Chapter 17

From his wings, green bolts of charged lighting fell, blowing up the ground beneath them.

Darthra's happiness fired off the charts as he watched the geysers of sand, flesh, and blood fired into the air, splattering amongst the kaiju below.

A tail whipped into the sky.

In a semi-panic, Darthra flapped his wings hard, shoving himself out of range.

This pushed a few of the creatures even more.

"Oh YES!" He screeched as two lines of green fired from his antennae, onto the cluster below.

Blood.

For the first time in a long time, Darthra was thrilled at the amount of damage he did. With only the charges from his wings, scales upon scales tore off these crocodiles.

He did something useful.

'I can do this,' Once again, he flew low, more bolts unleashed, 'I can-'

A massive green tail clobbered his side. That sent him spiralling to the ground hundreds of feet away, smashing through acres of trees.

However, it was not painful.

That tail, the same size as the crocodile he lost to before, felt like a light arm shove and not a mace to a watermelon.

"..." He quickly rose as a wave of kaiju dashed for him, crashing into one another.

It only garnered a wing flap from Darthra.

"I'm not a failure!"

With a powerful swing of his turbulent wings, he set off a devastating gust of pelting wind.

It seemed ludicrous how high these monsters took to the air. Most landed in the sea, washing great tidal waves onto the land, and two landed on the shore, trying to brace the heinous winds.

Darthra fumed his mighty wings.

Those creatures did not advance a single step.

CRACK!

He was taken off guard as a yellow beam bolted down on one of the kaiju, peeling off some of the hard flesh.

That was not from Darthra.

Gazing at the area where the attack came, he could not believe his green eyes.

Mothra.

The moth soared past, making its way out of reach.

'So...there's a Mothra, too-'

BOOM!

One of the kaiju whipped their tail directly into Darthra's face.

The cracks on his skin glowed as he shuddered from the bludgeoning attack.

As he spiralled into the earth, Darthra felt no damage.

He only repelled.

The crocodile roared, exposing its underbelly.

Darthra wasted no time to unleash a pair of potent energy from his antennae.

'Could this be?'

The beams travelled close to the ground before they ricocheted and jumped for the creature's chin.

What did Darthra see?

Blood.

The lighting sliced through the croc, ejecting out the top of its head.

It uttered a pitiful growl as it slammed against the ground.

Never getting up again.

Darthra screeched.

His green spot pulsed as he hovered above the rest, raining down the thunderous lighting, splitting open more wounds.

With some assistance from Mothra, who didn't stop despite his intervention, what remained of these ten one-hundred-meter-long crocodiles were only a mush of green and red.

To compare the scene, Darthra shared similarities to a painter.

The shoreline was his canvas and the corpses his paint and brushes.

He was satisfied.

In this body, in this jubilant hole of heat and adrenaline, Darthra found success. He found happiness. As Darthra landed on the red shore, he let out a screech of contentment.

Only a second did he forget about his reality.

"I...never thought the day would come,"

Darthra lifted his head.

In front of him, stood the legendary kaiju, the benevolent protector of earth.

Mothra.

As he locked eyes with her, Mothra had this slight hesitation, maybe from all the glowing cracks on Darthra's white fur, or maybe something else?

"Firstly," She spoke, lowering her head slightly, "greetings, my kin,"

'Kin?'

From her speech, Darthra felt no malice or hostility.

"Nice to meet you," He replied, lowering his head too.

"It's been...a while since I have met another one of my kind," She sighed, looking around, "be it as it may, I've completed my mission,"

The more he thought about it, the more it didn't make sense. In the end, he could only ask.

"Your mission?"

"My people prayed for my aid," She answered, scanning the bloodied sand, "no more worries after your help,"

He may have had enough heat and energy, but Darthra felt another warmth when he heard this. It was as if he was embraced in a hug.

Mothra continued.

"Let's go back, they need to give you their thanks," She said eagerly, her wings swinging lightly as she soared into the air, "Come with me now, my kin,"

Darthra took a moment.

'If, by random chance, she is lying,' He sighed, and took to the air, 'I can fight back,'

"Brilliant," She said, travelling slowly in the sky so he could catch up.

