Chapter Six: The Pampered, The Hollow Earth

In an attempt to prove his bravery to the other children, Suko sneaks into the king's quarters catches sight of the whispered about 'frozen concubine'. As that is going on, Gojira's squadron finally arrives within the Hollow Earth, and begin their search officially.

TW: An allusion to SA in the first section, not explicit/framed as such (due to the perspective it's written in), but could be read in that way because of the circumstance surrounding it!


Suko knew he was going to be in big trouble.

Or perhaps not, with his darker skin, flaming red hair and stubborn disposition, he admittedly received ever-so slightly better treatment from their king than the other younglings, with his caretaker telling him it was because he was the only one that actually resembled the king. Though he was still just that, a youngling, so sneaking around in the king's quarters was just him begging for trouble, and everyone knew that to anger the king was a fate worse than death. In full honesty, Suko couldn't even fully answer why he was there in the first place, because all the sense in his skittish brain was telling him to turn around and run away, and yet whenever he tried to, he remembered the sneers of the other younglings as they called him a coward and proclaimed that he was too afraid to do anything brave. Simply remembering the smirks they wore was enough to make him bite back the fear bubbling in his chest and trek forward.

His mind raced with many thoughts, how he hoped he wouldn't run into one of the many guards that littered the place, what he would say should he be caught snooping by the king, if the king would even care about any of Suko's excuses, especially if the boy slipped up and told him what lead him to his snooping in the first place.

Suko knew not of a Kong rule, having been born five hundred years after the previous king was ousted by their current one, so the only Iwi culture Suko knew was whatever he claimed was law under his rule. The king had many concubines, something he chose on a whim; if he found her attractive, she was to be his, regardless of what anyone had to say. He knew one of the concubines — her name was Yasha, he was told — was his biological mother, but according to his caretaker, he was snatched away the second he was born to be raised by him and the other designated caretakers.

The king didn't care for babies, he didn't want a lineage, not yet at least, so he made sure that during their pregnancies, the concubines were underfed and strained, leading to a higher chance of stillbirth or miscarriage. Few survived, like he and the other younglings, and they were sent to be taken care of by the caretakers, the king didn't want them, nor did their mothers want them. It was already hard enough for Iwi women to have children naturally, so the king's treatment of his pregnant concubines meant that even though it had been thousands of years since he took over, he had only had a handful of children. Some of the Iwi women were lucky, there were many the king wasn't attracted to, and they were able to bond with and have children with whoever they wanted. However, the king made it very clear that he could change that if he so chose, and once he decided she was his, she was his.

The king was very controlling when it came to his concubines, they rarely left his side and were even made to watch as he slept with one of them, with the king often ordering others to join in if he saw fit. They didn't eat, sleep, clean themselves or do anything out of the eyes of the king, and if he wasn't present, then one of his many guards were made to watch over them closely; there was no privacy for the king's concubines. Or, at least there was no privacy for his Iwi concubines.

Which brings us back to why Suko was even snooping around the king's quarters in the first place; throughout his entire life, the youngling had heard many stories about a woman only ever referred to as 'The Frozen Concubine'. The older Iwi told of a powerful woman from a different land, who wasn't an Iwi but could single handedly bring down hundreds of them at once. His caretaker told him the tale of how their previous king was ousted, how she had used otherworldly magic to render him immobile and threw him off of a cliff, never to be seen again. It had apparently been thousands of years since anyone had seen her, as the king kept her locked away for his eyes only. He'd heard many different versions of who she was, some claimed she was ethereally beautiful, with silver hair and big blue eyes, others claimed she was an old hag, with sagging skin and wrinkly fingers. All Suko knew was that those who angered the king were said to be brought to her, and they were never seen again.

The younger Iwi, all born after the king's takeover, struggled to believe in these stories. They had never seen her before, and the king did everything in his power to hide her from public view, which led to the young ones outright denying the existence of this 'frozen concubine'. After an argument with the other boys — Suko was angered by the implication that his caretaker was a liar — he promised that he would find proof of the frozen concubine and show that the stories were true. Which was why he was now sneaking around where he shouldn't be, hiding behind shadows and objects in hopes that he wasn't caught. It was times like this where he hated having bright red hair, and wished he instead had the dark hair all of the other younglings possessed.

