Godzilla Provenance

Chapter 3

After easily pinning down the dying Titan, the group of Skullcrawlers proceeded to crack the Muto's neck open, spilling all the delectable, red fluids. Due to their extremely high metabolisms, the beasts required every single drop of blood simply to survive. Needless to say, the body was gone in seconds.

"Thank you, my king," Ramarak hissed, graciously. "It's truly a blessing to clean up after you."

"Choose your words more carefully next time or suffer the same fate as your meal," Dagon warned through gritted fangs. "Now go return to Skull Island and inform the locals of my upcoming arrival."

"Yes, my Lord," the Skull King replied, submissively. "I hope you take care of that Kong tribe this time."

"Get going," the alpha ordered, not bothering to even glance at his servant.

"Very well," the serpent concluded. Gathering up his pack of fellow monsters, he led them back to their hive under Skull Island.

Once he knew they were actually gone, Dagon began scouring the battlefield for Komi's litter. He found them alright, but he didn't feel the gratification that he thought he would. Their brief skirmish wasn't destructive enough to cause this, was it? The children were smeared across the blistered landscape like an abstract painting.

The king didn't scream, cry, or emote in any way. The unsettling sight of his nieces' and nephews' mangled bodies was enough to completely drain him of all thought. But the first emotion to come back to him was guilt. The mountain he destroyed a mere ten minutes ago probably engulfed most of them and trapped the rest. Trapped, but not killed.

Now logic started re-entering Dagon's mind. He counted six living hatchlings after the Muto murdered the one he threw at his foot, ensuring its death. There was no way they were all slaughtered by the very short battle that ensued. But here they were, dead.

Something stuck out though. "Six," he said to himself. Including the one that was massacred by the parasite, there were six bodies visible. One was missing!

Dagon began making vocalizations called chumpfs to draw out the last infant. Chumpfs were sounds a parental figure in his species would make while announcing a fresh kill, providing a meal for its offspring. He was old enough to know that that was the quickest way to get a Kaiju, both young and old, out of hiding. Especially if it was malnourished. But after several minutes with no results, the king took action. Using his long and powerful tail, Dagon whipped away every single boulder he saw, hoping the chick was under one.

"Where are you, child?" He asked in desperation. This was taking too long.

Komi's firstborn awoke in a state of panic. Seeing the earth around him crumble and engulf his small cave amplified his fear a thousandfold. Thinking Raijin was somehow defeated and that the Muto was coming for him, the hatchling prepared for a quick death. However, what he got was a familiar-looking tail crashing through the side of the crevice. Without a thought in his mind, the infant grabbed onto it and was lifted out of the cave.

Feeling a tight squeeze at the end of his tail, Dagon brought it within his view. Relief soon fell upon him at the sight of what was holding on. He found it, no, he found him.

While confused that the tail wasn't attached to his mother, the little Kaiju was still excited to finally meet his uncle, despite how scary he looked. Raijin was everything his parents made him out to be. His extreme height, sharp teeth, jagged claws, rough scales, glowing eyes, everything was spot on.

"Hey kid," Dagon greeted, taking the child in his arms. "Your mom's worried about you, you know?"

Looking up at his savior in astonishment, the hatchling surprisingly spoke. "She's alive?" He asked.

The king couldn't deny that this was impressive, speaking at such a young age was remarkable. "Yes," Dagon said, answering his nephew's difficult question.

"But....but the big monster said she wasn't," explained the child, tears beginning to well in his eyes. The reality of the situation had, only now, just dawned on him. His father, all his brothers, all his sisters, all of them were dead. His mother? He had no idea. Even though Raijin seemed trustworthy, he was definitely hiding something. "You're lying," the infant accusingly whimpered. "You have to be."

The alpha didn't know what to say. Komi was indeed alive, yes, but she wouldn't be for much longer. How could someone like him possibly explain that to a literal toddler? Especially if she is that toddler's mother. "I'm not lying and neither is that monster, Jinshin-Mushi.....well.....from a specified point of view anyways," Dagon said, hoping he could just relay the message that he didn't want this conversation to persist. The only thing that mattered to him right now was reuniting the two of them before his sister succumbs to the parasite poisoning her from the inside out. "Do you understand what I mean, kid?"

"I....I understand," the nephew sniffed. He saw what had happened to his mother before the winged Muto dragged him and his siblings away. The Kaiju apparently known as Jinshin-Mushi beat her to the point of unconsciousness with ease before piercing her abdomen with its arrow-tipped ovipositors. Even though it looked to have killed her, somewhere deep in the hatchling's mind, he knew it didn't. When Raijin made it clear that he and their shared tormentor were both telling half-truths, everything clicked within his mind. "Mother's running out of time," he concluded.

"Unfortunately so. Now let's get you back to her before the sun sets, eh?" Dagon inquired, trying to sound as reassuring as possible.

"Alright," the child softly replied, burying his head in his uncle's scaly chest. This was the first time he felt safe in days.

The king suddenly became very disoriented at the strange feeling of a little creature clutching to his body without it harming him. He was unfortunately all too familiar with the Meganula and their painful stings. Deciding not to note this new sensation, however, Dagon began hastily marching to where he found Komi with his nephew in hand.

"He's....he's looking for them," Komi wheezed through dried tears. She was speaking with an old friend of Gino's.

The mammothian Titan knelt down to her level, making sure his dangerous tusks weren't anywhere near her fragile body. "Do you want me to go help him?" Questioned the massive Kaiju. "There could still be more Mutos hiding out there."

"Yes," she answered, faintly. "I just hope they're alright."

"They are," her friend assured, although he couldn't be so sure. He knew exactly what that monster and her spawn were capable of.

"You don't know that!" The hurt mother cried. "Please don't give me false hope."

"Listen, you need to calm down. Stress may quicken the birthing process," the behemoth whispered, hoping she would obey him. "And if they aren't safe now, they will be when I am finished saving them," he guaranteed. "You won't have to go through another Gino situation, I promise."

Komi knew he definitely didn't harbor any ill intentions but the mere mention of her former mate caused a lump to form in the back of her throat. Not wanting to stall him a second longer, she softly told him to, "Just go help him."

"Alright, I'll be back soon," the behemoth concluded, rising off the scorched ground. He gave one last look at her damaged figure before walking away.

"Bye, Mapinguary."