Sometimes, Riley couldn't help but question her own sanity. Today was no different. She'd gotten the call some time around three in the morning, and now she stood on a repurposed catamaran, taking down notes as her aunt, Marie, ranted about the Titans and MONARCH.
Riley didn't bother responding to her aunt's ramblings, she wouldn't get a different answer, anyway. Instead, she took to looking across the calm ocean as Marie steered them to wherever it was that the madwoman was leading them. The only thing Riley had gotten out of her aunt was that the water-based Titans were messing with the natural ecosystem and she had to see how. Which is what led to Riley being out on the water at five in the morning. She hadn't had enough caffeine for this.
After what felt like ages, the boat finally came to a stop, just above what looked like a coral reef. Riley looked at the sonar on the boat (every vehicle had one now, in hopes of helping civilians avoid Titan territory); nothing on it but a giant green splotch, covering the entirety of the screen. Had Marie gotten it upgraded? She couldn't remember if the sonar was supposed to be green yet or after a potential Titan spotting. She shrugged.
Marie wouldn't take them anywhere dangerous. Well, she wouldn't take Riley anywhere dangerous. Like she said, that woman was batshit crazy. Riley supposed it must've run in the family, though. She didn't know her father and her mother had gone mental a long time ago. She'd been in Marie's custody since she was seven. And now, here she was, out in the middle of the ocean looking for sea monsters.
Crazy.
Looking up from the notebook she had been writing in, she locked eyes with her aunt, who just grinned at her. Sighing, Riley stood up and made her way over to the woman, leaning her hip against the guard rail of the catamaran. Standing side by side with her aunt, anyone would've assumed the older woman to be her mother. They looked almost identical.
Both of them had ash-blonde hair backdropping a tan face. Where Marie had clear blue eyes, Riley had dark amber ones. Riley's hair was wild and curly, lavender highlights scattered throughout the mess of hair, barely held in place by a french braid, with her bangs curtaining her face. Marie's hair was cut in a short pixy, curling around her ears and the nape of her neck slightly.
"So, why exactly are we out here at the ass-crack of dawn?" Riley asked, hiding a yawn with her hand.
Marie rolled her eyes fondly. "The Titans are causing a big ol' ruckus with the marine life nearby. I want to know why and where the earth animals are going."
"And I'm here, because?"
"Moral support." Marie grinned.
Groaning, Riley slouched against the railing, letting her gaze drop into the deep azure water. It was a nice day, she supposed, even if the sun hadn't breached the horizon yet. Not too warm, but promising to be just below too-hot.
Besides, no matter how much she acted like it, Riley really didn't mind helping Marie with her research. It was good to get out of the house every now and then, maybe interact with society a little. And she always did have a fond spot for the water, anyway. Turning away from the ocean, she watched her aunt set up some of her gear, including a laptop, some older charts and graphs, and two sets of diving gear.
Looking over her aunt's shoulder, Riley read what Marie was typing onto the laptop. Nothing that she could make sense of. The words were too scientific. All she was able to pick up was about Godzilla and his effect on the ecosystem and the wildlife in the waters.
"Riley?"
She hummed.
"Put on your wetsuit, would you? I wanna know just what it is that the water-based Titans are doing to the environment. Take the camera, too. It wouldn't hurt to get some photos of any irregularities."
"Sure."
Ten minutes later, Riley had on her black and purple wetsuit. Sitting on the ledge of the catamaran, she put on her flippers and oxygen tank. Putting in her respirator, she shared a nod with Marie before falling backwards off the boat and splashing into the water.
Taking a moment to right herself, she swam down to the ocean floor, passing through a kelp bed. She took a few snapshots of the kelp, marveling at the differences in the coloring. As far as she knew, kelp was just green. But here, there was red and orange, and even some peculiar blue. It all looked completely healthy, too. Although, the coral reef they'd anchored just to the side of didn't look so well.
Where the kelp was fresh and bright, the reef was almost entirely gray, with very little color. Taking a few pictures, she circled the reef, taking more snapshots of anything that she thought was strange.
Like, how for some reason, any of the blue she could see looked like it was a pulsing light. It shrank and grew right before her eyes. Along with those irregularities, the reef was also rather sharp-looking. Which was strange because of the fact that most of the reefs in California were pretty round and soft. It was a startling contrast.
