Chapter 12: Angels

"Madison wake up, we're here." Aaron called to her, she had been completely asleep, it was already dark. Madison rubbed her eyes and yawned slightly, she had slept so nicely. Not a bad dream, just a gentle nap, now and then a little disturbed by the sounds of Godzilla walking, she was already used to it.

She looked around a little, the light had almost disappeared, the sky was full of stars again. When she looked before her, she blinked twice. She saw a temple, it was 100% the temple that was spoken of, because it looked exactly like the one in China Outpost 61, where Mothra hatched. It was like a pyramid, but it seemed to be right in front of a mountain cliff and was already more damaged by weather or elements, as well as creatures. A hole, about 10 meters high, was where the entrance actually was. It led directly into the heart of the temple, the destination she had.

"You know what you have to do?" Asked Aaron Madison in a nervous voice. "M-Maybe?" Aaron snapped back to her, his mood slightly irritated. "What do you mean, maybe, they discussed it with you?" "Y-yeah. I'm sorry this whole thing is a little much." He nodded and turned back towards the temple. "Sorry, like you said, we're just a little tense. All right, let's go downstairs." He grabbed his gun and took off his rope again.

Madison looked down at Godzilla and reached forward to his neck. "Take us down." She whispered. Slowly, Godzilla rumbled and bowed his head down to the temple. "All right Aaron, hold on." He felt himself being pulled down by gravity, grabbing Godzilla's back plate as hard as he could.

About 6 meters above the ground Godzilla held his head. Madison jumped down first and made a good landing, Aaron fixed his gun to his side and secured it again to avoid blind fire. He slid down Godzilla's neck and landed safely on the ground.

"That was something." Aaron looked behind him where Godzilla stood up again and sniffed the air. He let out a slight growl and turned his back to the two of them. "What is he doing?" Aaron asked confusedly. "I think he's keeping awake...we'd better hurry, whatever excited him in the morning might be close."

Aaron nodded, the faster they were out of here, the better it actually was. The two of them slowly went into the big hole, it was as if something wanted to get in, maybe it was a skull crawler looking for food and something in the temple, but the size of this crawler gave some thought to the size of the hole. There were no plants growing over the spots yet, so it must have happened recently. Madison was silent about this, though, not wanting to make Aaron more worried, stressed or angry than he already was.

After a few meters they had reached a long staircase that went a few meters to the center. In the middle of the temple that Madison in China saw was Mothras egg, probably laid thousands of years ago, but there was no egg.

There was a circle, with some symbols on it, through the darkness she couldn't see exactly what they meant, but something in her pulled her there, as if she already knew it all. Slowly she walked down the stairs, she didn't look stable anymore, but Aaron followed her wherever she went, relying on him to watch out.

When she stepped on a staircase and suddenly made a cracking sound, she flinched briefly. But that was not the stairs that had cracked. Looking at the ground, she only saw something that was roughly in the shape of a branch, she took a short breath and turned to Aaron, who stood behind her expectantly.

"What was that?" "Just a twig, you got a flashlight?" He nodded, "This is the last one I had left, I've been saving it for important moments" and took it out of his backpack and shone in front of them. Madison went back down faster now that she could see everything clearly in front of her. She was now in a circle, he had a circumference of about 20 meters or more. All the symbols carved on lines looked ancient before any language Madison probably knew, probably the same as her father had seen.

She saw the lines that were in the circle, something seemed to be known about them. "Aaron, take three steps up the stairs and shine down on the circle, I want to check something out." He followed her instructions and walked carefully up the stairs. He shone down on the circle and raised his eyebrow in confusion over what he saw.

A symbol was on it. Madison recognized it immediately, it was the same as the amulet Ikimi had given her, so it was confirmed, this was her arrival point. "We are right Aaron, this is the place we were supposed to go. Shine a little more, I...I think I see something..."

She saw a bruise in the middle, something pulled her there, she walked towards it and realized that it was a bump in the ground, when she knelt down she wiped gently over it, it was a blue ball or something like that.

As Aaron watched her uncover this blue object, he heard something on his left side, he looked over, it was too dark in the shadow, but he swears he heard something crawling. He looked behind him at Godzilla, who was pacing up and down like a man waiting for his wife to come out of the hospital room. All the while he growled or let out a rumble.

Madison had meanwhile cleared this blue hemisphere of dust, it looked like a lapis lazuli stone, but with a lighter blue tone. She reached for it, it felt strange, something pulsed underneath, warmth came down from it, but it was a glassy smooth surface much softer and smoother than any glass or jewelry Madison had ever touched before.

