”

“Me?! I’m not the one who-”

‘Silence’

Ichi’s firm statement was only heard through their neurons, his expression still guarded. Though both brothers swore they could feel his disapproving stare when his eyes were on the storm. Ni grumbled, no words further leaving him, and Kevin went back to his game, if not more focused on the task at hand this time.
The lead head saw through his brother’s eyes that they had stopped, for the time being. Perhaps it was time to leave now, grace the humans with their presence. Taking control of both wings, Ichi glided them down, landing on the ground with an earth-shaking thud. As much as he detested the mud as it squished beneath their feet, he was aware that they needed to grace their worshippers with their presence. Newly acquired villages always seemed to need the most attention from them during the first year or so. It was a simple technique among gods and the lower deities. Ensure loyalty by tending to their needs whenever they called, then gradually lower the consistency to match the amount of attention given to other communities. However, Ichi had made it clear that they were going to get absolute loyalty from each village they claimed or stole. So while most gods would spend once a week at the town, they were going 2, 3, 4, up to 5 times a week; a strategy that worked so far, much better than the fear tactics they once implemented. Terror was always a good back-up plan, just in case.

“Oh God of Lightning, how-” a woman, maybe the leader, maybe not, began to speak.

Her prattling became white noise to him, delegating that task to Kevin, who seemed to happily do it without question. It suited his role after all to listen to the meaningless praises of the humans, as ‘enthusiastic’ as he was.

“You’re welcome!” Chirped Kevin as he listened to the woman, though his eyes wander to behind her, where more humans were gathering to kneel to them.
Ni, on the other hand, grunted, “Ichi.”

“Time to go San. Our dear worshippers can’t handle your antics much longer.” Ichi’s deep rumble was tinted with teasing as he took control of the body and launched them into the air, the startled squeaks of screams making Kevin giggle.

>>>>>>>>>>>>

“Bryn”

They land and Ichi’s command brought the sound of running shoes against stone. A woman, looking to be in her prime, skidded to a stop in front of the hydra, bowing. From head to toe, her clothes were covered in the same gold scales that originated from their body. Her hair was also a short blonde color, with eyes a color blacker than space.

“My lord! You’ve returned, quickly as well, I’m guessing the village was a success?” she questioned, following after him as he went deeper into his cave.
She had learned long ago not to attempt to climb onto him, hence the short hair.

“Of course it was. Such a dumb pet,” Kevin’s words were insulting but they were delivered in a giggle, as if it were meant to be a joke, still, it caused Bryn to frown a bit.

“It was the desired outcome,” his eldest brother answered, beginning to preen their scales while they weren’t busy, “get on with it” he stated.

Bryn, quickly nodding, began to recall the status of all the gods. As a prophet, she and her fellow prophets occasionally conversed with one another outside of their gods’ interacting. Most gods weren’t aware to the extent they spoke, but somehow, Ghidorah had figured it out one night after she returned from speaking with the prophetess Sergia. Learning that, they, more so Ni and Ichi, would demand any new information she received, especially from the prophet Deacon. The two were friendly enough, despite their respective deities being enemies, though neither revealed more than they should, discussing only the most basic of subjects. Such as new worshippers, which she relayed to Ghidorah now, “-and Godzilla has gotten a new village of followers.”

“WHAT.” Ni’s snarl caught her off guard “Ichi now we have to get new mortals to worship us”

“I am aware Ni”

“Why didn’t you tell us this sooner!” his anger turned to Bryn directly, his neck lowering and closing the distance between him and her at a menacing pace.

“I just found out my lord!” Bryn pleaded, kneeling.

“Now Ni,” Ichi bit into Ni’s uppermost horn, forcing his head back up, “you can’t get mad at Bryn. She’s only doing her absolute best.” His voice was pitying, and mocking.

‘No, what we do now is decide how to approach this....development’

‘Why don’t we just strike some of his villages with lightning. Quick and fucking simple’ he growled within their neurons, Ichi being tempted with the idea but thinking better of it.

