The One Who Lost His Way

AN: I'm not even going to try to make excuses about why this one took so long. The simple truth is that I just haven't worked on anything writing related in about two weeks. Not because I was busy or didn't have time, but because I bought a new game that I got absolutely obsessed with and spent all of my free time playing.

Seriously, it's like the best game I'd never heard of until last weekend. It's called Starlink: Battle for Atlas if you want to check it out for yourselves and see what I mean. And it came out in 2015! Seriously, how have I never heard of a game this good until now!? And why did only have middling reviews!?

But I digress. People wanted some Maddie and Ghidorah scenes, well...this is sort of that. I mean, the whole thing is from Mark's POV, but there's some Maddie and Ghidorah interaction in the background.

Enjoy!

Key:

"Titan speak"

"Human speak"

Character's inner thoughts

"Telepathic communication"

Disclaimer: I do not own Godzilla: King of the Monsters or any characters.

Meanwhile, on Isla de Mara:

The pilot on the Argo definitely deserved a raise. Somehow, they were able to land the airship on the beach despite the giant three-headed dragon taking up most of the available space. The ship was far enough away to reduce the risk of a wayward limb smacking it like a children's toy, but Ni was apparently left in charge of watching it and making sure Ichi knew if one of their tails or wings got too close.

Kevin, however, was still eavesdropping on his conversation with Rick and Sam, much to all three of their annoyance. Still, after Ichi's declaration earlier, no one was going to tell Kevin to go away.

They'd landed about ten minutes ago now, but most of the Argo's command staff were still aboard. Only Rick and Sam had been brave enough to come out...or they were volunteered as tribute. Both of them occasionally sent nervous glances to the giant titan watching them from mere feet away. "So Serizawa wants us to just observe Bernie Hayes for now, and we've already sent a request to the FBI and NSA to label him a person of interest. Hopefully, they'll be able to keep tabs on him in case Jonah and his group makes a move." Mark nodded to Sam's report. That seemed a reasonable course of action, though he wasn't usually the kind of guy to approve getting the government intelligence agencies involved. In this case, though, he supposed the situation warranted their involvement.

"Speaking of the government, they've been contacting us about the titans again," Rick began. Now that Jonah and his group have gone silent for the time being, they're wondering what to do about the titans they woke up, including Larry, Moe, and Curly here." He gestured to the hydra in emphasis. "Stenz has recommended them to defer to our judgement for the time being, but Serizawa isn't sure how long that's going to last." The scientist scoffed. "They'll spend months arguing amongst each other about the most idiotic things imaginable, but as soon as a situation involving someone else not entirely under their thumb is involved, suddenly they lose all patience."

Mark just shrugged, not knowing how to respond to that. "So...what are we going to do with the titans?"

Sam and Rick shared a look before the former responded. "Dr. Graham suggested 'Titan sanctuaries'. You know, marking out territories that they'll have free reign over while keeping people out."

"That idea has merit," Kevin spoke up, causing the two scientists to jump. That was the first time he'd spoken up during this whole conversation. And they'd been talking for nearly twelve minutes now, the first ten being about Bernie Hayes and his podcast, which, true to his word, Rick had showed Mark on Pandora.

Mark looked past Kevin's head to check on Maddie and Ichi. The former had taken an acute interest in 'Titan Truth' and was already listening to the first episode. The latter had laid his head on Maddie's other side and was likewise listening to the podcast. From appearances, it seemed like Ichi wasn't paying attention to their conversation, but he knew better. He was using Kevin to listen in on what they were saying just as much as he was listening to the podcast on Maddie's phone, which was actually his phone that she'd borrowed for the moment.

"Any other suggestions?" Mark asked, returning to the conversation at hand.

"Serizawa suggested we let the titans have free reign, but something tells me the government isn't going to go for that," Rick commented.

"Yeah, there's not a snowball's chance in Hell of that happening," Mark agreed.