The next moment, Darthra flew with her over the ocean, making sure he was far from the surface.

As they slowly soared over the floor of blue, he couldn't help but glance at her. With the way she flew, Darthra couldn't help but feel even more heated.

'The hell?' He looked at the sea, 'So weird, I just met her...that's a fucking moth I'm thinking about,'

Darthra's heart pulsed.

'It's been too long,' He thought as his head began to spin, 'could they have looked under my bed!?'

At that thought, Darthra almost lost his flight.

"Everything okay?"

He heard Mothra's comforting voice and almost turned into a simp.

"I-I'm fine," He muttered, trying to shake the feeling off, 'focus, you're a moth now!'

"We are only halfway," She chirped, keeping a steady air pace, "this will be a day Infant Island will remember,"

By the time they reached the island in the middle of the ocean, the sky grew dark.

Flying steadily, Darthra followed her to a clearing, big enough for the two.

The inhabitants were there, bowing and praying not only to Mothra but to Darthra as well.

Deep into the night, the people celebrated too, dancing and singing not only in their gratitude to these two but to their safety in general.

They partied so much, that they miraculously didn't notice the giant moth, Darthra, heading to the shore, and why should they? He knew of their happiness, and besides, they were enjoying themselves.

Darthra, however, wasn't.

He had so much energy that he couldn't just sit still and watch these people move about. There was training to be done. Landing on the grainy sand below, Darthra had something in mind.

'I feel that itch,' He concentrated, 'let me scratch it,'

This itch he felt sprinkled around his wings.

In those moments of focus, Darthra felt like he was going to burst. His heart banged like a drum and his body shone the dark surroundings with green light. What felt like tiny burns stung his insides.

Then it happened.

Like a full moon on a specific night, Darthra's wings pulsed a dark green. The air sizzled around them, letting him know how potentially lethal they could be.

"Oh my WORD!" He screeched excitedly, 'I should try it on something-'

"There you are,"

His heart skipped a beat as Mothra landed next to him. Even with her hesitant look, Darthra was brimming with energy. He had something to tell her.

"I'm curious, my kin," She said methodically. Her antennae flung slowly, "your appearance...how did it come to be?"

At this point, Darthra was in the heavens, his emotions running high.

"About that," He began, his heart beating even faster, "I have something...to tell you,"

Finally, he could say it.

Mothra kept her soft and attentive gaze on him, waiting to hear him.

"I came across a strange mountain range," Darthra's feet gripped the sand as he controlled his emotions so that they did not spill over, "I found a cave. In it, sat humans, worshipping a suit of armour that could fit any moth,"

He didn't see Mothra's expression and only continued.

"Even with its alluring calls, and the intense pressure, due to some circumstances, I wore it," Darthra stared out across the shore, the waves crashing like always, "but, that's not all,"

The spot on his chest glowed as he rested his head on the beach.

"It made me stronger," He continued, "now, I feel like I can fight anything. I may have crashed twice due to the intense heat, but that's fine. With this power handed to me, I don't need to feel afraid. I don't worry anymore..."

He screeched softly.

'I don't feel useless anymore.'

"After I passed out from battle, I awoke with these cracks of green and a body pumping with energy," Darthra continued, finally turning his head to look at his moth friend, "that's when I...met...you..."

The absolute joy of finally sharing with someone what he couldn't fell away as his gaze met Mothra's.

To everyone, they'd see the face of a pretty moth.

What Darthra saw, made him boil with rage.

To describe what he saw in this expressionless moth's face, it was a simple sentence. One he wished he never saw again.

She gave the look of a mother that read:

'I'm not angry at you, I'm just disappointed.'

There was much that Darthra could do with his unbridled anger. He wanted to fly away. He wanted to destroy every single thing around him.

He could only speak.

"Why..." Darthra muttered, visibly shaking, "I know I've just met you and known you for not even a damned day, but tell me, my 'kin', what gave you the incentive to give such a look?"

Mothra stared, as if understanding his reaction. She remained calm and spoke carefully.

"I am only sorrowful for you, my kin," She said, letting out a saddened screech, "you...did not deserve what you have been given,"

Darthra looked at her in utter confusion.

She inhaled.

"You...have been cursed."