The Gathering of the Seven.
Chapter One: The Ronin.
A Small Village: Grand Alliance Territory.
It was nighttime in Pangea, the grassy fields near a forest with a big lake and a small dirt path leading up to the walls of the village ahead, the lamps in the cobblestone houses and the streetlamps making it stand out in the moonlight. On the path, was the Ronin, his dark cloak covering his head and dorsal plates, with his tail sticking out of the bottom as he walked down the path silently. His charcoal grey feet and his sharp four-toed claws seemed to almost mix in with the other footprints in the well-worn path, something the Ronin ignored as he got closer to the village. His yellow-red eyes scanned the town as he reached the gate, and his four-fingered charcoal grey hand reached out, feeling the oak edges of the gate as he saw several soldiers patrolling around, along with a fairly big inn at the end of the pathway with a red saddled triceratops drinking water out of a trough alongside a green one. He then looked at one of the soldiers, a Gojirasaur like him with jagged dorsal plates, green scales with blue eyes and a fairly short tail which meant he was a male. He was clad in typical Gojirasaur armor, which was to say steel plates mixed with leather and wood and sewn together in small sections, along with similar shoulder plates, an armored skirt, gauntlets and shin guards, a helmet with only a mouth covering, and a katana holstered at his side, along with his black yari spear. His armor was a mixture of grey and brown, something the Ronin observed as he continued down the path. The other soldier with him was a Baragon, her stocky build, red skin, and her ear like flaps and yellow nasal horn contrasting with her steel armor, itself seemingly to be slightly rusted, and with her muscular arms notably being exposed with only shoulder armor and wrist guards being the protection she had there, and a good-sized great sword that she was holding in her hands, carrying it on her shoulder almost. She also wore a leather skirt, which was a mixture of brown and red with some armor on it, and which covered her thighs, only leaving her shin guards visible. As far as the Ronin knew, the only kaiju to every wear anything on their feet aside from socks which exposed their heels and toes were the Frankenstein, due to their feet being softer than usual. He then stepped up quietly as he moved up the stone step of the inn, one of the Triceratops grunting as it looked up, its beady yellow eyes watching as the Ronin pushed against the door, and entered, seeing the main desk of the in as well as tables with various travelers conversing or simply eating their dinner.
"Oh! Excuse me! Sorry sir…" The Ronin suddenly saw an Anguirus looking at him, having backed away while he held his hands up in apology. "Didn't see you come in." The Ronin looked at the Anguirus, noticing his light brown scaled skin, his golden eyes along with the two distinct fangs that poked out of the top of his mouth, and a set of horns on his head, with two big ones pointing upward along with a series of smaller ones, and a tiny horn on his nose. They were cream colored, and as the Ronin looked behind, he could see the signature carapace that all Anguirus had, along with the spikes on it and then his fairly long spiked tail as well. He was well built, slightly chubby but not too chubby, and he seemed to lack scars of any kind, which may have suggested he had just barely been enlisted. His clothes, however, told a different story, along with his weapon as well. He wore a necklace with a black and white yin-yang symbol that was clamped on by a black band, along with an armored top made out of dark brown steel plates attached to red fabric, which extended to a similar armored skirt that was held together by a brown belt with a circular golden buckle. There was a x-shaped black band around the front of his chest, and it was held together by a silver circular metal piece, no doubt being a way for him to strap his weapon to his carapace, or possibly helping his shoulder plates stay on. He was wearing a white shirt underneath the top, as the Ronin noticed his white sleeves which seemed to cover up his arms along with some gold trim near the top of the sleeves and brown trim at the neck. His plain dark brown wrist guards covered the rest of his sleeves aside from his hands, and on his legs he wore two shin guards which extended to his knees, them being dark brown like his armor with cream colored straps, and red hexagonal decorations on the kneepads. His weapon was a massive double-bladed axe held together by a red middle piece which had a gold diamond shape where the handle of the axe met the blades, with the handle being long and wide and being colored silver and red with a gold tip. "So…. are you a soldier?"
"No," the Ronin grunted as he walked past the Anguirus, and looked around at the other travelers, along with what appeared to be a few locals and a couple of soldiers. As he reached the desk, he noticed the owner of the inn looking down at a red-brown book as he wrote something in it with a quill pen, before he looked up and saw the new arrival.
"Ah hello there stranger. Are ya weary or hungry? Don't worry, old Ewan here is here to help ya!" From his voice alone, the Ronin could tell that Ewan was from the highlands, and his physical appearance did as well. He was a Gorosaurus, with a light blue and green head that was elongated, although not too much, with rows and rows of sharp teeth and a pair of yellow eyes, a series of small dorsal plates running down his back all the way to his long tail, his buttoned black shirt and blue vest barely holding in his chubby belly, his lighter green scaled chest being somewhat visible, his two fairly big four fingered arms, and as he stepped out, his light brown pants being held together with a piece of rope bound around the waist. Ewan leaned against his desk, his claws tapping as the Ronin fished around in his cloak, and dropped four gold coins onto the desk. "Ah. Ya hungry then?"