"And Dr. Chen suggested Isla de Mara be considered the first of Dr. Grant's Titan sanctuaries since, you know..." Sam glanced at Ghidorah upon saying that, but Mark knew it wasn't the golden hydra alone that frequented this island. Rodan's nest was in that volcano, and both Mothra and Godzilla had at least visited the island in the time since this all started.

"We do like this island," Kevin commented. "It's not very big, though. We'd like someplace a bit bigger."

"We'll...get back to you on that," Sam hesitantly responded.

"There's not many places left on the planet for something of your size to live," Mark told Kevin.

Suddenly, Ichi raised his head and looked straight at him with a slight glare. Words weren't needed. Mark understood the meaning.

'Find one'.

Ichi held the glare for a few seconds longer before laying his head beside Maddie again, his eyes slipping closed.

Mark's gaze lingered on the hydra's middle head for a moment before turning to Rick. "Find them a territory."

Stanton rolled his eyes in exasperation as he turned and walked away, muttering, "Great...now I'm a Titan house hunter..."

Mark watched him leave for a moment, and then gestured for Sam to go back, as well. He did so without a word of argument. Beside him, Kevin watched the other two men leave, as well, and once they were out of earshot, Mark turned to the hydra's youngest head. "So what does your brother think we should do about the titans?"

Kevin remained silent for a few seconds before speaking. "He likes this Dr. Graham's idea. If each titan had their own territory that humans weren't allowed into, that could solve many problems." He was quiet for a few more seconds. "He says the only problematic ones would be the ocean bound and airborne titans."

"That does raise some concerns..." Mark agreed. The last thing anyone needed was for an ocean Titan to declare an area humans used as a trade route as their territory. But the ocean was a vast place, so he knew there would be space enough for titans and humans alike to coexist. If there wasn't, however, Ghidorah couldn't exactly do anything about it. In the air and on the ground, no other titan could hope to contest them. But they were utterly helpless in the water. So if one of the ocean titans started acting up, there wasn't anything Ghidorah could do. It would be up to humans to either fight back or move. "If Godzilla would actually agree to work with you, he could keep the ocean titans in check."

"He would never agree," Kevin murmured sadly. But then, he seemed to perk up, his voice becoming more chipper. "Oh! But Tiamat pledged to serve us! In the water, she's a force to be reckoned with. She could be our...what's that word you humans use? Lunatic? No...that doesn't sound right..."

Mark blinked in confusion at what Kevin was talking about, but he figured out what he was trying to say after a moment. "You mean, 'Lieutenant'?"

He nodded excitedly. "Yeah! That's it! At least, I think that's it."

"That's it," Mark confirmed with a nod. He'd also admit that the idea had some merit...assuming Tiamat hadn't said as much with an 'enemy of my enemy' mindset. Meaning, she'd only be loyal to Ghidorah as long as Godzilla was a mutual enemy, and once that enemy was gone, she'd turn on the hydra. "You think you can trust her?" Mentally, he was finding it a bit odd to speak of the titans as if they were just other people, but he supposed they were. Sort of. Ghidorah had shown him that the titans weren't just brainless animals like he'd previously thought. They were all intelligent, though they either couldn't or wouldn't communicate with humans like the hydra did.

"Trust? No." It was Kevin speaking still, though Mark got the sense Ichi was using his brother as a mouthpiece. "But she would be a useful ally as long as she's kept in line."

"So what happens when she does act out?" Mark questioned. "Neither one of you will be able to touch the other." Tiamat, being a solely water titan wouldn't be able to fight Ghidorah anywhere else, and Ghidorah sure as hell wasn't going anywhere near the water.

"That...is an issue we'll deal with should it pop up," Kevin spoke, and Mark looked past the youngest head to see Ichi had a thoughtful expression on his face.

"Well...you have any ideas how to make contact with her? Monarch lost track of her as soon as she entered the deep ocean." Which didn't make much sense to him since they could track Godzilla by his bioacoustics. Maybe they just hadn't isolated Tiamat's by the time she escaped? He didn't know how long such a task would take, but if it was a lengthy, involved process, he could understand if they'd focused on Godzilla first, seeing as how he was the only titan out and about. Or maybe, because of that fact, Monarch hadn't seen the need to isolate the others' bioacoustics because why would they need to track creatures already isolated within their outposts? It was worth asking about.

