Chapter 5

Hinges creaked, and light poured in from around the edges of a door onto the face of the man who'd brought his forces to overtake Mothra's temple. His hands were cuffed behind the back of his chair, and his ankles were chained to large metallic anchors on the floor.

The light blinded him, forcing him to squint and look away as the sound of footsteps rapidly approaching him assaulted his ears which had acclimated to the quiet solitude of-

SLAM!

The man felt a heavy fist impact his left cheek, nearly toppling him from the chair and loosening several teeth.

"Sensei!" Doctor Graham shouted while holding Serizawa back as he lifted his hand for another blow.

The man started chuckling, and spit out a wad of blood stained saliva before looking up at his attacker.

"Doctor Ishiro Serizawa. It's an honor."

Serizawa's fist lowered, but his tight lips and jaw, coupled with the ferocious glare in his eyes, left little to the imagination.

"I suppose you're upset that I endangered the moth?"

Serizawa half-stepped towards the man before catching himself and taking a breath.

"No." He replied calmly.

"No? Then what could you possibly be mad about? She's free now."

Serizawa's eyes opened and locked on the man.

"You threatened my daughters." He growled quietly.

"Oh? You mean those sibling girls? The ones who like to sing? All I did was ask them to cooperate and allow me and my men into the chamber so we could take the egg and be on our way. I made no threats."

Serizawa would not entertain this lie. He heard the audio. No threat was directly issues. But the implications were clear as day.

"What did you want with it? Money?" Serizawa demanded.

"What else are dormant giant freak shows good for these days? Do you have any idea how much people are willing to pay for a live Titan specimen that's still dormant and easily controlled and exploited?"

"Who sent you?"

"Now, now. A good businessman keeps his personal and professional lives separate."

"Fine. Someone else can make you talk. I have what I came for."

"Oh? And what did you come for?"

Serizawa suddenly lashed out and slugged the man again, this time toppling him out of the chair causing the ankle shackles to dig into flesh which would be a lovely cause of discomfort for the bastard. Serizawa then stormed out, slamming the door behind himself as Doctor Graham followed next to him.

"Are you all right, sensei?"

"I'm fine."

"How's your hand?"

"Fine. What about the infant?"

"We've been tracking her through thermals via our satellites. She's currently located here, near the Zhegan River. So far she's stayed away from civilized areas. But given that she hasn't been traveling in any patterns, we can't predict where she'll end up next."

"Basic moth larva instinct is to feed and grow until mature enough to form a cocoon. She's probably still searching for the richest foraging grounds."

"Yes, sensei. It would appear so. Our standard satellite imagery shows very little rainforest having been consumed along her route. Just occasional nibbles as she moves along."

"Good. We have time to get to her then. We need to keep her safe."

"Sensei, if I may? Why do we need to do that? Surely she can fend for herself at this point now that she's free of the egg, right? I mean, you saw the footage. She can shoot silk webbing at anything that threatens her. And there aren't any other Titans other than Godzilla wandering free right now. So-"

"She's vulnerable, Vivienne. Webbing or no, she's much smaller than anticipated. And much, much lighter. If captured, she could be easily carried off anywhere in the world by only two or three helicopters."

"Oh, I see. Apologies, sensei."

"It's fine. Where are the girls?"

"Just ahead, sensei. Down the next hall on the left and through the double doors at the end."

Serizawa broke into a jog, hanging left at the next intersection and throwing both double doors open to enter the large employee breakroom. Ling and Ilene turned towards him, and all three got immediately teary eyed and rushed to embrace one another. The girls began crying, nuzzling against him and recalling what had happened and how scared they were for Mothra and all she had to endure. Serizawa stroked their heads and whispered to them, calming them down and helping them all move to a table to have a seat and face each other properly.

"Girls, are you both all right?"

They nodded, sniffling and wiping their eyes as Doctor Graham brought them all tissues to use.

"Did he do anything to you?"

"No, father." Ling answered, blowing her nose. "He just wanted the egg. When we didn't cooperate, he tried to force his way into the chamber. But he didn't seem interested in us."

Ilene nodded.

"I'm sorry, father." She said.

"Why, Ilene?"

"I'm the one who decided we should sing to wake her. I knew she was premature, and that it would be dangerous. But I convinced Ling to help me wake her anyway."

Serizawa shook his head.

"You did the right thing, Ilene. Had you not awoken her she would have been taken to who knows where. And anything could have happened to her at that point." He said as he reached out and stroked her cheek, which made her smile.

Ling placed a hand on Ilene's and smiled as well.