"Yes," the Ronin responded as he watched the other kaiju pick the coins and then slip them into his pocket as he walked back to his desk, before quickly going into a room behind the desk, the smell of cooked meat wafting out. The Ronin then saw the same Anguirus from earlier approaching a table with three soldiers, a brown Gojirasaur with softer looking dorsal plates and an almost amphibian like face clad in the same armor as the same Gojirasaur outside, a Frankenstein with pale grey skin and clad in silver armor with brown boots, and another Baragon with brownish skin, who was much smaller than the one from outside judging from the size of his similar armor. He was trying to talk to them, although the Ronin was too far away to hear what they were saying, and some of the other patrons in the inn, like a drunk Anguirus couple, did not help in making it easier for him to hear them. The Anguirus with the axe seemed almost nervous when talking with them, clutching his hands together as he shifted around nervously.
"Here ya are sonny boy!" The clatter of a plate suddenly cause the Ronin to turn away and look at the returning Ewan, who had a grey metal plate with a whole roasted fish and some fried potatoes on the side, along with a few fried tomatoes. "I hope it fills ya up. Enjoy!" The Ronin nodded in thanks and walked over to an empty table next to a window, and sat down, grabbing a fork and knife as he cut into the fish and started to eat, the juicy meat and the crunchy texture giving him some much-needed energy. As the Ronin ate his meal, he looked outside the window, seeing something moving amongst the houses, before a series of footsteps suddenly took his attention away and caused him to whip his cloaked head around.
"Hey… I'm sorry for disturbing you sir, but can I sit here?" The Anguirus from earlier was back, a small smile on his face, as he pushed out the chain across from the Ronin, waiting for him to respond. The Ronin nodded, and the Anguirus sat down, his tail going through the hole in the back as he sighed deeply, and unlatched his axe, leaning it against the table. "You seemed kind of lonely sir…. So how come you're here? Just passing through? My name is Ryu by the way…. But if you don't want to tell me your name, that's fine." The Anguirus was fiddling with his thumbs as the Ronin finished his fish, and wiping his face with a napkin, the Ronin looked a little more at him. "Sorry…. It's kind of my first time doing this…. you know…."
"You're nervous right? That's fair," the Ronin responded as Ryu somewhat twitched in surprise that he was talking to him. "You're not a normal soldier are you…. Ryu?" Ryu gulped a bit as the Ronin popped one of the tomatoes into his mouth, and chewed it.
"Well…. no…. they knew it over there," Ryu gestured back at the three soldiers, who were discussing something as they drank ale. "I was going to ask if they could investigate these strange disappearances that have been occurring in several of these towns… wait do you know about these?" The Ronin had finished off the rest of his meal, and he had suddenly leaned in closer, intently listening. "Well if you don't… civilians from both sides keep disappearing… and their bodies usually turn up in a few days…. always desecrated in the same way," Ryu sighed suddenly, burying his face in his hands. "It's always some sort of ritual sacrifice…"
"Kaiju in dark robes took them?" As the Ronin said this, Ryu looked up, a hopeful look in his eyes. "That's what witnesses have said, they can never tell who they are….. only their intentions." The inn seemed to go silent as the two continued to talk, the Ronin looking intently at the young warrior before him.
"Yes yes….. so I was hoping they'd listen to me…. because well…. I think there's a third faction in this war," Ryu continued to explain, his voice getting a bit higher as he seemed to perk up just a bit. "Like some shadow faction that wants to keep it going and going until we wipe each other out…. and these disappearances are connected to this faction….." The Ronin sat back just a bit, drumming his fingers against his knees as he thought about what Ryu was saying. "They worship some sort of God of Darkness I hear, but I don't know, I'm not sure. I'm just glad you're listening to me…. you're really the first one to listen to me you know." The Ronin cocked his head in surprise at Ryu, noticing him smiling just a bit.
"So…. why do you want to find this third faction then?" At this Ryu seemed to stop and think, before he started to talk again, his chair creaking just a bit as the two continued their conversation.
"If I can gather others to join me and I expose them, maybe everyone can finally end this war," Ryu answered, his voice going a bit lower, "I know peace talks have been made…. but King Gaius won't have it…. but if I can just do this…. maybe something can happen, but I won't know…." The Ronin's claws dug into his palms as he heard the word "Gaius," something Ryu noticed as he coughed a bit, and then spoke again. "I'm sorry…. I wish somebody else was in charge to be honest….. and I haven't forgotten what he did twelve years ago….."
"Nobody will forget Ryu," the Ronin answered quietly, watching as the Anguirus bent his head down shamefully. "I'm not mad at you…. you don't have anything to be sorry for." Ryu looked up again, seeing the yellow-red eyes glimmering in the cloaked Ronin's hood, a strange sense of calm washing over him. Suddenly, the doors to the inn burst open, the two soldiers from outside being followed by another Baragon in a green dress with white sleeves who had a desperate look in her eyes.
"Please help me someone! My son's been taken!" Everyone rushed over as Ryu got out of the chair, and the Ronin sat there, listening as the Baragon started to cry. "Please commander sir! He's all I have left! They came…. I heard him cry…. Please help!"
"Ma'am, Ma'am," the green Gojirasaur was saying, his voice sounding firm and a bit cold, "We'll get your son…. you just need to calm down and tell us what happened."