She stroked it with her hands and leaned on it once with her body weight, not sure why, but it actually did something. At first she only heard a click, like from a machine, immediately she jumped away from it and looked around in panic. But then all of a sudden the lines began to glow in a light blue light, like water flowing through them, the light illuminated the surroundings until a crystal-like stone at the end of each ray lit up, bathing the whole room in a bright turquoise blue.

"Wow..." Amazed Aaron not bad. Madison turned around, she was in the middle of this room, once she turned in a circle, amazed by what she saw. It was similar to the crystals in the hell of the first night here, beautiful memories came up to her. She looked up, there was a hole at the top of the temple, it was the same size as the circle she was in, she saw the stars, the sky was so clear again, the last time she had seen a sky like this she was very small and once she had taken a trip to Japan with Serizawa, out to the country. It was only with this trip that she realized how close the two of them were, because a few months before the events that would cost him his life, Emma Madison had cut off contact with him, they had not seen or spoken to each other, they had only thought that no one should know her plan.

Godzilla had long noticed the blue glow, it attracted him automatically, it reminded him of his ally, Mothra. He knew that a new ally would be born today, all his instincts told him to protect her from all that was to come.

Madison looked around, she was very sure that it was not over like everything else so far. She was fascinated by the temple, it seemed to be even older than the one in China, the drawings on the walls indicated that this temple served several generations of Mothras and their successors, who knows if anyone was standing in the same place as she is now and going through something similar. The crystals attracted her further attention, when they lit up she hadn't noticed it at all, but the pulsation seemed to be in them too. She walked towards one, it was about 2 meters high or, so pointedly tapering, and the natural color seemed to be like a white quartz. It was quite unchanged in shape, which led them to believe that these crystals were simply taken, most likely from the cave where the bees had their nest. It seemed that they were storing energy, maybe that is why they had built their nest there, to better supply their swarm.

She went down to the bottom of the crystal, when she touched her hand with it, she noticed how smooth it actually was, like the ball it emitted a pulse, like a certain heat. At the bottom it was actually slightly polished, probably to give a firmer grip. It stood directly on one of the lights and glided along the surface, also of the same consistency as the crystal.

But something cold landed on her hand, she flinched immediately and squeaked up. Aaron turned to her and was almost startled, but squeezed up to stop making any more noise. "M-Madison..." She looked over at him with her eyes as she inspected what she had just hit, it was a viscous liquid substance that pulled the strings as she removed her hand. It had a rotten smell, almost like rotting flesh.

It dripped again from above, slowly she looked up. Something jumped at her, she just jumped to the side and rolled over the ground, the creature's wind caught her. There had been a high-pitched screeching as it attacked. Madison quickly jumped back to her feet and was now facing the creature.

It had poison green compound eyes, insect-like jaws and light armour. Long, narrow legs, whereby the front pair of legs developed into strong pincers, reminded strongly of a scorpion. It was about one and a half meters high, and could stare directly into Madison's eyes. It had a reptile-like iris, which just pointed directly at Madison.

It squealed around and roared at them. Maddie took a defensive position, aiming for the neck and head, it seemed fragile enough to take a good hit with the leg. Behind her, she heard Godzilla growling softly, but he couldn't do anything without destroying the temple and putting her in even more danger.

But behind her, she heard Aaron unlocked his gun and aimed at these huge bugs. "Maddie step aside." She jumped to the side, just as the creature was about to jump forward onto her again. Aaron shot her, aimed for the head like almost everyone else, and fired through. Green blood gushed out and it slammed to the ground, its neck, head and abdomen pierced like Swiss cheese.

Maddie took a deep breath and cursed briefly under her breath, she had been in a situation like this too many times before. "Are you okay?" Asked Aaron as he walked down the stairs to her. "Well, wish I wasn't in situations like this anymore." He nodded okay. The two of them walked toward the creature's body, Madison knelt down. The green blood oozed from the wounds, it was very viscous. The sight and smell were repulsive. "Perhaps these from the bone field followed us here." "I don't think so." Madison said. She touched the head.

Something spoke to her, a whispering female voice followed by many other voices talking about each other. But one word stood out, "Meganulon." Madison said it, Aaron looked down at her, she put her hand away from the creature. "It's Meganulon..." "How do you know... Maddie... your eyes. They glow blue."

Maddie stood up and blinked a few times, she couldn't see it. She shook her head in panic. "Wait, wait." Aaron grabbed her shoulder, turned the flashlight off, and laid the glass surface down in front of Maddie. She saw it, she saw her brown eyes now glowing in a bright blue. She saw how slowly but steadily the light flowed into the tears in her eyes.