He had managed to evade capture so far, using his small and nimble form to hop around daintily and hide behind the leftover rocks that still lingered after the renovation. His caretaker once told him that the Iwi used to roam the greater Hollow Earth, enjoying the trees and grass and other forms of nature, but after the king's takeover, those who weren't tasked with patrolling for intruders or escapees were confined to this hot, smoldering hell they were forced to now call home. If the frozen concubine was truly as cold as everyone claimed she was, surely an environment like this was deeply unpleasant for her?

Then again, if the king cared about the comfort of his concubines, he wouldn't have kept any of them down in this hellish heat, so perhaps it was stupid of Suko to even wonder why the frozen concubine wasn't exempt from his cruelty. The boy then took in a sudden breath, standing deathly still behind a particularly large boulder when he heard someone approaching his direction. Poking his head out just enough to see, he was greeted by the sight of a guard; a tall older Iwi man with an imposing form, a body covered in thick black hair, long and wild locks with the most angry eyebrows Suko had ever seen. He held his breath, watching as the guard angrily huffed and looked around, searching for the poor intruder unlucky enough to cross his path.

The guard's head darted all over the area like a security camera, his squinted eyes glaring at everything with an intense amount of scrutiny; the king's guards were violently loyal, though that was to be expected, as those who stepped out of line or weren't pulling their weight were promptly eliminated. However, this meant that Suko was overcome with a severe sense of terror, not wanting to find out what would happen if one of them were to get their hands on him. Luckily, the guard only stood there for a few minutes, and when he was confident that there was no one there, he took a step back, turned around and walked away. Not wanting to risk it, Suko stayed put for a bit, allowing his breathing to calm and his heart rate to settle, before he finally gathered up the strength to step from behind the boulder and continue his journey onwards.

Suko's caretaker had once told him that outside of the Smoulder — the name they had given to their new, boiling home — the Iwi once lived on a large plain in the Hollow Earth, an Island far from the Smoulder named Skull Island, that had trees and grass and rivers and cliffs, a Utopia for the Iwi, who loved to climb and swim. He told him they used to have big temples and their homes were made of clay and rock, their architecture square and boxy, yet beautiful. His caretaker told him that in his youth, he would often stay in the trees, picking fruits for his mother, who made juices for the community.

Suko almost couldn't believe it, he didn't take his caretaker for a liar, but he didn't understand why the king would take them from a land so beautiful and heavenly and relocate them to the Smoulder, where most could hardly breathe due to the heat. As he walked down the king's quarters, it was nothing like the homes his caretaker described; the 'walls' were nothing more than stacked up rocks in a repurposed cave, there were no cultural etchings, no images of their goddess, no plants or bowls of fruit dotted around. The halls were empty, with not even the floors decorated. This was no place for a king, Suko thought, yet it was what he wanted.

The boy continued to navigate the hollowed out cave, which was beginning to feel more like a maze, when his lush green eyes caught sight of something that made them glimmer in anticipation. Just barely in his line of sight was a clear block, caught on a boulder beside the wall, that dripped lightly. Suko had never seen it in person before, but he was sure this was 'ice', his caretaker had claimed it was one of the many things the frozen concubine could create; he was told it was solid, cold, and wet. Then again, the most cold he had ever experienced was a slight chill from outside the Smoulder, so perhaps he didn't know what his caretaker was talking about.

It made Suko grin, if ice was nearby, then the frozen concubine definitely was. He slowly approached the seemingly isolated block of ice, only to notice how tingly his toes felt with each step he took forward. Looking down, his eyes widened when he saw a white substance; it felt cold to the touch, and though it looked like a powder, when he touched it, the sensation was… wet? This must have been the 'snow' his caretaker had once told him of. He brought his head back up, noticing that the trail of this old, wet substance looked to be leading somewhere — it must have been to where the frozen concubine was located.

Suko picked up a handful of the substance, his caretaker had told him that snow melted in even the tamest of warmth, so it certainly shouldn't have been viable in the Smoulder, perhaps the stuff the frozen concubine created was different? Stuffing it into his pocket, he walked slower down the white path, trying not to slip as he felt his balance waning with each step he took. Eventually, he felt less like he was walking and more like he was sliding, and the youngling couldn't hold his quiet little grunts as he slumped on the ground below him a few times. The more he traversed down the snowy path, the colder his feet felt, until strangely enough he couldn't even feel the cold all that much anymore.

