Chapter Text
It had been a good seven months since the battle in Boston. Amidst all the worldwide rebuilding, life had gone on as normal: cities that were evacuated or destroyed set up camps for the people to live in while the buildings were repaired; most Titans had gone back to hibernation, with a few exceptions.
Monarch had located the next Mothra egg, and set up a temporary station to monitor it.
It was only a few weeks after Outpost 61-RB had been established, led by Dr. Ilene Chen and her sister Ling, when Mothra's larva finally hatched. Thanks to the more peaceful environment and most importantly, no Titan threats looming over the world, this version of the Queen of the Monsters had all the time she needed to peacefully develop and interact with the world around her; in fact, she was so docile she would allow the Monarch scientists to get much closer to her than they had to any other Titan, and even touch her in some cases (though this was discouraged by the higher ups, it never stopped the Chen twins or anyone else who was craving moth pets).
A couple of days after her hatching, Mothra started to build her cocoon and around her, Monarch was setting up the equipment to monitor her.
Doctor Ling Chen was hunched over a computer monitor, looking at the x-ray imaging of Mothra's cocoon to ensure her imago was forming correctly, when her twin sister approached her from behind.
"Do you think she will look the same as last time?"
"We won't know for sure until she hatched. But look, here" she pointed at the screen "it's hard to tell what her wingspan will be, but her body is only two thirds the size her previous one was at the same stage"
"Is that a concern? Maybe she's just developing at a slower pace. After all it took her four days to cocoon instead of just a few hours like last time."
Ling hummed in thought, though her face still showed some concern.
Ilene gently grabbed her sister but the shoulders, guiding her away from the monitor.
"Come on, let someone else take over. You'll keel over from exhaustion before you get to see Mothra emerging"
Ling conceded, motioning for another Monarch scientist to take her place at the computer.
The Chen twins walked out of the outpost tent, towards the faint glow of Mothra's cocoon. It was gently pulsating with blue light, a hypnotizing display that left both researchers awestruck.
"See? She's doing fine" Ilene whispered to her sister.
"She does...feel...serene" Ling muttered.
"Feel?"
"I wouldn't know how else to describe the sensation. It's like..."
"No. I understand. It's the same for me"
The sisters held each other's hands, a reassuring gesture that went back to their childhood.
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Inside her cocoon, Mothra could feel a faint tugging at her psyche. She recognized that link from millennia prior, though this one was much more feeble. It was the unmistakable touch of her priestesses, even if these twins were obviously not fully aware of it. She supposed it had something to do with the fact that she was absent in their childhood, and thus had no time to establish a stronger connection.
-No matter- she thought -if this change goes well, we won't need a link to communicate-
She smiled faintly to herself, and went back to her slumber.