"They came into my house….. three kaiju in robes…. I tried to fight them off…." The Ronin then noticed the bloody wounds on her arms, and clenched his hands again, a stray memory coming into mind as she cried some more. "But they knocked me down…. And they took him! My Oliver!" The Baragon then broke down completely as she fell to the floor, her tears hitting the floor of the inn as Ewan and Ryu both helped her up, the two having her sit down on a chair while Ewan quickly handed her a handkerchief.
"Listen ma'am, I can help you," Ryu said calmly as he rubbed her shoulder, the Ronin still listening as the memory of a mother defending her child became clearer in his mind. "Tell me, what direction did they take him in?"
"T-t-they t-t-took him…. east," she sobbed some more as Ryu listened, and then a thunderclap broke out in the sky. "That's….. that's all I…. know…"
"Okay…. then I'll-" Before Ryu could finish his sentence, the door to the inn suddenly slammed shut and as Ryu looked backed he could see the Ronin had disappeared.
There could be only one way he was heading.
The Forest near the Village.
"OW! Damn this kid," muttered a cloaked kaiju as he held onto a struggling Baragon child clad in a blue and gold buttoned shirt with simple grey pants, who had just sunk his fangs into the kaiju's green hand. The kaiju had nearly dropped him as his companion then took the child away from him, allowing him to inspect his hand. He was bleeding slightly, although he breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing that his elongated middle claw was left untouched, and then adjusted his black robe and hood, before continuing to walk forward some more as he passed by the dark trees, leading the other two robed figures. "You'd better keep a hold of that little bastard," he growled back at the other robed figure, their brown-scaled hands keeping the Baragon child from struggling as he looked around in a panic, "so we can sacrifice him and leave this awful place!"
"Oh calm down brother," the other responded as he quickly moved up next to the leader. "I think that our glorious leader will be quite pleased by us for this sacrifice," he hissed, a long red tongue coming out of his mouth as he leered down at the child. "So young…. So innocent…. He will be so happy…"
"You won't get away with this," Oliver responded as he tried to poke the kaiju holding him with his nasal horn only for the Kaiju to hold him tighter. "You're a bad person….. and my papa always said bad people got punished…. No matter what species they were!" The third robed figure then laughed at this, his voice seemingly echoing from three places as Oliver's eyes widened in fear, and the figures came to a clearing in the forest, the moonlight shining down on a series of stone pillars and a plain white altar in the middle of them.
"Your papa, child? Then where is he? Where was he to protect you from us?" The third robed figure roughly grabbed Oliver, and held him up to his hooded face, three pairs of red eyes shining at him from the darkness within. The kaiju's voice was only coming from one place now, and it did not help that he seemed to be far bigger than the other two cloaked figures.
"He's….. He's," Oliver sniffled as he looked down, the will to fight dying down as he went limp in the kaiju's golden four fingered scaled hands. The other two kaiju started to light several torches on the pillars, the moonlight being disturbed by a series of black flames in a circle, as strange whispering started to fill the forest, something which Oliver barely noticed as the kaiju removed his hood. He was golden in color, with a lighter cream color underneath his three necks, and each of his necks ended in similar looking heads, draconic in appearance with rows of sharp fangs and glowing red eyes with a series of horns on all three of his heads. The Ghidorah had shaggy unkempt manes on all three of his heads, along with what appeared to be a strange dark fluid seeping out of all six of his eyes. "My papa….. he was…. he was…."
"Marius, will you stop tormenting the kid so we can get this done already?!" The robed figure with the middle claw removed his hood next, and Oliver could see a green-scaled beaked head with two white tusks on either side of the slightly yellow beak, a pair of small yellow eyes with green irises, a singular curved grey horn, and a yellow and green fin running down the back of his head. A pair of gills on his neck along with his ridged red throat and green scales was a telltale sign of him being a Gigan, although it seemed as if his yellow eyes lacked the strange dark fluid that the Ghidorah had. The Gigan reached into his robe and pulled out a black bladed sword with a serrated blade, looking at it as the final kaiju removed his hood, revealing a reptilian face with dark brown scales, a short muzzle with rows of long sharp fangs which dripped with venom, one row of spikes running down his head, and two green reptilian eyes as the long red tongue came out of his mouth again, and he too took out a similar sword as Marius placed Oliver on the altar, the child looking up at the moon and how it seemed to almost look at him like an eye. "Brothers," the Gigan snarled as both Mairus and the Varan looked at him, the latter licking the blade of his sword with his long tongue, "let us begin the ritual. Marius, you take the lead." The Gigan stood on the left side of the altar, seeing the pathway where the trio had come from, while the Varan stood on the right side, both holding their swords vertically as they closed their eyes and the flames started to dance around in the moonlight, and Oliver shut his eyes in fear as Marius reached into the sleeve of his robe, pulling out a big dagger with an obsidian black blade, and held it above the young child, preparing to bring it down on his throat.
"For you our lord and savior, for you who will lead us into a new golden age, for you who will take back what should've been yours," Marius droned as the flames seemed to burn bigger and bigger, and the moon seemed to shine brighter, "We give you this sacrifice in your-"
SPLAT!