‘Too public. We’re not risking our mortals just to hunt a few of his’

Kevin was able to hear the two’s conversation and instead he opted not to participate, quickly growing bored. A soft sigh leaving Bryn’s lips reminded him of her still being there, probably waiting until Ichi spoke again.

What good was a pet if you couldn’t play with it?

He let his neck drop to the ground, silent in his actions despite his size. Kevin pretended he was a snake, and Bryn his prey. Slithering closer, and closer, until.
The yelp of Bryn filled his head as he gingerly picked her up, pinning her in between his teeth. They didn’t pierce her scaly armor at first, relief painting onto Bryn’s face, which irked Kevin a bit. He increased the pressure, giggling at the soft squish he heard and the trickle of blood running down his tooth.

“Lord Kevin! Stop!” Bryn begged as she tried to pry his jaw open

“You didn’t say please,” he sung, shaking her in his grasp, sinking his teeth in deeper.

“Please! I- I have an idea to help you! Let me go!”

Kevin only dropped her when Ni roughly bit Kevin’s maw, making him drop Bryn. Her body crashed against the ground, knocking her breath out of her lungs. Eyes wide, she just laid there, her body slowly healing, flesh closing over the wound. She took a moment just to think, watching Ni growl at her once temporary captor.

“Bryn”

Ichi’s voice snapped her out of it. Bryn, yes, that was her name now. She sat up almost mechanically, getting to her feet.

“Yes, my lord?”

“You said you know how to gain an advantage”

“Ah, yes...maybe if you go to your first village? Reconnect with them? I’m sure more villages may have formed around it since then”

Her suggestion did intrigue Ichi. It would be essentially going back to their beginnings, and in all honesty, they hadn’t visited that village in at least 5 revolutions. Sure, he vaguely recognized a few faces from that village on their day of worship, but that was expected. Going back could be a good opportunity; even if they didn’t gain any new worshippers, he remembered how eagerly they showered him with their praise.

He faintly heard the growls lowering from Ni, signaling that he was done ‘reprimanding’ Kevin. Both side heads were flooded with the new information through their neurons as Ichi flew out their cave’s mouth.
>>>>>>>>>>>>
Kevin’s attention floated around the vast sky as Ichi seemed to have been determined to make them fly as slowly as possible. It was actually tiring the leisure pace they glided, but asking to land or at least go under the sea of clouds wouldn't change anything. His eldest brother had control of the body, so they were going to do what he wanted, meaning that he had to just be content with looking down and making out the shapes of the white cotton candy. It was through his aimless searching that he spotted what he believed were buildings through a space between two drifting clouds. Red irises glanced back at his two brothers.

Ni appeared to be idly scanning, with more focus than Kevin had, and Ichi was stone faced as usual, eyes straight ahead. They were both navigating on memory and instinct than actually searching, bringing a slightly cheeky smile to the youngest’s visage. Neither of them seemed to have spotted what he had! He would get the honor of telling them that he found the site they were looking for. BEFORE them.

In all his excitement, Kevin hadn’t realized that he was flooding their neurons with a puppy-like eagerness, alerting both brothers, with Ni giving the more visible reaction in the form of a low growl. He despised when Kevin couldn’t control his emotions and forced feelings into Ni foreign to him. If he wasn’t him, he might have even gotten second-hand joy, and he could feel the ends of his jaw twitching, threatening to relax. Ni gritted his teeth, overriding the strong waves of positivity flooding their body, having adapted to this from Kevin. But to truly end this would to get him to spit out the source of this energy. Ichi apparently had the same thought as he asked before Ni did.

“San-”

“I found the village!” Kevin interrupted him in a cheery tone, pointing with his snout to a few miles behind them, “I saw it through the clouds,” he continued pridefully.

Ichi blinked, glancing behind him, Ni already sniffing the air, as he assumed that Ichi would tell him to do so.

“Are you certain?” he asked

“Yes! I promise I saw it!”

“Smells like it” Ni confirmed to Ichi, albeit in a grumble.