Suddenly, the boy stopped in his path when he heard a sound. Suko couldn't pinpoint exactly what it was, but it sounded… metallic, and it made a strange clunk noise. Perhaps it was someone's armour? Or maybe even… chains? Realizing that he was at the edge of an insane discovery, he slowed down his movements tremendously, taking one small step after step, fearing that if he slipped up again, he would alert whoever — or whatever — made that noise.

Looking around, Suko noticed that it was no longer just the floor that was covered in cold, wet white; all over the ceiling above him were icicles, some long, some short, some pointy and some stubby. The walls of the cave were now covered in frost, snow and ice, and a lot of it even began dotting itself all over the small boy, making him appear to be a part of the winter display. He shivered as he stepped forward, the reality of the chill surrounding him like a duvet, and he noticed that whenever he breathed, it came out as a small white gust. The boy then stopped in his tracks, unable to contain his excited, exhilarated smile when he saw what looked to be the entrance to a new section of the cave.

Suko took in a deep breath, shaking his limbs in anticipation; this was it, he was sure that when he popped his head through that door, he would bear witness to the legendary frozen concubine, and whatever that entailed. He looked around, just to be sure there were no stray guards loitering around that would ruin this momentous occasion. When he realized the coast was clear, Suko subconsciously held his breath, and made his way over to the opening. The boy wrapped his hands around the edge, slowly edging his eyes closer and closer until just the top half of his head was peeking into the room.

In that moment, he let out a small, barely audible gasp, his green eyes widening in pure disbelief; he had never seen anything like it, this being… she was ethereal, his mind almost couldn't comprehend her. For one, she was huge, larger than any Iwi he had ever come across, with her head of long, scruffy white locks almost touching the ceiling. On her body simply sat a thick, long and fluffy robe-like coat, but from what Suko could see that was all she wore. Her body was thick, abundant in muscle and fat, yet she still appeared to be meek and malnourished; this most likely being due to the thinness of her cheeks, which highlighted her high cheekbones, or her thin lips, which were cracked and bruised. In fact, she had a lot of bruises on her neck, her hands, her knees, her legs, her face….

Speaking of, it was clear she wasn't the young goddess some of the males described her as, the woman was visibly aged, with wrinkling all over her forehead, eyes, cheeks and around her mouth. Said eyes, violet with cat-like pupils, had heavy bags underneath, and were wide open, as though she were in a constant state of catatonia. Suko had always been told that females lose their worth when they got older, with the king's cruel treatment of those he deemed to be 'hags' only hammering home that fact, and yet as he stared at this woman, with her broad, flat nose, foreign features, muscular body and wrinkled face, all he could think was that she was unfathomably beautiful.

This must have been why she was The Frozen Concubine.

He then took notice of her hands, which were scaled in white and silver, her claws and spiked resembling crystals, she had a similar tail, long with crystalline spikes, and the same scaling was present on her neck, face, and he just barely saw some on her back. What in the world was she? She clearly wasn't Iwi, Iwi had hair, not scales.

Suko then gasped when he saw what was causing her so much agitation, making her writhe in place. On her neck, wrists, and ankles were a set of heavy chains tied to the walls, frozen in place as a byproduct of what Suko assumed to be this woman's power. Her expression was weird, she looked to be in shock, and she was clearly strong enough to break the chains, but each sporadic tug she made at them seemed… weak, pathetic, and made her appear a lot more delicate than she actually looked.

The boy was unable to continue his observations, as he was forced to make a mad dash for a neighboring boulder when he saw a particular figure make his way towards the entrance.

The King.