"Mothra's free now, Ilene. She can take care of herself. She's probably already managed to heal her damaged mandible. So she should be eating healthily as well soon, if not already." She assured her sister.

"We know where she is. And we're dispatching teams to observe from afar and do what they can to keep her safe. Once she's fully matured into a moth, she won't need our protection anymore." Serizawa added.

The girls both looked delighted as they sighed in unison.

"What about Mothra? You said that before the attack you both saw her dreams more vividly?" Doctor Graham asked.

"Yes, Vivienne." Ilene said. "She was dreaming of flight. Soaring through the skies of the ancient world seeing the Titans down below. They were blurry, or went by so fast we couldn't make them out properly."

"But we saw Godzilla." Ling added.

"Did you?" Serizawa asked, leaning forward in his chair a bit.

"Yes, father." Ling replied. "He was clear as day. Standing tall as always and roaring proudly."

"Interesting." Serizawa mused.

"Father. Do you think this is because of their ancient ties?" Ilene asked.

"It could be. All of the cave paintings suggest a symbiotic relationship between their respective species. But we've yet to fully understand the depths of that connection based on cave paintings and carvings alone." He replied.

He looked up at the girls.

"What do you two think? Do you feel anything from Mothra's dreams?"

The siblings looked at each other, than back to Serizawa.

"I think there was a kinship between Godzilla and her ancestors." Ling began.

"Kinship?" He asked.

"Yes. When Godzilla appeared in her dream she was calm and content to hover and observe him." She finished.

"It was similar for me," Ilene added. "After seeing Godzilla, I had the sense that Mothra wanted to continue flying and observe more of the world. But when he roared in her dream, it woke her up."

"I see." Serizawa said, leaning back in his chair.

"But in the temple, when the men were getting ready to take her away we all heard and felt Godzilla's roar." Ling continued.

"What?" Serizawa asked, sitting more erect in the chair.

"It's true. You can see the tremors on the video feed. When the temple was shaking, we all heard Godzilla's roar." Ilene added.

"But there was no roar in the audio feeds." Serizawa replied.

"Yes. I believe Godzilla was communicating his rage to all of us." Ilene continued.

"How?" Serizawa asked.

"I'm not sure. But he did. We all heard him. Even that man and his henchmen heard it and were talking about it." Ling said.

"Hm. You said before that you believe Mothra's species is capable of telepathy, correct?" He asked.

"Yes. Our family's records, all the way to the earliest entries we've uncovered, all suggest a mental connection to her." Ilene said.

"If she does have telepathy, perhaps she was projecting a memory or vision of Gojira's rage to frighten her enemies?" He suggested.

"I don't believe so, father. She'd been fearful leading up to the roar, but as soon as it came and the temple started shaking she became very calm. And I couldn't sense anything coming from her other than that calmness." Ilene continued.

"Ah. So this was either Gojira's doing, or something else assisting him?"

"We believe so. We've never known Godzilla to be telepathic, though he we can confirm he's at least receptive and sensitive to it when it's directed at him. This is the first time he's seemingly reached out on his own." Ilene concluded.

"Mm. We must investigate this further with Gojira. Perhaps we can find a way to entice him to reach out to us another way."

"Why not send us?" Ilene asked.

"I trust Mothra to remain safe and to continue growing. But I'd like her to have some insurance. If anyone were to come for her like they did at the temple, you'd know before she would. And you could warn her to protect herself."

The girls nodded slowly.

"Anyway. We can't pinpoint Gojira right now. But we know he was last seen in the Pacific somewhere near the Mariana Trench. If we can locate him, we'll try to coax him into reaching us."

"Yes, sir." The girls replied in unison.

"Stay safe, girls. I have to go now."

The three stood and embraced before Serizawa and Graham exited the room and headed down the hall towards the helicopter launch pad.

"Sensei, do you think there really can be a kinship between Godzilla and Mothra's kind?" She asked.

"Anything is possible, Vivienne. The Titans are far more intelligent than modern animal species. So the idea that there could be an understanding of kinship and a symbiotic relationship is not out of the realm of possibility." He replied.

"But don't reptilians feed on insects, and creatures smaller than them?"

"In nature as we know it today, yes. But the Titans were born in a world far removed from what we know. Modern knowledge of science and nature doesn't apply. That's why we've studied them for as long as we have."

"And yet we still know so frighteningly little."

"Yes. The Titans being in stasis doesn't help since we can't observe their natural behavior. But it's too dangerous to simply release them into the world without having prepared for their cohabitation with humanity."

"Yes, sensei."

"Vivienne, I need you to make a call for me."

"Sure, sensei. To who?"

"Joe Brody."