Chapter 10 - Last Secrets
After an endless journey across the ocean, Kong had finally made it to the shores of mainland Europe. Sitting on his big hairy shoulder, Moana then discovered, with fascination, the coastal cliffs of this new world she knew nothing about. She, who had only lived in her archipelago, could only express her surprise with her speechless mouth. However, a cold, biting wind suddenly brought her back to reality, causing her to tremble. Being used to the tropical climate of her island, the young woman felt bad. Trembling with cold, she took a blanket from her woven sack, and pulled it over her shoulders to warm herself up a bit. She also snuggles more into Kong's fur, which is very protective against the cold.
Indeed, the titan primate did not seem to suffer in any way from the winter climate that reigned, well protected by its fur. With his steely gaze, emitting a few neutral growls and hinting at his heavy breathing, he looked around intently. Above, the sky, gray and threatening, suddenly let out a violent flash, announcing the beginning of a thunderstorm. Faced with the explosion of light in the sky and the thunderous sound, Moana jumped in fear, huddling more against Kong's neck. The titan, also surprised at the moment, scowled and hitting his chest with his fists, let out a powerful roar against the sky. The roar echoed through the air, spreading for miles and miles around and pushing swarms of seagulls to fly away.
After this action, Kong, sure of himself, resumed his walk in the direction of the north, still following thanks to his highly developed instinct, the trace of this mysterious voice to discover its origin.
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Kingdom of France
Night had fallen on the camp and everyone, except the patrols of guards providing security, was more or less asleep. Housed in the royal tent in the center of the camp, Belle and her husband also slept calmly, lying and huddled next to each other. Belle, however, seemed a little restless in her sleep, moving a bit and wincing slightly. An image of the past that she had never been able to forget came back to haunt her mind. She saw this vision again ... Paris and the Seine in flames ... the half-destroyed Notre Dame cathedral ... and this monster, or rather this god ... Godzilla, from the height of his colossal height, turning his gaze and crossing Belle's, freezing her in place ... that monstrous gaze, her fiery eyes full of anger ... and that nightmarish roar making earth, water and air tremble ...
Belle awoke suddenly, panting and breathing quickly. Awakened by this reaction, the prince gently hugged her to reassure her.
_ "Belle? My love, are you okay?" he asked, concerned. Belle managed to regain her composure a little before nodding shyly and speaking.
_ "It ... it was just a nightmare ..." she said, not really convinced herself of what she was saying. The prince noticed it. He could see she was scared, and he could guess what. He insisted, giving her a soft kiss on the lips.
_ "You can tell me anything. Don't keep all this fear locked inside you."
She smiled tenderly at him, silently thanking him for the advice.
_ "It's just that ..." she began, searching for her words "... I do not know what the future will be like from now on ... this world is undergoing so many changes, that I fear that one day ... it is no longer made for us..."
The prince listened to her, managing to understand the worry that was gnawing at his wife. He too had to admit it, he was scared, but he didn't want to be dominated. Wanting to comfort his dear wife, he came to kiss her again, then gently put his hand on Belle's belly.
_ "Well me ... I envision a bright and happy future for both of us ... or should I say, the three of us ..." said the prince with a smile. Belle smiles too, touching her belly.
But suddenly, their moment of tranquility was disturbed by a violent tremor that shook the entire camp, and even the cliffs. Surprised, the couple almost fell from their bed, coming to join. Belle, frightened, snuggles up against her prince.
_"What's going on?!" she asked fearfully. Outside the tent, running noises and screams began to sound. The couple's fear increased as they heard a monstrous roar that shook their ears. A panicked guard then burst into the tent.
_ "My prince! My lady! Something abnormal is happening in the Titan's Cave!"
With that, Belle and the prince looked at each other in horror and quickly, got dressed and ran out of the tent. Everywhere outside, the men, guards and researchers alike, were running in all directions in complete panic. In addition, strong and strange bluish gleams exploded from inside the large cave where the larva of Mothra was. Very quickly, Belle, the prince, and their escort of soldiers went down to the beach, to see the facts.
Right at the entrance to the cave whose interior continued to shine and shake, the two twin priestesses, Miana and Maina, were kneeling on the sand, in a prayer position, chanting ritual songs in a language impossible to understand. The two young women seemed in a trance, raising their hands towards the cave. From inside the cave, in addition to the supernatural glow, powerful shrill and inhuman cries resounded.
_ "What the hell are they doing?!" asked the prince, very worried.
_ "Stop them immediately!" Belle ordered. The guards obeyed, but the instant they wanted to approach the twins to stop them in their ritual, something happened. A giant, intense flash of light exploded, illuminating the beach and ocean and chasing the darkness of the night.