He held his breath, watching as the imposing man made his way forward, each step he took leaving deep footprints in the snow that surrounded the concubine's chamber. One thing about the king that always puzzled Suko was how he managed to be so intimidating, considering by Iwi standards, he was a rather scrawny man. He was tall and thin, with long, lanky limbs, even more so than the average Iwi man, protruding ribs, and a body of deep scarring, two prominent ones on his face, and chest. He was covered in body hair, though was balding at the top of his head, on the back sat wild, red hair with grey highlights. The king wore an animal pelt over his shoulder like a cape, his abdomen and chest bare with a simple wrap around his waist that looked to be from the same animal. His blue eyes always looked shrouded in malice and rage, and the dried paint markings on his face were cracking off by the second. His facial hair was patchy, and around his neck, was wrapped a long whip, made of bone with a crystal attached to the tip.

Suko would never say this outloud, prioritising his safety above all else, but he had always thought the king looked… creepy.

Luckily, the king didn't even suspect there was another person there, and with no guards hovering around him like hornets, he simply stepped into the concubines little cave corner, soon out of Suko's view. The boy was frozen in place, unsure of what to do; he could hear talking, mostly the low, all encompassing voice of the king, but his ears felt frozen solid, and he struggled to make out exactly what was being said. He heard chatter, the loud clanging noise of the concubine struggling, a deep, bellowed laugh from the king and then… a strike. Was it a slap? Was it the whip? Suko wasn't sure, all he knew was that he then heard a loud wail, and then… relative silence, at least, from the concubine.

For a few minutes, Suko stayed deathly still, trying to plan out how he was going to escape back to the others, clearly having overstayed his welcome. As a result, he was caught quite off guard when he heard a set of deep grunt and growls coming from the chamber. What was going on? Was the king being attacked? He listened for a little bit more, only being able to make out rustling and the scraping of chains on stone. With his curiosity getting the better of him, Suko poked his head ever so slightly over the edge of the entrance.

There, the youngling was greeted with the sight of the concubine on her stomach, her claws scraping away at the ground and her cloak flipped up, gracelessly exposing her lower half. Her teeth were gritted, her brows were furrowed and her eyes flamed with an emotion Suko couldn't pinpoint. With an arm wrapped around her neck, he hand of which dug into her shoulder, the king had his other hand held onto her hips, nails so harshly gripped that they broke skin; something he seemed to do a lot, if the previous scarring was anything to go by. His eyes were shut, with the same gritted teeth and furrowed brows as the concubine, however, his face had the tease of a smirk and a pleased flush to his cheeks. His motions were harsh, hard, and rough, and with each movement, the concubine let out a heavy grunt, laced with yet another emotion Suko couldn't read. While the boy wasn't given a clear view of what was happening, it only took a few seconds for it to fully process what he had peeped on.

Mating.

As his face turned a red that rivaled the king's hair, Suko immediately pulled back, turning around and trying to run away, at least as much as he could run with the snow and ice all over the place. It took a while, and he admittedly had slipped on the ground a few times in his escape attempt, but it wasn't long until the boy's feet, still tingling with cold, finally felt the rough terrain of the stone ground. A smile grew on the boy's face as he could see a way out of the king's chambers, and when he finally got out, with his eyes overcome by the sight of the Smoulder once more, all Suko could do was laugh. He had done it! He had snuck in, proven the rumours true, and escaped with his life!

The boy immediately looked around, trying to find the group of boys who had challenged him in the first place. He zoomed from spot to spot, the many adults dotted around finding confusion and amusement in the boy's eagerness. Finally, he could see them, huddled together, dangerously close to the lava pits that scared young Suko sleepless. He approached, chest pumped out and an air of confidence oozing out of him, he stuck his hands in his pocket, pleased to see the snow had somehow not melted yet, though it was beginning to, with the handful being a lot smaller than when he first grabbed it.

He walked up to the group, bringing his hand forward and showing them the white ball, "done." Suko said casually, smirking when he saw the looks of disbelief in their eyes.

"No way," one of the older ones said, snatching the ball and flinching at the feeling, "you… there's just no way!"

"She's real," Suko huffed with pride, "she's, um, she's big! And has scales and a big tail, her whole area is so cold! She's also kinda old, but she's still pretty."

"Of course she's pretty, the king would never pick an ugly female," another boy snorted, "but hey, I guess you aren't a total coward…"

Suko beamed, "no, I'm not! I almost got caught a bunch of times! I even risked getting caught by looking at them mating, but I got out unscathed—"

"You did what?" Another boy, one who stayed seated, said plainly. Suko's confidence immediately fell when he saw everyone staring at him with confused, disgusted, or amused expressions.

