Chapter Text
Act I: Father
Orcas danced in cerulean waters. Mother and calf, shining in the faint rays of light. They moved from his path but remained close. Energy poured from between his scales, residual from the Hollow Earth. Pure and plentiful. The orcas joined the whales and fish that swam in his wake.
The surface rippled above. Seals dove from frozen islands to greet him. Ice parted when air filled his nostrils. The sky was bright. Gulls circled above. A world of blue and white.
Slowly he climbed onto thick ice. His limbs were heavy but no longer caused pain when he walked.
Birds scattered from the ice shelves when sirens blared. Helicopters hummed in the sky. Smaller and smaller. For once, even they knew better than to stay.
Energy pooled in his body, the sound of it drowning out the sirens. Louder and louder until he couldn’t hold it back any longer.
Ice shattered as the beam of energy shot toward his target. It only took a moment. The small cave opening filled with blue light. Then, the entire cliff crumbled into a pile of snow and steel.
The only path that led to the Hollow Earth was no more.
…
Amara opened her eyes. The sky above the ocean glowed in shades of coral and terracotta. Only a sliver of the sun remained above the rippling water that lapped at her feet.
Despite the setting sun, a few people still lingered at the beach. People who weren’t afraid to live next to a quarantine zone that encompassed a large portion of Los Angeles. People who were ready to believe her research without any further evidence. People who were sickly and couldn’t afford treatment.
They must have been spreading the word because more and more came every day. On the surface, it was a good thing. These people praised Godzilla, some—like the people of Yonaguni—worshipped him.
But these people were a minority.
“There you are!” Mi Sun stopped at the edge of the water.
“Sorry, I just wanted to stop and watch the sunset.”
“Newfound appreciation?”
“It’s better than looking up and seeing the ground.”
Mi Sun sat down beside her. “It’s too bad about the camera. I’ll just have to wait and ask Whyley nicely to draw me pictures.”
Amara smiled. “You might have more luck getting me to draw them. Whyley didn’t like it much down there. He did draw some good ones of Hollow Godzilla though.”
“I’d love to see those. I can’t imagine an even bigger and older Godzilla.”
Amara hummed, eyes on the darkening sky. After Mi Sun had picked her up from Antarctica, the true effects of Hollow’s Godzilla’s presence came to light.
Light in the form of dancing reds, greens, and purples high in the Earth’s magnetosphere.
“Never thought I’d see the Northern lights over California,” Mi Sun said, looking up.
Hollow Godzilla really had been the magnetic south pole or at least guided it. When he moved, so did the Earth’s poles. Now places that had never had northern lights saw them frequently.
“I had no idea that what we did down there would affect up here. It was like once Hollow Godzilla woke up, everything else became irrelevant. Finding a way to leave became our top priority. Then it all just escalated. If it wasn’t for Whyley and Jia, I’m not sure I would have made it out.”
“I had a bad feeling about Nathan and Ilene. I mean they’re good people, but they’re not the biggest fans of Godzilla. I knew Whyley would be on your side.”
A familiar fluttering feeling filled her chest. She’d left out very little when she told Mi Sun what had truly transpired in the Hollow Earth—Her and Whyley’s kiss being one of them.
“Jia was the real hero down there. She saved me more than once. She even looked up to me when she found out about the connection. I just hope she doesn’t grow to regret her choice.”
As the sky went from navy to black, the northern lights grew more vibrant. Their quiet conversation on the beach wasn’t the only one going on.
Mi Sun crossed her legs. “I wonder if Godzilla’s attack will be broadcast. On one hand, it’s a top secret location, on the other…”
“I’m sure it will. The president would love to use it against him.”
Mi Sun nodded. “He didn’t seem like the kind of person to do a one-eighty like that. He never was pro Godzilla, but now out of nowhere he’s become America’s biggest issue.”
“That’s what happens when something gains monetary value—it gets exploited. If Godzilla is the cure to cancer, the US wants to be the one that profits from it. Now they just need to convince everyone that he’s better off dead.”
“It might not be that easy though. Godzilla hasn’t set foot here for five years. At least half the population wants him alive. I mean, look around. These people are all benefitting from Godzilla’s radiation years after the fact. They know killing Godzilla isn’t necessary at all. If anything, the ‘Let Titans Live’ movement is growing, especially in regard to Godzilla. Walton can’t afford to piss off this much of the population if he wants to be re-elected next year.”
“Would he care if he stood to gain so much money from it? Killing Goji would rake in billions for the pharmaceutical industry. I’m sure there’s already deals going on.”
Mi Sun sighed and got up. “Let’s just leave that until after the banquet. Maybe Monarch will have some good news.”
Amara stretched her legs out on the sand before joining Mi Sun. “I don’t know how you stay so optimistic.”