"AAARRRRGGHHHH!" Oliver opened his eyes and saw that Marius had dropped his dagger, and that another knife had gone right into his hand, the silver blade coming right through his palm as the other two kaiju suddenly backed away in surprise. Then from the direction of where the knife had come, came a light humming noise that suddenly turned into a pulsing noise as a blue beam zoomed out of the forest, blasting Marius through one of the pillars and flying into the other side of the clearing. Then out of the darkness leapt the Ronin, whose cloak hit one of the torches and was lit ablaze, something he barely noticed as he landed on top of the altar, and tossed his cloak at the Gigan who had attempted to slash at him with the serrated black blade while the Varan's sword was suddenly blocked by a Wakizashi held in a reverse grip by the Ronin's right hand. Oliver looked up in amazement as he saw a Gojirasaur with charcoal grey scales, a muscular body with nice big arms and legs, a series of white-tipped sharp looking dorsal plates running down from his neck all the way to his fairly short tail, and a fierce looking face with two pointed ears and striking yellow-red eyes. His snout was medium length, and several fangs poked out of his mouth, colored white like the claws on his hands and feet. He was clad in a black shirt that billowed down past his waist to the top of his thighs, with the top of the shirt having a v-shape on his neckline which exposed part of his big muscular chest, and short sleeves which also exposed part of his arms, with gold trim lining the sleeves, the bottom, the inner parts where the shirt clasped together, and the v-neck of the shirt. He wore a black belt around his waist, and on his shoulders he had armor, but not plated armor, rather double segmented shell-like armor which pointed upwards and was silver, with an x-shaped band holding them together and a silver ring in the middle of his chest, which kept the bands on his body. His silver wrist guards were shell-like as well, with three segments and also ending in a point near his elbows. He wore a pair of billowing black pants as well, with two strange bulges being present near both of his shins, covered by the dark fabric. Finally, on the left side of his belt was the empty sheath belonging to the wakizashi, and on his right was a much longer tachi blade with a black handle, not yet drawn out.
"Run now!" Time seemed to resume as Oliver obeyed, and he quickly slipped out between the legs of the Ronin, making sure to go behind one of the trees in the forest right as the Ronin leaped off of the altar, and with a quick motion, drew out his tachi blade with his left hand, holding both blades forward as the Varan and Gigan charged.
"You'll pay for interfering," the Varan screeched as the Ronin quickly ducked his blade, and started to exchange blows with the two of them. The Gigan was swinging wildly as was the Varan, and yet the Ronin kept his distance, looking at each, making sure to anticipate their swings. The Ronin then dodged a swing from the Gigan, and quickly swiped with his tail, sending the kaiju flying away and then turned his attention to the Varan, quickly switching the grip of his wakizashi to block another blow with both swords. "Try as you might, you cannot prevent this sacrifice!" A gurgling noise was all the warning the Ronin had before the Varan spat venom from out of his hollow fangs, the venom barely touching his face as he disengaged his swords and quickly disarmed the other kaiju. Before the Varan had any time to react the Ronin had already plunged his tachi into the reptile's chest. "You… urg…. Gggg…. Gg….." Blood was seeping out from the wound, and then the Ronin reversed his wakizashi again, quickly slicing open the Varan's throat. He pulled his tachi out of the Varan's chest as he saw the Gigan getting up, and let the Varan fall to the ground, rushing over to the Gigan with both of his swords in a reverse grip, while the Gigan roared in rage and came at him with both his dark blade and his middle claw fully out. The Ronin closed his eyes as he charged and then quickly slashed at the same time as the Gigan, coming out from the other side of him.
"….. AHHHHHH! MY ARMS!" The Ronin turned around, seeing the Gigan kneeling down and his green scaled tail poking out of the bottom of his robes as he looked down at horror at both of his arms lying on the ground, with two bloody stumps right in front of him. The Ronin felt the cuts on his arms, only surface level, and quickly slashed again with his tachi as the Gigan turned around with red glowing eyes. The other kaiju's head fell off before anything could happen, and the Ronin quickly turned around, only to be met with three gravity beams slamming him into several trees.
"That sword you're carrying," Marius growled with all three of his heads as he tore off the back of his robe, freeing his two massive wings as picked up the swords of his fallen comrades and approached the Ronin, the darkness seeping out of his eyes seeming to increase as the Ronin stood back up, a burning look in his eyes as he stared at his opponent, "Starmetal….. only one clan of your people could have ever made blades like that with such love….. made them deadlier than anything….. but they're extinct aren't they?" The Ronin and Marius charged at each other, the dragon trying to bite the Gojirasaur with each of his heads as the Ronin kept maneuvering his body to avoid the bites, and at the same time use his wakizashi to block the swings of the dragon, who seemed far more graceful than the other two. "And you just came around… taking their weapon huh?" At this, the Ronin blocked another blow before back flipping and disarming one of Mairus's swords and then quickly slashed his chest, sending a spray of blood flying into the air. They had moved back to the altar now, itself now dripping red as Marius roared in anger and started firing off gravity beams, the Ronin barely being able to hold back the energy with his tachi. His wakizashi was sheathed again, his focus entirely on keeping both hands on his long katana to block the beams. The Ghidorah's right head and left head kept firing as his middle head laughed, looking at his bloody chest as he continued to push the Ronin back. "You don't even know how to use that thing do you? As I expected…. just a simple little thief…" It was then that Marius suddenly felt his gravity beams start to weaken as the Ronin's eyes narrowed in fury, and with one swipe sent the beams flying into the pillars and right back at his heads, blasting them as Marius roared in pain. The Ronin leapt up and brought his sword down with great force, Marius quickly raising up his sword to block the blow, only to watch it shatter as the Starmetal blade cut through it.