"I think it's starting... I'm changing Aaron." She grabbed her head, it was another headache. They got worse by the second. Slowly she walked back towards the center of the room towards the blue hemisphere, a meter away she collapsed and fell to the floor and started shaking. "Madison!" cried Aaron and ran to her. He checked her pulse, it was fine, but immediately he noticed Madison's body temperature had risen, she was in a kind of fever. "Come on, we gotta get you out of here." "No, I have to stay here." She said, "Are you crazy? Get up. It's not worth it." He pulled her up, she was a little wobbly on two legs.

Godzilla let out a gentle roar of himself, he saw what was going on down there. There was nothing he could do but watch Maddie strain to stay on her feet.

"Aaron, I think this is it, I have to stay here, put this...circle..." She continued to tremble, she could stand, but the headache was now like someone cracking her skull with a knife. "Stay here...please, you have to take care of me...I have to get through it."

Madison thought of everything that could explain this thing, she looked around, the symbols on the walls, there had to be an answer to help her. Slowly she began to doubt herself whether she was the right one. Was she the one to help unite humans and Titans, or just a girl who tried to justify what her elders did, to pay a debt for something she could have prevented?

But these questions in her head were interrupted by a single, blood freezing scream, demonic scream, as high as anything she had ever heard in her life, so filled with hatred and violence.

Aaron also closed his ears and Godzilla shook briefly and pulled his head out of the temple entrance and turned his gaze to the sky to send a reply. He stamped the ground and with a deep breath entering, he let out a roar loud enough to make the earth around him tremble. He directed himself upwards again, even after he had stopped, holding the roar through the air over the island and it became very quiet shortly after.

But Madison had already taken hold of her senses again, Godzilla "voice" had given her some strength, but at the same time she fell back into fear, because now one of them appeared, the shadow that wants to take what is meant for her to take revenge on the world, on what has been done.

From the dark clouds of the night came a figure, first it was a tail, with red dots on the body overlooked, a sting as from a scorpion at the end, slowly the rest showed, the chest had insects legs with pointed ends, two very long wings the game on and teeing off and finally it showed itself now in full shape. The red-faced eyes on the dragon-like head, where there was a mouth with several pointed teeth. The body had an exoskeleton, covered with spiky devices, the front legs were transformed into pincers, like the meganulon.

The whispering in Madison's head reappeared. It was she who spoke to her and put these doubts in her, several thousand voices speaking at once, but once again only one name came out clearly. Madison pronounced it and it felt like her heart stopped.

"Megaguirus."

The Titan of plagues, the counterpart of Mothra. The darkness to the light, which lay in an eternal fight. But now that Mothra had disappeared and she was awake, she had to take this opportunity before someone else caught her.

Godzilla opposed her, he didn't give her mercy like other Titans who had joined Ghidorah, he knew what she had done and would not let her become more powerful. He turned to her with his left side to shield the temple and show his greatness and superiority. But this only motivated Megaguirus even more. A wicked grin came over the hellish creature and once again it let out a malicious hateful scream.

Godzilla responded by yelling at her, not stopping him at that moment, but Megaguirus knew that. With the blink of an eye she flew to the side, not even a camera could have recorded it. Godzilla slowed down and looked to his right. As soon as his head was even slightly turned, Megaguirus had already given him a blow with the scissors that made him tilt to the side. He shook his head and regained his balance, lifting his feet into the ground beneath him.

Another powerful strike came from the left, and only two seconds later another one, and then another one. Megaguirus flew so fast it was just a consumed stall in the air, flying back and forth and punching Godzilla in the face.

After a few strokes, Godzilla had already learned his lesson and with his arm he swung out and actually managed to slow down Megaguirus in her movements. He grabbed her by the tail at the top, but only a second later the two pincers slid around his neck.

The tongs clamped tightly around Godzilla's neck and choked her, not quite cutting off the air, but hardly letting any in.

He stabbed her torax with his claws and tried to tear her away from him. In response, Megaguirus snapped at Godzilla's neck and took a bite out of him, putting the forceps down on her shoulders and lifting her arms away from her body. As they clawed their way out of the body, poison seeped green blood from the wounds again. With strong flaps of her wings, she braced herself against Godzilla, who tried to land a hit and slipped with her left shoulder out of Megaguirus's grasp, but Megaguirus grabbed his lower arm again and did the same with her right arm. The wings started beating faster and faster, creating more and more resistance and power, slowly pushing Godzilla's legs out of their moorings, and despite the fragile appearance, Megaguirus was able to finish the almost 100th flight.00 ton Godzilla 10 meters above the ground, when Godzilla's tail was dragged over the ground and he tried to fight back, he was thrown with full force against the mountain, back first, and roared with pain as the back plates pressed against his spine.