Hearing the affirmation from Ni, Ichi adjusted the position of their wings, flying in the direction of Kevin’s supposed sighting. If he was right, he would probably expect some sort of praise to be rewarded to him. Ichi sifted through the options mentally as the clouds parted upon their descend.

There was in fact a settlement, but none of them could hardly call it a village in the traditional sense. Yes, villages didn’t follow a strict structural blueprint, and all had their quirks and unique features that made them different. But there was a common theme among every one they encountered, with the normal houses being small, made of dull gray or brown stones, some even being red. The larger buildings typically represented importance, where a leader or defense might live. However, as they landed in the middle of the village, Ichi observed that the buildings around them seemed to be covered in a smooth black surface and instead of the holes in the walls that they called windows, glass now filled them. It surprised him a bit, as he hadn’t expected such a primitive species as humans to evolve so quickly.

Ni didn’t share his musings, taking in the upgrades with disinterest, as why should he care about the new toys these bunch of humans built? He had seen better from baser creatures on former worlds they had conquered before coming to this mudball of a planet. He knew Ichi took an odd pleasure in dominating the intelligent life on a planet before destroying it, but this was wasting their time. Time that could be spent back in space. As Ni glanced at Ichi, he swore he could see a flicker of fascination in his dark blood-red eyes, as if he was actually interested in the progress made. That kind of childish fascination was expected from Kevin, who even now was toying with the growing crowd of weary mortals that surrounded them, taking pleasure in startling them with each sudden movement he made. He watched them more closely now, catching how they began to part a bit as a man who looked later in his life made his way through the crowd.

“Hello King Ghidorah! What an unexpected but not unwelcome surprise,” he boomed, the voice much stronger than the bones in his body.

Ichi stared down at him, recalling which leader this was, there were so many and as they aged the faces and names just blend together. Sure, it was easier to not try to remember the names, they were worshippers after all, and it wasn’t expected of the gods to commit every title to memory. Which was all the more reason Ichi did so. It evidently made this species feel special when a god like them took the time and energy to get to know them, and when they felt special, they were more loyal and willing to obey.

“Chief Zolton” he greeted, mentally telling Ni not to attack any of the humans or buildings “It’s our pleasure to be here again”

“Yes, it only took you 25 years” the gentle jab made Ichi clench his teeth a bit, but not a word depicted any irritation at the comment.

As he spoke again, his voice was a calm measured tone, “Yes, our apologies for taking so long, it wasn’t intentional” scaly lips parted back in a mockery of a smile, glistening white fangs bared to the much smaller life form for a brief moment.

Zolton didn’t react all that much to the lead head’s halfhearted apology “I’m sure” his hand rose and he motioned for his people to follow him away to some undisclosed location.

Ghidorah watched his mortals leave, to of course prepare a party of some sort in their honor as this was really a gift to their community.
And so they waited.

And waited.

And....waited.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Kevin’s tongue flickered out of his mouth as he tasted the air here, noting how even the quality of it changed from the last time they visited. Or, he thought it did. It was hard to remember when it had been so long. The atmosphere here did have a distinct difference compared to the other communities, a sharp tangy metallic flavor that reminded him of when they entered the temples of gold built for them. He shook his head at the thought, simultaneously shaking him out of his thoughts as the movement allowed his eyes to notice the mortals.

“Ichi” he began, bumping his head into Ichi’s neck, the middle head silently exhaling and looking down at him to show the younger that he has accomplished in gaining his attention. “Look, the humans aren’t bringing out any of their toys,” as he continued, he looked back down at casual walking of the people, half tempted to trap one of them in his mouth, though that would just annoy his brother.

He watches as Ichi scanned the mortals, deciding to speak up “I don’t think they want to worship us” the obvious observation brought an eye-roll from Ni, who was half paying attention, half trying to ignore all this.

Well, that’s what Kevin guessed. But he could never really tell when it came to that brother.

“oo! What if we flatter them?”

“Did you just say that we should beg?” exasperated Ni, the nature of such a thought deserving his attention.