Surprised and blinded, Belle and the others had to shield their eyes and took several steps back, while Maina and Miana did not move, continuing to contemplate this spectacular light and ceased their chanting. Gradually, the light died down, and all could then observe, with the same amazement, what would remain like the most incredible sight of their life.
Slowly emerging from the cave, completely reformed and reborn from her ashes, the goddess Mothra stepped forward. Letting hear the clicking of her mandibles, she spread her large and magnificent wings, set with colorful patterns and forming almost like giant eyes, and always illuminated with this divine blue light. From all her body, the titan let emanate this gleam, and the two priestesses came to let themselves be permeated by this aura.
Further back, Belle, the prince and the guards contemplated without being able to move, so much what they saw was beyond their imagination. In her mind, Belle couldn't help but think that this was possibly the most magnificent thing she had ever seen.
_ "Inhabitants of the terrestrial and spiritual world, rejoice! Let us bless this day of rebirth of our goddess! MOHTRA!" cried the two priestesses with all the joy they could express.
With these words, Mothra slowly rose into the air, letting her shrill cry be heard, continuing to flood the beach with her rays of light. Belle and the prince could feel it. This protective, divine aura that permeated their body. They felt good, protected. Under their gaze, the goddess flew away, rising higher and higher in the sky and beginning to move away towards the wide ocean, towards the north. Around the camp, the tremors had stopped, but the ocean seemed to be agitating abnormally and strong winds picked up.
_ "Like the others, the queen was called ..." said Miana, contemplating the goddess moving away "... the hour is approaching and very soon, the time will come for the last gathering of the gods."
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Enchanted Forest, Norway
A very pale morning had now risen over the enchanted forest, revealing a rather gray and sunless sky. Elsa and her group had now been walking north for a long time. The Northuldra had nevertheless chosen not to follow them and to take refuge in the isolated valleys further south of the forest, hoping to escape the wrath of the titans. Around Elsa's group, nature had become a bit sparse, showing fewer trees, most of them leafless, and increasingly coastal scenery, indicating they were approaching the sea.
Trying to get a response from the mysterious chant she hadn't heard for hours now, Elsa tried to sing the same, but now only getting the response from her own echoing voice. Olaf also tried, but his way of singing so wrong made Kristoff and Sven cringe. Anna, too, grimaced at the sound of the snowman's false song and came over to speak to him.
_ "Uh, Olaf ... you know, I think only one of you is enough to do it." she suggested with a forced smile.
_ "I agree. Elsa sings rather badly." replied Olaf, who obviously hadn't understood anything. Anna sighed heavily and Kristoff and Sven shook their heads in spite.
Walking further ahead than the rest of the group, Elsa was too focused to pay attention to Olaf's voice and continued to search for some sort of answer. But suddenly, as she reached the top of a rocky hill, the young queen stopped, her eyes wide in amazement. The others noticed him.
_ "Elsa?" Anna asked, running up to her, followed by the others. And as she was about to ask what was wrong, seeing Elsa show a shocked face, Anna too froze at what she was seeing.
Up the hill, trapped in a kind of natural gorge surrounded by trees and creeping mist, was the wreckage of a large ship, half collapsed and cut in half. A damaged banner hung from the collapsed mast. Elsa and Anna, side by side, remained in shock, breathing heavily, and recognizing there the royal banner of Arendelle, but also this ship.
_ "How ... how can it be?" Anna gasped, to which Kristoff hugged her to comfort her.
_"What is that?" Kristoff asked, a little puzzled. Seeing the two young women start to show tears from their eyes, he feared the worst.
"It's ... our parents' ship ..." Anna sighed in pain.
_ "But the Southern Sea is very far from here." said Olaf just as lost. Indeed, according to the story, the ship of the King and Queen of Arendelle had sunk in the waters of the Southern Sea during a storm, while on a business trip to a southern kingdom.
Too disturbed to say a word, and as if possessed, Elsa ran to the ship, and quickly followed by the others. Everyone could feel it. The atmosphere in this place was heavy, unhealthy, filled with painful energy.
Elsa entered first, through a huge hole that had gutted the hull of the ship. The group then entered the huge dark and dusty wreck, without a word. It looked like a ghost, silent and morbid place. Everything was messy and half destroyed, then gradually eroded by humidity.
_ "The wreck must have been pushed here by the currents but ... it's impossible ..." said Anna while starting to dig in the rubble "... the sea bordering this forest is supposed to be the Dark Sea."