"I am no thief," the Ronin growled as he landed, and drew back his blade as he flipped it and sheathed it, "I am the last of them." As his tachi slid back in, Marius walked back just a bit as his eyes turned pure white, and then with one final groan, his body fell in two, his middle head splitting in half as his organs spilled out along with a strange black substance, and laid there as the Ronin groaned in pain, clutching his sides as he walked away from the altar, and to a tree in the forest. "You can come out now….. they're gone…." At this, the Ronin saw a small red hand grab the edge of the tree, and out from behind it peaked Oliver, his eyes big with wonder as he saw the Ronin before him. The Ronin looked down at him, feeling part of his ribs crack back into place, and panting heavily a bit, knelt down, wincing as he felt the cuts on his arm start to heal. "Oliver right? It's okay….. I'm here to take you home."
"You saved me mister, you know my name," the Baragon whispered as he walked up, and touched the Ronin's arm, feeling the cool metal of his wrist guard. "My papa was looking out for me. I knew he would, like mama said," Oliver continued as the Ronin lifted him up, and let the young kaiju sit on his shoulders, feeling his short tail touch one of his dorsal plates as he started to walk through the forest, looking back as he saw the torches go out and the pale blue of the moonlight keep the forest visible enough for him to walk through. "Hey mister, do you have a name? What about those bad kaiju? Will they be coming back?"
"I don't have a name Oliver," the Ronin sighed as he walked through the forest, feeling the clinks of his swords as he found the path he had taken, "But don't worry….. they won't hurt you or your village again."
"Good," Oliver muttered as he held onto the Ronin's head, and looked at the trees as a gentle breeze blew through the forest. "Hey mister….. how come you don't have a name?" The Ronin stayed silent as Oliver looked down at him, and only heard his loud footsteps and the sounds of his tail dragging on the ground.
"….. I've been traveling for so long, I've forgotten my name," the Ronin replied as he passed through several more trees, and then saw the grassy fields as he came to the edge of the forest and took Oliver off of his shoulders, letting the young kaiju walk now. Oliver then spotted his village and quickly started pulling the Ronin along.
"When I grow up mister, I want to be like you and my papa," Oliver beamed up at the Ronin, the latter almost freezing as he heard those words. "What's wrong mister? You okay?" They were standing at the gates now, and the villagers were all talking in front of Ewan's Inn. The Ronin stood there as he saw the image of a young Baragon wearing armor, only to be impaled by a spear, and fall to the ground dead, his glassy eyes looking up at the sky.
"Oliver! My baby! Oh thank you sir, thank you so much!" The Ronin's stupor was broken as he saw the villagers and soldiers coming towards him, and the young Baragon ran up to his mother, who picked him up and sobbed as she hugged him, while Ryu walked up to the Ronin, his eyes open with wonder at the sight of the uncloaked Gojirasaur.
"You're….. you're…. my age….." Ryu looked at the Ronin, his youth surprising him as he noticed how notably distressed the Ronin seemed to be. "Hey, are you okay?"
"I'm fine….. I just…. I need to leave," the Ronin replied as he turned around and left the gate, while Ryu stood there, watching him turn to the left and head away further into the fields.
"Ryu was it?" One of the Gojirasaur soldiers pulled Ryu's attention away from the departing Ronin, his mind racing as he thought about the warrior, and how he had been the only one to listen to him. "Are you with that guy? If you aren't, then since this happened with the child….."
"….. I am…. I'm with him," Ryu replied, as the soldier starred in surprise at this. "Sorry, but I don't think I'll need to drag any of you out of the army anymore. Please…. if you can, tell everyone about this third faction. But be careful who you tell it to…."
"Oh. Okay then." Ryu nodded at the soldier, and then started to walk out past the gate of the village, noticing the Ronin off in the distance as he headed further away from civilization. "You'll be okay out there, kid?"
"I will be, just remember what I said," the Anguirus replied as he left, and looked back at the village once more before he continued trailing after the Ronin. "Maybe he is the one I've been looking for…. the one who can help me end this war…. and have us all unite again."
After a long time, the Ronin found a tree on some flat dirt filled plains, and put his back against it, his tail wrapping around the tree as he fell asleep, and dreamed of a young Gojirasaur child in a village, listening as his parents called him home.
It had been 12 years since the Ronin was happy like that.
Castle Augustus: Imperial Alliance Territory.