“I didn’t say beg! I said flatter”

“I’m not hearing a difference”

“Flattering someone isn’t begging. Mothra does it a lot, it’s lying to make someone feel better, then you can make them do what you want” Kevin wanted to stick his tongue out at Ni but he might lose it if he did.

‘We’re not going to flatter them’

Ichi’s mental announcement confused Kevin, as he saw no reason why it couldn’t just be said out loud. He was about to ask but Ichi stopped him as he further explained what they were going to do next.

-----------------------------------------------------

Now this was a familiar scene.

The heavens darkened with a hellish black as Ghidorah launched themselves into the air, Ni feeling the electrical currents dance across their scales as his throat glowed with raw power. His brothers copied him in this sense, but he didn’t care, the thrill of destruction residing within him. Finally, they were going to remind the world why they were a god.

With a high-pitched screech, 3 beams of bright light erupted from the 3 heads of the false king, all aimed in their own direction with the same intent. Ni focused his ray of ruining on the buildings that looked like they were used to store weapons, to crush any hope of defending themselves. He knew Ichi would most likely go after the leader’s home, and Kevin would sweep up the rest. It’s how it usually worked anyway.

Usually.

But, as Ni began to notice, past the shining of their blasts, he saw a flicker of red, then orange, and a bit of yellow. He could have kept going, they didn’t really need to breathe for these things, yet he stopped, to take a closer look, a low rumble already vibrating in his throat before he fully saw what was happening.

“Ichi look,” he snapped at his brother, the lead head taking a moment before ending his attack, both pairs of eyes landing on the same thing, “we’re not doing shit”
Below them was a barrier, not made of stone or even the black material they had seen covering the buildings, but of fire. Flames danced and curved to form a dome over the village, protecting it from their blasts, still doing so as Kevin was still going, until Ni bit his horn to snap him out of it, unleashing a fraction of his anger onto the right head.

It was unfathomable. First was the protection itself, which instead of reflecting their attack, it seemed to absorb its energy, using that same energy to strengthen itself. Meaning, they were essentially fueling it. Second, the one that infuriated Ni more, was the audacity of some creature to try and stop them. This was their village, their worshippers, and their things to punish when they didn’t do what they were supposed to.

Ichi observed the border of fire, the thunder above echoing his displeasure at it. He immediately thought to that god of fire, Rodan, remembering the titan’s ability to withstand their attacks and survive. It would be easy to assume that the lesser being had somehow stolen and claimed their village for himself and had half the brain cell to leave a guard over it. However, this didn’t have his handiwork, it was too...subtle, and they were able to attack it without risking any ‘harm’ to themselves. No god was this quiet with their defense, not on a village they recently stole. He wanted an answer, and he was more than willing to kill the leader for it if he had to. Nothing was spoken when he descended down back into the village, Zolton apparently already waiting for them. By his expression, he wasn’t all too pleased with their actions. It was cute that he thought an irritated expression would evoke anything in Ichi, but at least now he didn’t have to waste time pretending to care, as much.

“Get out of my village, King Ghidorah” Ichi caught the wavering in his voice as he fought between trying to keep his anger in his tone but remembering that he was speaking to a god.

“Who was foolish enough to falsely claim your village as theirs?” Ichi asked instead, lightning flashing behind him that made the glow in his red eyes pop more in the darkness.

“It’s not a false claim, we don’t belong to you” Zolton protested, being knocked to the ground by Kevin as he got in his face with a disgustingly sweet trill.

“You’re so funny Chief Zolton, acting like you belong to someone else. Like you have the choice” he cooed, raising once more

“I’m not going to say it again, human. Who was it?” Ichi stated as he heard Ni’s low growl, an added measure of fear that brought a trembling to Zolton, who shut his eyes and sighed

“A demigod” he whispered, but Ichi heard it, all 3 of them did.

So that’s why the guard was different, it belonged to a demigod. A creature that was a pitiful mockery of their status. Never did they think that such a creature was capable of stealing their worshippers from them.

“You’ve fallen as low as to let a demigod rule you” Ichi concluded “Pathetic” he stated, looking Zolton right in the eye.