"No!" Madison screamed, but there was nothing she could do, she and Aaron were having other problems. Before them was a war, behind them was the plague. There was an unpleasant noise in their ears, tickling in their ears, a cold breath of danger covering them, making them shiver and giving them goose bumps. Something was crawling around behind them, but it was not just one, there were many. The two turned around and were greeted by a frightening sight.

Dozens of meganulons were crawling around on the walls and floors, climbing over each other, clinging to the stone, they had discovered them and were walking towards them. They were under the control of the Megaguirus, they were their children who helped to carry out their revenge.

Aaron and Madison were standing there, everyone wondering the same thing, run away or fight. Madison looked behind her like her partner, one who had always protected her from the dangers here, putting his life at risk when he actually took a severe beating. She couldn't leave him behind or just give up, she would stand here and finish the ritual. The longer she stayed in the temple, the stronger she could become.

She took a defensive pose, looked to the side where the carcass of the first meganulon was still, grabbed one of the forceps and cracked it off while the dozens of others approached. They were still young and inexperienced, awaiting their mother's orders to attack, especially after one of their own had fallen.

"Fight or run?" Aaron said softly. He knew what she would choose, those critters would catch up with her without any problem, he got ready and aimed his rifle at the crowd. "I've run away long enough." She said, and he got ready, too. She held the tongs ending up like swords in her hand, she had never fought with such weapons before, but the experience should be enough, her will was stronger.

Behind him, Megaguirus had thrown Godzilla against the mountain again, he had thrown a lot on his knees. Early on she ignored her rival and made her way to the temple, hearing the voices of her children calling out for her, the one that would prevent her from getting her revenge.

A heavy weight stopped it and slammed it down onto the floor. Godzilla had catapulted herself forward and grabbed her by the tail. The force with which she struck rammed one of her teeth from the lower jaw into the upper jaw, the sudden and unprepared pain made her cry out. The Meganulons heard the scream of their queen and finally struck, their screams wildly confused, pushing them towards Aaron and Madison. They crawled toward them from all sides, from the ceilings and walls and floor. Aaron opened fire on them and aimed at the top of their heads, ammunition was scarce, he had to save it, every shot counted for two magazines.

A Meganulon jumped off the wall to Madison's right, she swerved and took a step back to gain distance, it snapped forward now about a foot away from her. Madison stabbed the meganulon's head with her right hand pliers, immediately penetrating the upper half and piercing the monster's exoskeleton. As she pulled out her converted daggers, green blood sprayed onto the floor as the body slammed to the ground. Aaron continued shooting, there was already a body stacked in front of them, but it was still easy to attack from the right and left, she had to cover him from the sides.

A Meganulon raced toward them from the left flank, Madison heard the roar in front of him and ran back to him. With a powerful leap she took her right leg out, missed the monster a powerful kick in the face, so that the big Faceten eye burst open, when the insect fell to the side with an aching scream, stung Madison in the neck and pulled him back along the head and out through the mouth.

Aaron had emptied his first magazine and had to reload quickly, but under the pressure and stress he made a mistake once and two of the Meganulons came too close. He hit the animal's head with the lower end of the rifle, again and again and again. The second one tried to attack from the side, but Madison jumped at him with his feet and kicked him so hard that he rolled over on his back. Madison swung out with her two pincer daggers and stabbed deep into the monster's head and chest.

Aaron looked down at her and noticed how she had changed more, she had never been so furious and suddenly seemed stronger than she was before. In her mind she was just thinking about surviving, but never before in this way, never before had she been so violent about something, even when she was angry, never had she thought she had to kill herself.

He saw the blue glow slowly descending on a vein in her throat, it actually changed into another being.

In the moment of carelessness a Meganulon threw itself on Madison. It was her ground and piled up over Madison, snapping at her in the direction of her head, the powerful mouthpiece just missed Madison as she turned her head to the side. The monster's head had gotten stuck with the tongs on a crack in the floor and was frantically trying to free itself. Madison watched as her legs danced wildly back and forth around her. "Watch out!" Aaron yelled and aimed for the head of Meganulon, Madison slid further down to avoid being hit herself. He fired two shots, then the animal was already dead to the ground. Madison almost squeezed it under the insect, but she pushed it aside, the skin was disgustingly slippery when she touched it, the body still had a certain pulsing warmth.