Kevin's sudden uncomfortable expression took him by surprise, and the fact he moved his head and neck away was even more so. Ichi soon took his place, giving Mark a serious look. "We do...but it would involve a declaration of war against Godzilla, which we are...hesitant to make." Upon glancing around, Mark noticed a lot of nervous scientists. Ichi's declaration hadn't exactly been quiet. "I would highly suggest you find a way to make contact with her yourselves." Ichi began to pull away, but paused momentarily, looming above the scattered humans. "This is your task, Mark. See that it is done."

With that, Ichi went back to laying his head down beside Madison, who also looked a bit more worried. But soon, the pair of them were just as engrossed in Bernie's podcast as they had been previously.

For his part, however, Mark was having a bit of an internal conflict. Yes, Ghidorah had saved both his and his daughter's life, and they were currently cooperating with Monarch to try and resolve the whole human-titan relations crisis peacefully. But the way Ichi had just looked down upon them all imperiously and gave them a straight up order was a bit of a red flag to him. It was as if Ichi believed himself to be in charge here, as if he was the one giving the orders to Monarch and not the other way around. Of course, the ideal scenario would be an equal partnership, but the hydra seemed to be slipping into his role of 'ruler' a bit too well.

In a moment of doubt, he wondered if working with Ghidorah was the right thing to do. Godzilla already kept the planet in balance well enough, so why upset an already working system? Because Ghidorah could communicate with them? That's when the big 'what if' hit him.

What if they deposed Godzilla, and Ghidorah ended up being an even bigger threat in the future? Ghidorah was bigger, more powerful, and clearly harder to kill than Godzilla, so what if they were trading one monster for an even stronger one?

But then he looked over at his little girl, leaning against the massive golden head as if it was a backrest, the titans' huge teeth mere feet away from her. He saw how comfortable she was just sitting there, and he saw the warmth in Ichi's eyes as he gazed down at her, a slight upturn in his mouth hinting at a small, genuine smile.

His doubts didn't disappear, but they did diminish. Though he didn't understand it, there was some sort of bond between Ghidorah and Maddie. And he realized then that his daughter might be the only thing standing between humanity and a potential future of oppression under Ghidorah's iron rule.

It was a hypothetical situation, of course. Probably the worst case scenario besides the entire planet being rendered uninhabitable. But the point stood. Maddie was the only thing keeping Ghidorah under control, the only thing preventing the hydra from going too far.

Somehow, his twelve year old daughter had leashed the most powerful creature on the planet without even trying.

And it wasn't just Kevin, either. If it was only the youngest head, it would be different. Kevin seemed to be a lot more innocent and childlike than the other two, and he definitely wasn't afraid of physical affection. No, even Ni, the aggressive one, seemed a bit more at ease. He still wasn't engaging with any of the humans, Maddie included, but he wasn't outright hostile. He merely glared at everyone other than Maddie with suspicion. Mark doubted the right head even realized it, as if his subconscious had already declared Maddie as a friend, though his conscious mind resisted the idea.

And Ichi, the head in charge, was the most worrying of the lot. There was no doubt in Mark's mind that Ichi was closest to Madison, for he recognized the warmth in the hydra's eyes. He could recall all their old family pictures. It was a simpler time back then. Emma wasn't a terrorist. Andrew was still alive. He and Maddie weren't traipsing across the globe with Monarch and a massive golden hydra in tow. No, they had been a family. Happy and normal.

He recognized the warmth in Ichi's eyes because it was the same warmth he'd had in his own gaze back then: a father's love and adoration for his daughter.

AN: It seems little Maddie has Ichi wrapped around her finger already. Wonder how Mark's going to take that...

Speaking of, are his concerns valid? Is Ghidorah just long-conning everyone? Are they actually doing the right thing, trying to depose Godzilla like they are?

Until Next Time

AdmiralCole22