"You just… watched them mate? That's really gross man…"

"Yeah, I never took you to be one of those types…"

"Suko's a pervert! Who woulda thought?"

"What!" He screeched, his face now red as they all laughed, "no, I'm not! It wasn't like that! I wasn't just watching, I-I heard noises and wanted to know what was happening so I looked—"

"Sure, buddy," the older one snorted, "let's just hope snow was the only white stuff you left over there!"

"HEY!"

Suko could only angrily pout as the group fell into a fit of loud, hysterical laughter. How annoying! He completed the dangerous trek they challenged him to do, proved the existence of the frozen concubine, and made it out untouched and alive, and still somehow ended up getting laughed at!

It just wasn't fair!


The first thing that hit Gojira about the Hollow Earth was just how warm it was.

They had arrived in Övliin a lot sooner than predicted, which was a net positive in the long run, as the northern gateway was still accessible. Gojira had expected the reunion between Shiori and Shinjir to be a lot more emotional than it was; the two shared a greeting and a tight hug, but the young empress was able to keep her stoic composure, though her pleased smile often broke through when she looked over at her uncle. Due to their stay in the village, the squadron of searchers hadn't the need to spend much time in Övliin, and only really needed to stock up on some supplies such as food, water, and a few replacements of clothes. As they made their way to the northern gateway, it was agreed that the first to travel through would be the Divine Moth searchers. Their wings were being negatively affected by the northern cold, so making it to the Hollow Earth as quickly as possible would be deeply beneficial to them.

The northern gateway wasn't nearly as extravagant as Gojira assumed it would be, he had thought it would be a regally decorated portal, surrounded by guards he would have to assert authority over. Instead, the squadron were led to a large cave, which had a portal inside that led to the Hollow Earth. The portal incorporated magic from the Divine Moths, with Gojira remembering that Mothra told him the northern gateway was created in collaboration with her grandmother. It was a simple teleportation tool, one simply had to stand on it for a few seconds, and they would be warped to the Hollow Earth's southern gateway; the gravitational direction of the portal changed with every full moon, the current direction allowed them to enter the Hollow Earth, but they would have to wait until the next one in order to exit.

They could fit a minimum of two people on the portal at a time, and within ten minutes, the entire squadron had finally arrived at the famed Hollow Earth. Gojira wasn't sure why the warmth surprised him so much, perhaps it was because above him was the rock and stone that separated the Hollow Earth from the surface world. Yet, it surprised him to see they had a sun, and that covering the ragged stone above them was a sky with clouds. Gojira had seen many magical feats during his lifetime, from his bondmate's ability to resurrect herself to the impossible concoctions of the sea witches, yet the Hollow Earth hadn't failed in leaving him awestruck at how magnificent and earthly it was. Like the surface it had mountains, large fauna, and a wide landscape. In fact, Gojira had heard that they even had oceans and islands, just like the surface. He wondered if they had an overall leader like Gojira, if there was a king of king's; Kong had never mentioned one, claiming the people of the Hollow Earth kept to themselves and rarely interacted with each other. While Gojira ruled the surface, the Hollow Earth had no king.

Luckily it was a warm day, for the squadron decided to rest, allowing themselves to recover from the cold of the northern lands and bask in the warmth of the shining Hollow Earth sun. It was an endearing sight, Gojira thought, watching as the Divine Moth searchers vibrated their cold wings and huddled together; their species had never been able to handle extreme weather, which made him respect their willingness to join the trek in the first place. Demounting his horse, he led the black beauty towards where the other squadron leaders were sitting, snacking on some of the food brought along and resting. Gojira walked his ebony mare to the other horses, allowing her to stay and rest her legs before walking back to the group.

Shiori sat between Shinjir and Anguirus, with Behemoth sat beside Anguirus and Methuselah sat beside Shinjir. Squatting in front of them was Saiga, who seemed to be boisterously announcing something as Anguirus entertained it. The woman had an unimpressed look on her face on the other hand, and seeing the way she then rolled her eyes made the king chuckle as he plopped beside his younger brother, ruffling his hair as he did so.