They passed someone fiddling with a cast on their leg and a group sitting with a child in a wheelchair.
“Well I wouldn’t want you to get sucked into the void of pessimism. Life’s about balance, I’m sure you know that of all people.”
“It’s easier said than done.” Amara’s eyes fell on an empty water bottle. Sand clung to it as it rolled in the ocean breeze.
“That’s why we have friends.” Mi Sun smiled at her before picking it up.
Amara couldn’t help but turn back toward the ocean. Godzilla was so far away. Deep in the water near the Antarctic. Far from reach.
“Maybe we can take your boat out sometime?”
Mi Sun wrapped an arm around her. “See, now I’m hearing some of that long lost optimism.”
…
Amara stared at the phone number on the screen. Whyley had given it to her before they parted from Antarctica. He’d gone home to Colorado while she left to stay with Mi Sun.
There was a knock on the door. “Amara, you awake yet?”
Pulling her thumb back from the call button, she dropped her phone onto the bed. “Yeah, I’m up.”
“Good, if you want to go on that boat ride, we better go get some supplies and some clothes for you. I’m running out of shirts for you to borrow.”
When Amara opened the door, Mi Sun was sitting on one of her chairs facing the window that looked out to the ocean. She had a cup of tea in her hands and gestured to the kettle on the stove.
“I was thinking of going out to the island where we first met Godzilla.”
Amara got a mug out of the cupboard. “The one I tried crashing your boat into?”
“That’s the one.”
After lazily getting ready for the day, Amara got into Mi Sun’s beloved but backward Toyota. They had to drive south to the next city to go shopping. Though more and more people were moving back closer to the Los Angeles quarantine zone, it was still far from having all the amenities a normal city had.
Mi Sun beelined to an outdoors shop for their more practical clothing. Then suggested they go get some formal wear for the impending cooperate banquet.
“Has Mark told you what this banquet is really about?”
Mi Sun hung a dress back on the rack. “As far as anyone’s told me, it’s just a formality to introduce some new members of the board.”
“We’ve never had a banquet for that before though.”
“We probably just have excess budget to blow this year. What do you think of this one?” Mi Sun held up a black dress that flowed down to her mid calves.”
“I think you should try it on.”
“Alright. Are you going to try on that one?” she gestured to the navy gown Amara had folder over her arm.
“Yeah, why not.”
They ended up buying both dresses and packing them away with the more practical clothing in the back seat. Next was a stop for groceries. Mi Sun already had an empty cooler in the back of the Hilux. They filled it with fresh fruit and supplies to make sandwiches.
Then it was finally time to go to the harbor. They had the windows rolled down to let in the humid breeze from the Pacific. It was a warm June day. The sun peeked between scattered clouds.
Mi Sun had since upgraded her boat since the last time they went out together. It was so long ago, that first time they went out to observe the whales. Never in a million years had she expected to find Godzilla instead.
They set out by mid afternoon. Mi Sun had packed their clothes in the small berth where the two cots were.
Amara climbed down the ladder attached to the hull. White water splashed at her skin when she reached down and skimmed her hand along the surface.
“You’d better not fall off!” Mi Sun called from above.
Fall off? It was more effort trying to resist the urge to jump off. She rotated her hand to the side and under the surface. Godzilla’s presence narrowed from a fuzzy feeling in the back of her mind to a sharp point in the forefront.
I’m where we first met.
Though he may not have been able to hear her voice from so far, he felt her intention. Her pull.
“Is he coming?” Mi Sun asked when Amara climbed back onto the deck.
“Yeah. Might take him a while. He felt pretty far.”
“Camp on the island then?”
“Sure.”
After another hour, the island came into view. Strangely familiar, especially when Mi Sun tied the boat off near the same overhanging tree.
“I suppose you still have that machete?”
“Of course!” Mi Sun pulled it out of its sheath.
Amara laughed. “I’ll carry the cooler then.”
After hiking in the Hollow Earth for nearly a week straight with limited food, the trek up the cliffside wasn’t that bad. The view was beautiful. The air was fresh. She could name the plants. To think, only a few weeks ago, she’d been hundreds of miles below the ocean.
Mi Sun put down her backpack in nearly the exact same spot near the trees as she had years ago. Not a moment later, she wandered through the grass shaded by trees until she gasped and kneeled. At her feet was the Sea-cliff Bedstraw, an endangered plant only found on this island and the ones around it.
But Mi Sun pointed around them and sure enough, more Bedstraw had grown. No longer one small plant but an entire area laden with the rare species. A plant so small and unassuming, most would pass by without ever noticing its presence. If it were anywhere else, it would be pulled or trampled and replaced by grass or grazed by livestock. But here, without humans to disturb the area, it flourished.