“You have abandoned us for 5 years Ghidorah,” the chief’s shaking voice stammered out as he got to his feet slowly, “wars have happened, people died, my people died, and you were on the other side of the world. Without Hestia we-”

“Hestia”

Ni snarled the name as it was spoken into existence. So that was the title of the demigod. They tuned out the rest of Zolton’s speech, deciding where to go from here. It was clear that these humans had lost the little sanity they had left, and stopped devoting themselves to Ghidorah. They couldn’t obliterate the community due to the guard left on the village and they weren’t going to try to form a new bond. They never did, as it wouldn’t matter in the end.

Ichi decided for all of them to just leave. He knew that Zolton was still giving his long-winded talk as to why they were no longer deemed a suitable god for them, and if they stayed any longer, Ni might just snap and kill him. His life wasn’t worth their attention anymore anyways.

Their wings unfolded and they flew back to their cave, the yells of both Zolton and his people disappearing behind them

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

 

As much of a waste the trip was, Ichi couldn’t say it was all worthless. Now they had a name for an imbecilic deity that stepped too far out of line. A name that Ni was still seething over as he rested his head on the ground of their home, Kevin mimicking the action but instead of shutting his eyes like Ni, began to mess with their tail, bored.

“San. Sleep. Now” Ichi commanded, not leaving any room for argument.

And as if by magic, Kevin shut his eyes, trying to appear asleep; Ichi had to give him that at least. He knew Ni was already in subconsciousness, fast to sleep and fast to wake, and Kevin would follow suit in a few minutes.

Ichi looked up at the sky, the stars a bit distorted due to the crystals that formed in the hole of the ceiling of the cave. He finally had peace to himself, to think without the squabbling of siblings, the endless prattle of mortals, or the squawks of Bryn, who had left before their return. He enjoyed the stars, as they were the only thing familiar to him on this planet.

Legends always said they had fallen from the stars as a gift to mankind, a narrative amusingly ignorant of their true purpose here. A gift they were most certainly not, only here to destroy this planet and all the living beings on it, especially that lizard. Every time he thought about it though, it just reminded him of how long they had been here, and he was beginning to wonder if that was a good or bad thing, but he kept that to himself. His brothers of course acknowledged the amount of time spent as well, each having their own opinions about it.

Ni wanted to leave. He had never been one to interact with others unless by violence or told by Ichi to behave. The abundance of scars on his face and broken horn were trophies he wore from the battles he’d been in. He was the most battle strategic of the three, preferring to use his actions rather than his words. It was a bad habit of his, but very useful to Ichi. However, that meant he quickly got bored and that boredom turned into frustration when they weren’t fighting.

Kevin wanted to stay. He liked how much freedom he had on this planet. Before coming here, he and his brothers would destroy planets so quickly he never had time to properly have fun with the beings there. Now that Earth was a challenge to conquer, they were forced to stay longer, allowing the youngest to explore.
And Ichi? Well, his pride wouldn’t let him leave knowing Godzilla remained. So, they were staying, even if this was less than ideal.
Ichi shook his head, ridding himself of those thoughts and instead letting his gaze wander over their ‘home’.

In the light of the moon and stars, it was foreign to him, but oddly the same. The way the rays caught on the black stone made some edges of the rocks glisten, highlighting little spots of white, almost like the stars above.

And now he was thinking about the stars again, how lovely.

He didn’t know what to say, he did miss space. And the stars only reminded him of it. The emptiness of the vast black, how they could float endlessly without worrying about the pull of gravity. The heat and radiation of a supernova that came in the form of a cosmic sea. Hibernating for years or even decades on end and surviving just off the energy of a star without a single worry between trips.

He missed it all.

But there was just something about the idea of defeating Godzilla that kept him here. A deep instinct to have dominion over all that pushed away any longing, overshadowing other emotions and suppressing them. Ichi couldn’t leave, not until this world was nothing but ash.

Blood-colored hues looked up at the stars again, catching one of them seemingly moving across the night sky, before falling asleep.