Aaron wanted to open fire on those in front of them again, but now a Meganulon attacked him directly from the right side. Madison saw it and threw one of her pincers at the animal, it flew just past Aaron and penetrated the monster's head. Aaron nodded over to her and fired again at those in front of them, but now more and more came behind. They continued to defend their position, but for how long was uncertain as they were pushed further out.

Godzilla in the meantime had a fierce fight with Megaguirus, it was hard for both of them, they were in great pain. Megaguirus had already taken some scratches, and Godzilla had taken some stabs and slits from the claws, like a bite on the neck.

He puffed and gurgled deeply, his eyes fixed on them, his thoughts full of rage, every muscle was driven by aggression and hatred. He gritted his teeth and roared at his opponent, she was not impressed and aimed for a new attack from above. With a lightning-fast maneuver it flew towards Godzilla, shot a few meters above his head into the sky of Enoch, the wings fluttering with thousands of beats per second. For a moment it paused in the air and let itself fall down and aimed at Godzilla, the wind whipped through its wings, slowly pulling it out with its pincers. Down on the ground she only saw Godzilla shaking after the last attack, his orientation was lost, he saw the blue light in the temple in front of him and headed for it, the sounds coming from him meant that his partner was in danger.

Suddenly he felt a massive pain in the back of his head, followed by a deep cut past his cheek. Angrily he roared and snapped forward. Megaguirus had given him a severe blow as she built up in front of him and he staggered back and forth until he finally fell to the ground. The shock could be felt throughout the area, the cloud of debris and dust flying several meters into the air. Now assured of her victory, Megaguirus turned away from her former rivals and was about to complete her task and take over. Slowly she flew over the ground, taking a low altitude. Her sting pointed forward to finish her enemy once and for all.

But Godzilla did not give up so quickly, he had never done so, he kept fighting whenever he could, only death could stop him temporarily. He braced himself with all his strength from the ground and let his energy flow through his body. His heart pumped stronger, letting as much blood as possible flow through his body. Through his tail his breath rose up, the charge would take a few seconds, a fatal weak point for an attack.

Just before it was fully charged, Megaguirus saw the blue light in the corner of his eye. Her reaction speed was twice as fast as that of a normal dragonfly, accelerating to full speed as she turned 180 degrees like a helicopter and raced towards Godzilla with her sting.

It happened so fast, but then he felt something in his chest and released a painful roar, much more serious than before, it was bloodcurdling. He looked down while his legs gave way, she sucked his breath energy away with her stinger, he wanted fire, but couldn't.

Madison had heard the scream, she and Aaron had almost been pushed to the top of the stairs. Her body was in shock, paralyzed, she saw Godzilla's life almost slipping away, the scream was the same as 6 years ago. Godzilla landed on the ground with a powerful bang, bringing back only worse memories of Boston falling from the sky. "No!" Madison screamed in despair, the world around her collapsed again.

Megaguirus let her sting slip out of her body and lay on Godzilla's back to look him straight in the eyes. He was still not beaten, after a short time he could even fight again without any problems, but until then she had enough time to devote herself to her main goal again.

Madison made eye contact with her, the angel of death. But another scream shook to the bone, it was Aaron. She watched in fear as a meganulon with his tongs penetrated his chest and left him hanging in the air in front of her. She saw the pain that Aaron was going through.

Fear flew over them, but this was quickly exchanged for another feeling, anger. Her eyes sparkled blue as she ran toward the Meganulon, just now she didn't know what else to do. "Let him go!" She screamed as she cut the monster's skull cleanly with the last pair of pliers in her hand and dropped it on Aaron.

The old man fell to the ground and made a loud groan. Madison's anger abated for a brief moment, she turned to him, kneeled down to hold his hand. He coughed up blood trying to speak. "I guess...ah...that's it little...end of the line...sorry I couldn't take care of you...ouch."

Madison was shaking, he was dying, there was nothing she could do about it, it was irreversible. Despite the fact that she had sworn to herself that it would never happen again because of her, it is. Around her, death was approaching, the remaining Meganulons from the left, Megaguirus from the right.

Her fate was sealed, but she did not give up yet. She decided to make a hard decision, she now only let herself be guided by everyone in her, she let feelings and memories flow into one. She stood up and looked directly at Megaguirus, she was like all the other evil in the world that she hated, that she was afraid of.

She closed her eyes and concentrated again. She was guided by the heat, the energy that lay within her, her experiences and memories now formed a picture in front of her, the picture of an angel she knew.