Mi Sun got up and came back with a new camera in hand. She took far too many pictures of each of the plants then sat down next to Amara. The photos on the small screen were less blurry than usual, so she only had to delete half.
“Goes to show that you can buy your way to nicer pictures.”
“You mean you just bought a camera that you can find the macro setting.”
They ate lunch and set up the tent in a spot free of rare plants. Amara built a small fire while Mi Sun attached a different lens to her camera to attempt some bird photography.
They spent the rest of the afternoon and evening hiking around the island observing the flora and fauna. Mi Sun managed pictures of both an Island scrub jay and an Island fox. Neither would win any photography contests.
“Maybe I can find some remote island like this to live,” Amara said through the sound of trembling leaves in the wind. “Three hours from the mainland yet secluded enough to not be found.”
Mi Sun threw a branch into the fire. “We still have time to make things right. Just because Walton is against Godzilla, doesn’t mean another country won’t take you in.”
“You really think any country would risk it? And even if they did and people find out, then what? Another Yonaguni? They ended up shutting down the airport to get tourists off the island.”
“We’ll be more prepared and negotiate better arrangements if it comes to it. We still have almost a year before we have to worry about worst case scenarios though. Until then you still work at Monarch and are still the authority on Godzilla.”
“I’m not sure that will be the case after this supposed banquet.”
“There may be a switch in leadership within Monarch, but your role will remain the same. There’s just a chance you’ll be reporting to a new boss, that’s all. Remember, you have all of us to count on.”
The all she referred to were only those who knew her secret. Mi Sun herself, the twins, Rick, Sam, Nathan, and Ilene. All esteemed Monarch employees and scientists—but in the end had little say.
“Unfortunately, it’s the boss that matters. They’ll be the one talking to the president.”
“Nothing has been announced yet. For all we know, they’ll put me in charge.”
Amara looked away from Mi Sun’s grinning face back at the fire. “That’s optimistic even for you. A move like that would be way too smart. The government will probably appoint whoever’s in their best interest.”
Mi Sun sighed. “You got me there.”
…
She was floating.
The water around her, blue. Below her, black.
A void reaching towards her feet.
There in front of her was Ren. Glaring.
I’m here.
Blue eyes lit up the water.
Amara awoke to a course of chirping crickets and the sound of white water crashing against the cliffs.
Mi Sun snored from beside her, one leg kicked out of her sleeping bag. Her head was buried in her small pillow.
Amara quietly slipped on her shoes and exited the tent. Wet grass brushed against her bare ankles as she walked over to the edge of the cliff. The faint glow of the aurora lit her way.
The ocean was inky black tipped with white foam. Waves broke against Godzilla as he approached the island. His silhouette, black against the greens and pinks of the sky. Larger and larger until there was nothing more than dark scale in front of her.
The tent unzipped and Mi Sun’s head peeked out. She rubbed her eyes and gave a tired smile before disappearing back inside.
This island again, I see.
Nostalgic, isn’t it?
I feel your joy in being in such a place, but you are conflicted.
He already knew. It doesn’t matter. We couldn’t live here if we wanted to.
There are other places.
She sighed. Not like Yonaguni.
Godzilla mimicked her, his shoulders rising and falling. His breath rustled the leaves.
I know hiding is the easiest way to get through this—and probably the right thing to do…
But it does not solve the problem.
She shook her head.
Godzilla leaned closer. His jaw brushed against the grass. She reached out and touched his scales. The warmth that emanated from him cut through the chill in the air.
You still have time.
That’s what Mi Sun said. But I don’t think it will make a difference. It could be one year or ten, nothing I say would matter. I know hiding’s our best option, but I don’t want to do it.
You say one thing, but I know you think of another.
Because it’s wrong. If we do anything besides hiding, you’re going to be a target.
I am already a target. They’ve tried to kill me many times and have failed.
And what do you think would happen if you fought back—like really fought back? They’d drop the hammer on you. It’d be war.
Godzilla straightened. His body was grey in the pale light of approaching dawn. His eyes seemed to glow amber as they gazed down at her.
Perhaps it is the only way to coexist.
Coexist. A word Dr. Serizawa was known to use when referring to the Titans. He used it to try to stop the military from attempting to kill Godzilla, failing each time. It had not stopped them from trying to lure him out to the ocean with the MUTOs and it didn’t stop them from bombing him while fighting Ghidorah. His words meant nothing, did nothing. Because that’s all they were—words.
If people refused to listen to someone like Dr. Serizawa, then what power did her words have? Godzilla knew how to solve problems, and it wasn’t through talking.
But even if it was the only other option... War isn’t coexistence.
Then for the time being, you will search for another way, and I will find a place where we may hide in peace.