If there was one thing that could be said about the Golden Kingdom, it would be that Castle Augustus deserved every right to be the capitol. It was quite a big castle, with its tall structures and towers built with golden cobblestone, which in the bright moonlight or the bright sunlight would serve as a beacon for anyone aligned with the Ghidorahs to let them know who was in charge exactly above all else. The castle itself was decorated with stylized Ghidorah heads, each open in a silent roar as their ruby eyes glittered in the moonlight, and like the towers and spires, they stood tall among the triple walls of the surrounding territory. The innermost walls were made out of cobblestone and obsidian, keeping the castle from any outsiders aside from the gates in the walls which were positioned in the front and the back of the castle. The grounds next to the castle itself were relatively plain, not much aside from the simple brown dirt that surrounded the moat. Outside of the innermost walls was a small village, for the servants and any guests who would find themselves staying there for a few days, and like the castle, it too was surrounded by another wall, made out of simple cobblestone, with no trace of obsidian anywhere. And beyond that wall laid the barracks where members of the Imperial Army lived, mostly consisting of Ghidorahs, as several guards clad in silver armor and carrying spears patrolled the outer wall, scanning the horizon in three different directions as they watched over the sprawling town outside of the castle, seeing the mountains in the distance and the lights within Castle Augustus itself. There was a meeting tonight, and it was why the guards were doubled this day, just in case any uprisers or members of a strange third faction clad in dark robes planned to disrupt it. And within the Castle, there was King Gaius's throne room, a massive affair with beautiful paintings of his family crest on all four walls, massive doors that were made of the best wood with many smaller doors as well, a golden chandelier that was lit with many candles, along with glowstones in the walls, and a big throne made out of carved marble and obsidian, in which sat a rotund Ghidorah, with dull golden scales, once muscular arms and legs which rested lightly on the throne, two wings that fit into grooves carved into the throne, his two tails going out a hole in the back, and three fairly long-necked heads, each with a gold and black mane, and three golden crowns on each, which complemented his multiple horns and crests. His faces, once considered handsome, had aged quite terribly with them appearing knobby now, with scars and his once brilliant red eyes now appearing dull. He was clad in a black and purple toga, a far cry from the silver armor he used to wear, and sheathed at his side was a gladius, unused for years. "Oh, continue on Siegfried. Give me a good reason to give up my conquest."
"Gaius, what part do you not understand about my people suffering?!" King Gaius was overlooking a round table in the middle of his throne room, where six individuals sat, along with a seventh in front of his throne. To Gaius's left was a kaiju clad in a black robe with a hood, staying silent as he watched the meeting. "Ventus preserve us, we can't keep this up anymore, and neither can the Grand Alliance!" Siegfried was a Varan with light yellow scales and a pair of vibrant blue eyes, a single role of white spikes which ran down from his head all the way to his tail, and four fingered hands and feet with sharp white claws at the end of each, his fanged mouth dripping some venom as he got more agitated. He was clad in grey and blue armor faded from years of use, plated in a ridge like style, and lightweight enough so he could still use his membrane to glide. He had a spear next to him, one that was gold and silver with two blades at either end, with the mouths of the blades resembling that of Varan heads. "We are in a stalemate right now, and I can't handle watching more and more of my people die! Izel, Vladimir, Niko, Kabuto, even Hun agrees with me!"
"Please Gaius, my people have been allies of yours since the beginning," Queen Izel said, her tired-sounding voice making everyone but the kaiju at the head of the table and Gaius look at her in sympathy, "We've given so much up for you." Izel was a Rodan, her slim but muscular body allowing her to fly through the air with great speed, and yet at the same time hold her own in a fight. She was red-brown in color with some dark yellow on the inside of her neck which ran down part of her body, with cracks in her flesh that showed the glowing living magma that ran through all Rodans' bodies, and at the same time gave her and her species a striking beauty. She had a black sharp curved beak with a pair of intelligent green eyes, and a set of three head crests, two which went straight back and one that was on top of her head and curved upwards, which all female Rodans had. And like all Rodans, she had two massive wings attached to her four fingered arms, with a fifth digit that was fused into her wings. Her tail was small, just enough to help her steer in the air, and her slender but muscular legs showed years of good use, to say nothing of her sharp talons, three in the front and one in the back of her foot, which would allow her to grip anything with her feet. Finally, she was clad with a decorative gold breastplate with a stylized head of the Guardian Beast Ignis which exposed her abs, an armored loincloth which was lightweight enough to allow flight, much like all Rodan clothing and armor, and finally she wore gold talon blades on her shins to her feet, with brown leather stirrups keeping the long sharp curved silver blades attached to her talons. She was now standing up, her hands slamming on the table as the other kaiju looked at her. "If you don't listen to us Gaius…. then I'll have no choice to deflect for the good of my people!"
Everyone gasped and murmured, before loudly shouting out agreement, and then next to Izel stood a black and silver Gigan, his silver scale like armor having a strange blade like decoration on the front, and his back fins giving him an overall imposing appearance as he stood and glared at Ghidorah sitting at the front of the table directly under Gaius, who was quietly sipping tea with his right head while he looked around at everyone with his two other heads. "Well Comrade Mars?! What of you?! Do you have anything to say?!" Grandmaster Mars finished drinking his tea, and placed the cup down gently as he looked upon the rest of the leaders of the Imperial Alliance, before clasping his hands together, and chuckling lightly. Mars was shimmering under the light with his bright golden scales and his intelligent red eyes, and like all other Ghidorahs, had multiple horns on the sides of his heads and on top as well, with his middle head's top horns being more antlerlike. However, quite unlike many of his brethren, Mars was far more well-built, yet still slim, his arms showing off the slim muscle quite well along with his two wings, which flared out behind him as he stood up as well, placing his hands behind his back. And very much unlike his brethren, Mars was clad in traditional Gojirasaurus clothing, namely a red kimono with gold trim and a gold pattern modeled after Metphies, the Ghidorah's Guardian Beast, his long multi-eyed heads seeming to wrap around the entire robe. He also wore golden shoulder armor, which was patterned after two dragon heads, thus completing the look that the Ghidorah wanted to give himself.