"Is the fool bothering you all?" he asked, ignoring Saiga's protests and attempts to shove him away.

Shiori snickered, shrugging, "him and your Armadon friend won't stop talking about sleeping around."

"No!" Anguirus defended, "I was just talking about how I heard stories of an old Armadon chief who allegedly had a mistress from the Hollow Earth, it was Saiga who was being the pervert, not me!"

"No I was not! I was just talking about the time I tried to court a woman from the Hollow Earth, her name was Kaimana."

Gojira hummed, nodding a little, "I remember her, I think — she was the one with the blue and yellow scales and long finned tail right? She sort of resembled the Serpentfolk."

"She sounds like a Drownviper," Methuselah said, to which Saiga nodded, "they're cousins I think, sort of like how you Allidon and Ice Dragons are."

Saiga dramatically sighed, throwing his head back, much to the bemusement of the group, "ah, what a gorgeous, gorgeous thing she was, when she came to the surface we would swim together and go whale hunting, and she had the best legs known to kaiju! And don't get me started on how her scales would glisten from the ocean water… hate that she returned back home and I never saw her again, perhaps if I'm lucky I'll run into her."

"The taverns talk a lot about Drownviper beauty, perhaps we should go and pay their island a little visit." Anguirus laughed, causing Shiori to huff in annoyance.

"See, this is the reason you two are bondless at your ages, because all you ever talk about is women's beauty and how you wish to sleep with them! You courted this girl and all you can say about her is she could swim and had nice legs?" She barked, snapping the two men out of their shared humor.

Saiga felt himself going a little red at Shiori's accusation, looking away bashfully, "I mean… it was more than that…"

"And you and your obsession with brothel girls!" She then snapped, pointing an accusatory finger at Anguirus, "by the time you start taking courting seriously, I wouldn't be surprised if your cock has shrivelled up and fallen off!"

As the rest of the group began to laugh at Shiori's outburst, Anguirus placed a hand on his chest and gasped, "I'm not obsessed with brothel girls! I've already said my job as captain of the Armadon army makes it hard for me to dedicate my time to a full time bonding!"

"Oh please, you spend more time sleeping with random night women than you do actually working, but if it were a woman doing as you do, I'm sure you would be diminishing her as some sort of whore, wouldn't you?"

Gojira couldn't help his amused snicker when both men looked away, grumbling useless defenses while Shiori just looked over them in triumph. With his hands on his knees, Shinjir let out a loud belly laugh, then putting one on Shiori's shoulder, "you truly are Shimo's daughter! She had a habit of humbling the men around her just as such, she couldn't deny you even if she tried!"

Shiori let out a stubborn huff, but a laugh still escaped her as her eyes fell to the ground, and her left hand gently fluttered over her chest. Gojira let his eyes wander for a bit, taking in the scenery of the new plane they were on; in a way, he was reminded a lot of the Eastern Island when he gazed upon the area of the Hollow Earth they were in. The grass was a dark emerald, complemented by drops of dew and morning humidity, a stark contrast to the soft light grass on Infant Island. In fact, all of the fauna in the Hollow Earth was larger and harsher than that of the surface, the flowers had teeth and the bark of the trees echoed the rough skin of Methuselah. The breeze that would occasionally flow by felt almost aggressive, with the clouds looking more like thick cotton and the sun of the Hollow Earth seeming more white than orange.

The king took in a deep breath, once they started searching, he knew they'd be in for a wild time, more so than he'd ever experienced on the surface.


Sea witches: A colloquial term used to describe a coalition of women of Scylla's species (yet to be introduced, but she will be soon, I promise!)
Serpentfolk: The colloquial term used to describe Tiamat's species (also yet to be introduced, but she's coming!)
Drownviper: The name of the large aquatic snake-like titan that appeared in GXK; in universe, Drownviper is a colloquial term for their species.

Another short chapter :( sorry for disappearing! Writer's block hit me like a bitch but I rewatched all the Monsterverse films + the Avatar films and suddenly got hit with a wave of inspiration! Also, a new POV! I didn't want the fic to only switch between Mothra, Gojira and their kids, the other characters matter too! I chose Suko, mostly because I wanted to give a slight insight on Iwi life since the Skar King took over :)