Now that she thought about it, she never remembered there even being a reef here in the first place. Maybe one of the Titans had gotten some parts of a larger reef caught in their scales? It wasn't a reef. It was a Titan. What the hell. She didn't think that. Besides, there was no way that their scanner hadn't caught a Titan. If it had, Marie would never have let Riley down here in the first place. Maybe this Marie didn't know how to read this so-called "scanner". Okay, she had to be more tired than she'd thought.
Shaking her head, she continued where she'd been going, getting closer and closer to one of the smaller parts of the reef. Her mind buzzed, something foggy at the very back of her thoughts. Was she getting sick? The buzzing wasn't going away. Actually, it felt like it was getting stronger the closer she got to the other side of the reef.
Riley couldn't help thinking that maybe the buzzing was a warning. A warning about the fact that the "reef" she'd been studying wasn't a reef at all. It was a Titan. And not just any Titan. Bright golden eyes stared at her, narrowing as they took in her appearance. She gasped.
She had managed to run straight into Godzilla. Shit.
Shit. Shit. Shit. Shit. Shit. That was all Riley could think of as she locked eyes with the Alpha Titan. He wasn't supposed to be here. The scanner said he wasn't. Had they read it wrong? Of course she did. This was his home. She was the one not supposed to be here.
Her eyes widened at the random thought. What was happening to her? Was she going crazy like her mother had? She was not going crazy. She just refuses to GIVE IN. What. The. Hell.
Slowly, the Titan started to stand. They weren't deep enough under water for Marie to not see him when he reached his full height. He'd be like a giant beacon for the people on the shore. And the military. Riley panicked.
"No, don't!"
Godzilla froze. Riley froze. It felt like the entire ocean around them froze. She didn't know what had made her do it, but she knew that if she didn't try to get the Alpha Titan to stop, then he'd be as good as dust when he reached the surface. Whatever it had been, it had worked. But, that just led to more questions that she wasn't sure she wanted the answers to. It did not matter that she did not want to face the truth. She would have to sooner or later.
Riley felt like she was going to have a mental break. If what she was thinking was true, then somehow, someway, she was talking to fucking Godzilla. Underwater. Which shouldn't even be possible, especially with the fact that the Alpha Titan couldn't actually speak. Just growl and shit.
Inching closer, Godzilla lowered himself back into the sand, watching her. Letting out a breath, Riley felt herself relaxing, even when she knew she shouldn't have been even slightly relaxed. Godzilla was a dangerous predator, no matter what some articles tried to deny. The giant let out a chuff which caused a whirlpool of bubbles that popped in her face.
Riley didn't know what to do from here. She knew about MONARCH, but it wasn't enough to know whether or not they'd try to protect Godzilla, or… attempt to kill him. Another huff ruffled her hair in the water. Yeah, they probably wouldn't be able to kill him. Bullets were like gnats, nukes and bombs just made him stronger, radiation was his "food", and missiles just pissed him off. He was seen as a god for a reason, it was in his namesake.
The other human is becoming restless. She needs to make her decision. Riley stared at the Titan. She knew that most animals could sense humans' feelings. For some reason, she hadn't thought the Titans could, too. "Good to know."
With one last look at the Alpha Titan, Riley swam to the surface. Her aunt met her at the edge of the catamaran, taking her gear and flippers while Riley climbed onto the boat. She couldn't help looking back down at the water, a headache forming behind her eyes. Taking the camera, she looked through the photos she'd taken, stopping when she got to the ones that turned out to be Godzilla himself.
"What'd you see down there?" Marie asked, coming to stand by Riley's left shoulder.
"Take a look."
She knew her aunt would be able to tell immediately that the "coral" Riley had gotten pictures of was the dorsal plates of Godzilla. There wasn't much she could do to actually hide those photos. She didn't have the time to delete them either. The buzzing that had faded came back ten-fold, her headache pulsing behind her eyes. She is trustworthy.
Shit. She had to tell Marie about Godzilla. She had to tell Marie about her… connection with the Alpha Titan. What was her life becoming? All she had wanted was an uneventful summer; time away from her college. But, no, instead she got some sort of bond with what was basically a god.
FUCK.