"Izel, Vladimir, I understand your concerns, so does my king, and so does God," Mars replied, his middle head doing the talking as his claws clicked on the floor as he walked around, keeping his hands behind his back. "But my king hardly thinks defection is the right choice." Gaius grinned as he heard Mars saying all of this, and sat back as he watched Mars picking exactly what he would say next to crush their hopes. Next to his throne the kaiju in the black robe looked up a bit in interest, revealing a black bandaged face with a pair of oval shaped red eyes, watching the meeting closely as he fiddled around with a simple wooden staff, looking as if it was removed from a tree. "Do you really think the Grand Alliance would be willing to negotiate with any one of you? You forget who leads them…. Izanagi would rather have us dead than ever talk to my king directly."
"That's a lie and you know it!" Kabuto leaped over the table and aimed his drill arms right in Mars's faces, the Ghidorah standing completely still as yellow electricity started to crackle around the dragon's body. "We haven't seen them properly in years!" The Megalon's massive wings flared out, their translucent appearance contrasting against his brown and yellow striped exoskeleton, his grey mandibles and yellow compound eyes shimmering with anger. His massive horn crackled with lightning, and his black shell-like armor started to crackle as well, his two lower arms with their three digited hands holding a war hammer dangerously. Gaius leaned forward a bit, smiling even bigger as he watched Mars stand his ground, ignoring how the dark robed kaiju stopped fiddling with his staff, and quietly knelt down as if he sensed something happening far away.
"Now, now, calm down everyone," Mars calmly stated as he stared at the angered beetle, and watched everyone else waiting for him to answer. "I think that defection is going too far right now. I mean, after all Izel….. who was it who made sure your people wouldn't starve after the Meganula devastated your crops?" The Rodan Queen growled, before she sat back down, remembering seeing Gaius himself ordering several Ghidorah around, making sure her people were given food, and how he had calmly reassured her that they would end the war their ancestors fought in. "And Vladimir, wasn't it we who gave your forefathers territory for your people to live in? Who was it who made sure you got the necessary resources so your kind could stand a chance against the Gojirasaurs Niko?" The Gigan looked down at his claws, thinking of his people's nomadic lifestyle and how his own grandfather had told him of how they had been driven away, only for the Ghidorahs to give them territory they could travel to. Next to him was a Zilla, his slender dark scaled body and curved dorsal plates almost making him look like a thinner Gojirasaurus, if it weren't for his boxy head and his long slender legs, which allowed him and his kind to run at incredible speed. As such, he wore light chainmail armor with some plates on the armor, and carried a trident on his back. Niko stayed silent as Mars continued to talk, the Zilla sighing as he thought about everything. "Kabuto, when your kingdom was stolen by the Baragon, who allowed your people to tunnel and make a settlement here?" The Megalon's drills powered down, and he growled as he retracted his wings and moved back to his seat. "And as for you Siegfried and Hun, need I say anymore?" The Varan clenched his fist and sat down, along with a green Gargantua wearing dirty furs from Behemoths, and armor made out of the bones of dead dinosaurs. "Now if anyone else has any grievances, we'll continue this tomorrow, but for now, let's retire for the evening shall we?" Gaius smiled some more as Mars moved over to him, his claws clacking on the floor as everyone else got up, and moved towards the door on the right of the king, walking out of the throne room as they discussed the meeting amongst themselves, with Izel in particular shooting a dangerous glare at Gaius. As the doors slammed and the guards left, Mars went back to his chair and sat back down, running his clawed hand over his middle head while his right head and left head watched as Gaius moved off of his throne, groaning as he heard the telltale snaps of his back, and limped down to talk to him directly.
"Oh Mars, you have such a way with words… I couldn't have said it better myself," the Ghidorah king rumbled with all three of his heads, while the kaiju in the robes slowly rose back up, leaning on his staff as he shuffled over to the duo. "The day I crush that fool Izanagi's throat and I tear apart everything I built with my Gravity Beams will be the day they know they will be on the right side of history…. provided of course I don't have to constantly remind them of their debt." The Ghidorah king laughed as he picked up a chalice and drank the wine from it with his left head, and with his right head turned to look at the kaiju in the dark robe. "Oh…. Lord Hedorah… nothing to say?" Mars looked at the kaiju, seeing his distinct red eyes as they slowly moved over to look at both of them, a low growl escaping from his throat.
"Nothing much my king…. Only that Mars conducted himself well in the face of such…. Hmmm… brave fools," Hedorah responded, his deep baritone carrying over to all sides of the throne room. "Forgive me… but when do you plan to crush the Grand Alliance exactly?"
"Hedorah," Mars interrupted, his middle head speaking as he approached the robed kaiju, "Let our king think about this first. After all, wasn't it your advice that led to-" Before the Ghidorah could finish, Gaius grabbed his shoulder, all three of his heads staring at Mars, an almost disappointed look on his three faces.
"Now Mars… yes I may not be the same Ghidorah I was years ago," the king lamented, looking down at his bad leg, "But Lord Hedorah did help me avert that prophecy that idiot of a fortune teller told me. And what did you do? Oh you told me old Nostradamus would never be correct, and nothing more, right before you went back to that useless ward of yours." Mars looked at Gaius in disgust, before moving out of his grip.