Around them, the light slowly began to get stronger, the blue crystals pulsed wildly around wildly at the minute, like a heartbeat. It stopped the Meganulons, they were confused by the sudden shine that came down on them, Megaguirus looked down and hesitated in their attack, something made them suspicious, something warned them. Then she realized how it was getting too late.

She shrieked loudly to guide her children into the attack, to stop what was thwarting her plans. But as she realized, it was too late, the ritual was complete, the energy taken over, a new Titan born.

Madison opened her eyes without batting an eyelid, drew out her fist and hit the ground in front of her. A massive blue shock wave swept from the temple across the valley, throwing the meganulons against the walls so fast and powerful that it killed her.

Meaguirus fell to the ground backwards, her senses destroyed, she was paralyzed by the massive impact of the shock wave. Once on the ground, she wanted to get back in the air immediately, but her wings were damaged, the muscles at the end were torn, she could no longer fly, her strongest advantage was eliminated. She crawled laboriously around on the ground and tried to get to the temple with bails, hoping that her children were still alive, but their sounds had disappeared. She looked up to the temple, at the entrance stood only one, Madison.

Around her was a light blue aura, her hair, eyes and paintings glowed in a light blue light. She had never felt as strong as now, now she was one of the Titans, completely taking over the role of Mothra. She was able to use powers humans had not had for thousands of years.

Before her now was one of Ghidorah's oldest allies, Mothras greatest rival and an enemy sworn by humanity, and she was before her grace.

Megaguirus tried to continue to rise into the air, but each blow caused only more extreme pain, the muscles and ligaments were openly visible, torn. The giant Titan dragged himself laboriously across the ground, his legs were not designed to move forward quickly, they were underdeveloped, victims of their own evolution.

She roared up to Madison, it was like she was offering forgiveness, much like she had asked Godzilla before. But Madison knew that Megaguirus only wanted to use this to regain strength and then kill her. She had no spark of good in her, she knew only kill or be killed, a creature so evil at its core, Madison had not seen since Ghidorah how fitting it was.

But it was also not their decision whether the angel of death would live on. Behind Megaguirus, Godzilla rose slowly, stamping once hard on the end of his opponent's tail, the sting and the rest was crushed. Painfully she roared up. She looked back, Godzilla looked at her with an angry face, he had witnessed what she could do and he would never let anything like that happen again.

He let his energy flow through him for one last shot. Megaguirus fidgeted wildly and struck forward as the sound of Godzilla's radioactive breath resounded. But she could not escape. Madisons watched.

Godzilla took a deep breath and then once again powerfully released his radioactive breath on Megaguirus. She looked Madison in the eyes, then everything went up in blue flames. She closed her eyes and listened to the sounds before her.

The crackling of the fire, the screaming of Megaguirus. But after a few minutes it was gone again. The screams had stopped, only the blue fire was still blowing through the air. Madison opened her eyes again, she saw the Titan's ashes being swirled through the air by the wind. She took a deep breath once.

It had passed, it had become what it was meant to be and the shadow was defeated.

But something else was still ahead of her, she was afraid of it. She turned around and slowly walked over to Aaron, her light slowly fading away, who was lying on the ground almost dead. He was still breathing, but only very hard. Madison knelt down and grabbed his hand, it felt very cold.

"Madison?" He asked quietly. "Yes, it's Aaron." "Did we... did we make it?" He looked at her, he could see she was starting to cry again. She sobbed, "Yes we did it Aaron. We beat it. I have changed."

Aaron smiled a little. "I am proud of Madison..." "Thank you..." She thought of the one conversation she had with Aaron about his father.

"I have something to tell you." "What is it?" He talked weakly already, he didn't have much time left. "Your father, he got your message, he knew you were alive, he loved you very much, only the island never allowed him to find you again. But he was proud of you, everyone knew that." Aaron smiled again and looked up into the sky. "tell my old man... that i loved him very much too...i won't see him anymore."

"No, Aaron, we can still save you somehow." "No, it's too late for me... but... I'm ready. I've done everything I can to help people. I've helped them get stronger, to help others... use that, you have the power."

"I'm sorry, Aaron..." Madison was in tears again, her whole body was shaking. "Doesn't it have to be...goodbye...Madison... "

He closed his eyes. Madison could feel the life just leaving him. She started crying, she didn't want to experience anything like that again.

Even with all her powers, she had not been able to stop his death. She heard a soft humming next to her. Godzilla looked down at her, visibly worried, recognizing that Aaron had died, his head tilted down. Madison got up and wiped the tears from her face for now and went over to him. With the palm of her hand she touched his nose.