"My ward is named Helios sir, and I think him looking for a potential threat to this alliance is not useless my king," Mars responded with his back turned to the king, while Hedorah watched on in amusement, "And no disrespect to you but…. you'd do best to remember who it was who protected you from…. Oh I don't know….. the one you want to crush the life out of. God is not happy with you my friend….."
"God? Hm! If Metphies was truly unhappy with me," Gaius huffed as he limped over to the Grandmaster, "then why hasn't he stopped me? Or any of those other siblings of his? But as I said… sending your apprentice on a wild gallimimus chase to find this "Dagon," or whoever it is won't win the war today. But don't be too jealous Mars…. You do make quite a good bodyguard, but Lord Hedorah makes for a better advisor…" As he said this, Hedorah stood up, and suddenly started to head over to the left door of the throne room, his eyelids coming in from the sides as he walked in an almost drooping gait.
"Forgive me my king, but I think I should retire now. Thank you for your kind words, and I do hope the next meeting goes well for you both, because like you said my king….. we won't win the war today." Gaius grunted a reply, and Hedorah put his gloved hand against the door, hearing Mars one last time before he opened it and walked into the moonlit hallway.
"Now Hedorah…. You're lucky God isn't displeased with you….." As the Kaiju headed down the cobblestoned hallway, he looked out through the windows, seeing the torchlights down below, and seeing the guards patrolling, a grin forming underneath his bandaged face. He reached the end of the hallway, and turning left, he found his room, silently opening the door and quickly locking it behind him. His room was quite simple, a bed on the left, a wooden closet across from it filled with clothes and tomes, and a strange mat in the middle of the floor.
Hedorah.
Hedorah moved towards the mat, removing his gloves as dark slimy tendrils emerged out of his sleeves, the top of his wooden staff cracking open as a singular red eye like his emerged, itself moving about with smaller tendrils. The robed Kaiju knelt down on the mat, and listened once again for the voice as the room seemed to be engulfed with a strange darkness.
Do you know why I have summoned you?
"Marius has fallen my master, I have sensed his death," Hedorah replied, closing his eyes as a brilliant star field took over the black, the tiny white dots filling it as he spoke with the being, their voice echoing throughout the starfield. "However, Gaius is still on track to end this war, and every day our numbers grow my master… the loss of one weak pathetic Acolyte is hardly a concern."
One has fallen yes….. it is not his death that concerns me. Rather…. the one who killed him. The same one who has been eliminating my followers whenever he finds him.
"I know of him, the Imperial Alliance has dubbed him "Dagon," although I doubt that is his name. Why should you be concerned master? Once the war is over, you will be restored to full glory, and have a vessel like no other, and then I will help you eliminate Leviathan once and for all."
Listen well then young Hedorah. Should another Acolyte fall at his hands, then he shall take your priority. Use everything you can to destroy him…. and when the time is right, end this war.
"Yes master," Hedorah answered as he could feel the Anti-God leave his presence, and opened his eyes to find himself back in his room. "I have not heard of a warrior with such skill…. Could it be? Could one of them have survived?" The smog monster then got up, and looked at himself in the mirror, his red eyes shining at him as he snuffed out the single candle in the room. "Dagon, whatever you are called….. tread carefully…."
The Forest near the Village.
A Ghidorah in black knelt down by the dead cult members, seeing the tracks and picking up the burnt remains of an old cloak.
"He was here….."
Helios took flight into the night sky, the scent of the Ronin fresh on his mind as he flew in the direction he had gone.
Author's Note: Hello everyone, it's me, and I am here with the first chapter of Godzilla: War for Pangea. As I said in the prologue, this is a story that I have been working on with my partner for a long time now, as it is a story we both wanted to tell. It is based off of Monster Warrior Godzilla, or in other words, can be seen as an expansion of the idea of anthropomorphic kaiju, in this case with a full species with a history and a homeworld that is very different than one would expect, along with a story that I don't think the Godzilla franchise has really tackled before. I hope that you all enjoy this story and the characters that you will be meeting, so have fun everyone. Now here is the voice cast just like with Rebirth of the King, although I will only be tackling major and main characters this time, and I will be listing which incarnation of kaiju they are based off. These are simply the voices I imagine them speaking with, and thus what I hear when I write them.
Jonah Scott as the Ronin (Heisei Godzilla).
Griffin Puatu as Ryu (Heisei Anguirus).
Dante Basco as Helios (Legendary Ghidorah).
Paul St. Peter as Lord Hedorah (Both Showa and Final Wars Hedorah).
Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa as Grandmaster Mars (Grand-King Ghidorah).
Orson Welles as Anti-God.
Richard Epcar as King Gaius (Showa Ghidorah).
Laura Bailey as Queen Izel (Fire Rodan).
Fred Tatasciore as Vladimir (Organic Gigan).
Kevin Michael Richardson as Kabuto (Megalon).
Dee Bradley Baker as Siegfried (Varan).
Next time in War for Pangea, the Ronin is joined by a new ally, but who is Ryu really? How will they get along? What will happen when they find out about a missing Divine Moth? And just what is going on with the Grand Alliance, and what do they think of the war? Find out next time in Godzilla: War for Pangea!
See you all next time and stay safe. Don't be afraid to leave feedback or recommend this fanfic to anyone seeking Godzilla fanfiction out there.
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