"Godzilla...I'm going home. I can't live like this." she said to him. A low rumble came from him. "I'm sorry, but I just can't. I'm human, it's too much for me." She hugged his face. "Maybe we'll meet again, but I have to go back home. Otherwise I'll break. Even if I love you."

Godzilla moved his neck back a little and looked down at her. He had a light smile again, so understanding, on his face, as if he was saying "Me too. Madison wiped away his last tears and turned to Aaron, deserving of a dignified last honor.

The Iwi village the next morning.

Everyone in the village, women, men and children had stayed awake since last night and had been praying since they heard Godzilla's roar. Ikimi stood at the front of the wall as the leading priestess and prayed with her eyes closed, next to her stand Ato who held her hand, all praying that the God of destruction had won over the shadow, that the Good Soul had grown into something bigger.

They did not yet know that their prayers were answered, but at a price.
From a distance, the distinctive roar of Godzilla was heard, followed by several powerful steps. Ato and Ikimi opened their eyes, and out of the morning sun came Godzilla, his body scarred by injuries, but they would not heal like what was to come.

On top of his head stood a person, with another body in her arms that was taller than her.

Concern surrounded the two as Godzilla approached, walking through the valley where he had once protected the village.

They saw Madison holding Aaron in her arms, he was dead, his life now completely escaped. Grief passed through them, a heavy loss for all.
Godzilla had reached the wall and bent down to Ato and Ikimi, his face said he was very weak, the fight had drained him. Madison slowly slid down his head, with Aaron still in her hands, she could carry him without effort, physically she was stronger than ever before, but mentally she was broken.

When she arrived at the bottom, she stood in front of them, her face marked with deep sadness, even if no tears were shed, the Iwi showed no emotion when they were older. "He died protecting me and this island." Madison said. The two nodded to her and gave her instructions to follow. Ikimi grabbed Madison by the hands to reconnect with her. This time, Madison didn't value herself at all, she just let it happen, sharing her memories with Ikimi, who took the information and nodded at her when she was done.

They went down the wall, down to the center of the village. Some guards followed them, also marked by grief. But no one said anything, made any noise or cried. When they arrived in the village, it was as if she already knew, because there was a stretcher in front of them, woven from the plants and wood that the wall was made of, Madison put Aaron down as the rest of the village joined them, everyone from big to small gathered around her deceased friend. The oldest had joined them, the two Madison had spoken to in the ship, the most important ones, knelt down to Aaron, touching his chest and head, heart and mind.

Madison looked around her, the Iwis' heads tilted down, their eyes closed. Madison did the same to them, it was away to say goodbye to the last of them, to a friend who had accompanied them for so long.

The guards who accompanied Madison and the others gathered in a circle around him and then rammed their spears into the ground as a sign of respect. After that, from back to front, flowers collected and planted were handed from hand to hand and laid to Aaron's side, he looked so peaceful, Madison noted for himself.

Ato and Ikimi took Madison aside while Aaron's ritual was completed. It was their time to leave, Ikimi had seen what Madison had gone through, emotionally it was already too much for her, it was only her right to go home now.

Ato and Ikimi near Madison back to the wall. They realized that it had hit them hard. Ato grabbed Madison on the shoulder to calm her down. "We know what you have done, what he has done for you. He had carried his oath to protect others to the end. He was a good soul, just like you."

Madison said nothing, just nodded.

"Not all paths in our lives are easy, but sometimes we have to follow them in order to continue growing, for you it has just begun. You have taken the title of queen, but it will take time for you to find yourself in it."

The three went back to the wall of Enoch, where Godzilla was already waiting. Madison tried to remember everything here one last time, the sounds, the look of the village and the people.

She nodded one last time to Ato and Ikimi, who returned the signal. She climbed back up on Godzilla's head and sat down tightly on the nape of her neck and held on to the skin.

Godzilla took a deep breath and roared loudly one last time, it was goodbye and a sign of respect to Aaron. The entire village had turned to the two. She looked at Madison and Godzilla even though they didn't say anything, showing no emotion, Madison understood that saying goodbye to everyone here was not easy.

With heavy steps Godzilla moved in the direction from which he had once come to this island, while Madison looked behind him and slowly lost sight of the village as the sun shone over it.

Castel Bravo landing platform October 20, 2019 18:29, one week after Madison Russell's disappearance

It was about to rain again, like almost all other days, the sky was cloudy and only a few scattered seabirds were flying around or sitting on tubes of the platforms. It was almost repaired since Godzillas appeared, and was completely operational again.

Mark was just passing the railing with Ilene, she had her arms under his, she looked pretty happy. They had just come from a screening and were chatting a bit about everything, the movie or what tomorrow would bring.

"The movie wasn't so bad, you wouldn't say it was pretty insightful?" Ilene asked. "Well, I actually liked the scenes with the monsters." Ilene gloatingly turned her eyes, typical for men, only to the action.

"So, anything tomorrow?" "It would be to start an investigation, Rodan is active again, and we now get some samples of him and whatever had hit him. Who knows if it's still out there." Mark stopped, looked over to the sea, the waves moving wildly back and forth, the air, the sounds, everything reminded him again, it was still very early.

"Mark, I don't know how to tell them but-" "I know, but I still keep a little spark of hope, as long as it doesn't go out I know it's out there somewhere.

Ilene sighed and leaned against the railing, she felt the cold sea current coming from behind. "I know all this hits you hard, but who knows if we were even right with our theory, I was a little bit over the top at the time, the study was not confirmed, I just took it first after what we saw down in the hollow earth.

"I know that even if we are not sure, I still keep my hope. Ilene smiled slightly. "And you firmly believe that?" Mark nodded. Ilene shook her head a little and hugged him. "You're stubborn and don't give it up when it matters to you, that's what I love about you."

Mark thought of these words, she hadn't said it to him yet, but he knew Ilene had feelings for him, especially after the other night.

But something literally shook them for a short moment. A big quake went through the whole base, the two held each other very tightly, but it was quickly over again, but the quake was followed by a muffled but still loud roar that made Mark flow coldly over his back.

The two looked over from the direction where the roar came, Mark went forward to the railing, he saw him first. Godzilla headed for the base, a marker three rows of back plates cut through the water like knives.

Mark knew they had to get down as quickly as possible, he could enter the platform if he wanted to. "Hurry to the elevator!" He yelled, Ilene ran off with him immediately, back to the stairs leading to the landing platform, they ran across the field trying to reach the elevator, but too late, Godzilla was already there when they were in the middle of the field.

At first they only saw his hands holding on to the platform, so he pulled himself up. Ilene and Mark were trapped like Madison was then, holding each other. But this time they had nothing to fear.

The two stared up at Godzilla in amazement, not just because of him, but who was up there on his head. Mark almost slipped his heart into his pants in relief when he saw her, Madison standing on top of Godzilla's head.

She had seen Mark and Ilene, slowly she slid down Godzilla's head, he lowered it a few feet above the ground, she slowed her fall and landed safely. Slowly the weather got better and a few rays of sun came out and shone over Godzilla's back.

Madison stood up and looked at her father, he was shocked, but visibly happy that she was back.

But it was not quite ready to welcome each other with open arms, first she had to say goodbye to her protector. She turned Godzilla and avoided eye contact for the time being. "Then I guess this is goodbye for now." Godzilla gave a soft, however worried humming of itself, him this parting fell also not so easily. He may have been a big grim titan on the outside, but Madison learned that inside he was a sentient being.

"We'll meet again, until then, friend." She embraced him again by the face and pressed him tightly so that he could feel it. The two let go of each other, but still kept eye contact, Godzilla looked after her for quite a while until he finally swam back into the water. She walked towards the Kannte and watched him slowly submerge until the tips of his back plates disappeared underwater.

"Until then, my king." Whispered Madison. She knew it would not be the last time they would see each other, but they needed time to heal and grow, soon the world would need them.

"M-Madison?" Asked Mark, confused, not knowing what to say about what he had seen. Madison just smiled and ran over to him and gave Mark a big hug. It almost squeezed the air out of his chest, but still he was happy to be reunited with his daughter.

"I missed you, Dad." Madison sobbed, Mark nodded and kissed her on the head. "I missed you too, Maddie, I missed you too." Mark didn't cry much, but this was one of those moments. Ilene stood next to him and smiled just a little bit, she felt good that Mark should feel better. "I'll call the infirmary right away. We should check you out." She said and took a radio out of her pocket as she walked over to the elevator.

It took Madison and Mark a moment to let go, but when they did, there was time to take a breath and talk. "I never gave up on you being alive," he said, Madison seemed surprised by that. "Even in my position, with everything that could have been." He nodded. "A lot has happened, so to speak." "You can say that again." Madison laughed a little.

She looked over to Ilene who was waving them both to the elevator.

"There's a lot to talk about, but before we do that, I need you to do something for me, Dad." "Everything in my power, what is it?" "Please call Dr. Brooks, I'd like to speak to him personally."