_ "So what was it doing in the Dark Sea?" Elsa said in turn, equally lost and searching through the ruins.
_ "And also ... how did the ship get through the mist?" asked Olaf, raising a good question, but also making a very macabre hypothesis"... unless ... nobody was on board ..."
_ "Hey, come see!" said Kristoff's voice. Sven motioned for the others to come and see the back of the hold. Kristoff had discovered a secret compartment, having resisted the water, and in which he had found a chest containing rolled up and dry parchments. Very quickly, Elsa and Anna unfolded the scrolls to discover their contents. The first showed rows of more than strange symbols, forming almost like an ancient and incomprehensible dialect. However, Elsa could still recognize among the symbols, those of the four primordial elements, and the mysterious fifth element.
_ "What language is this?" Anna asked.
_ "I don't know ..." Elsa answered sincerely, who then noticed on the side of the parchment, a small message having been written ... "but look ... it's mother's handwriting ..."
Anna noticed and started to read it to everyone.
_ "The end of the age of men ... the doomsday of the kings ... the river lost but finally found ... the very source of balance ... E ... Elsa's source?"
Everyone was more than perplexed by these words, so much so that Elsa took the parchment in her hand, rereading it several times without understanding the meaning. Elsa's source? The end of the age of men? The doomsday of the kings? It almost sounded like some sort of dire prophecy. Elsa began to wonder if Godzilla was concerned by this too. The thought of her titan broke the heart of the young queen. Godzilla ... she needed him so badly ... but where was he?
Meanwhile, Anna opened the second parchment, which turned out to be a card. Laying it flat, the group could discover a route drawn by hand.
_ "They were planning to go north, cross the Dark Sea, to reach .... Ahtohallan ..."
_ "Ahtowhat?" Kristoff said, an eyebrow raised.
_ "It is said that it is a legendary and magical river, which would contain all the possible answers that one can ask ..." explained Anna, remembering her mother's story about this river.
_ "Well, that reinforces the theory that water has memory." Olaf said. Elsa blocked on that word. What if ... after all?
_ "Water has memory ..." she repeated softly. The others then saw her, curiously, heading towards the center of the wreckage and starting to spill frost on her hands.
_ "Elsa?" said Anna.
The queen didn't listen, concentrating and then placed her hands on the damp wood of the ship. Suddenly, the others then saw with surprise all the moisture contained in the planks of the ship, begin to gather little by little around Elsa and to rise in the air in hundreds of drops. The group contemplated the phenomenon without saying a word, seeing the thousands of drops of water levitate and gather in one place, to form a series of moving images, like memories. From this psychic manifestation echoed sounds and voices from the past ... Elsa kneeling, Anna and her friends coming to her, contemplated, the two women not being able to hold back the tears from falling ...
Iduna and Agnarr were seen on the ship shortly before the storm, arguing violently.
_ "We can't do that to Elsa! She's our daughter!" Iduna yelled forcefully.
_ "You know she is more than that! She is linked to ... these monsters! ..." Agnarr replied violently.
_ "But only she can solve the situation! She is the key!" Iduna insisted painfully.
_ "We can't take such a risk!" asserted the king, closing the discussion.
The next vision showed the ship in the middle of a storm, but not only ... the ship was plagued by a giant monstrous octopus ... the Kraken ... but also, and it was Elsa who was most shocked ... Godzilla was there too ... angry and roaring, he was fighting fiercely against the kraken, with the ship stuck between the two creatures ... the howls of the sailors, the roars of monsters, the chaos of the storm ... everything echoed with great strentgh ...
The vision showed Agnarr and Iduna, both gazing in awe at Godzilla who lowered his mighty gaze to them, and after defeating the kraken, plunged into the depths of the ocean, just before a monstrous wave engulfed the ship...
Unable to bear these visions the immense sadness that devoured her, Elsa crying and crying, ran outside the wreckage, followed by Anna and the others who did not want to leave her alone. Elsa, while running, remained haunted by these memories which she had caused herself. Godzilla was there that day ... plus the king and queen knew everything about it...
Elsa stopped at the top of the hill, having to lean against a rock to stay upright and continue to cry. Anna caught up with her, and the others arrived shortly after.
_ "Elsa ... talk to me ..." Anna told him, also still in shock at the revelations. Kristoff, Olaf and Sven, too, marked, dared not say anything.
_ "It is because of me that they died ..." said Elsa overcome by remorse "... it is because of my powers! Of what I am!"
_ "Elsa, don't say that ..." Anna wanted to reassure her, but Elsa pushed her hand away, quite abruptly, which surprised everyone.
_"Of course yes!" Elsa cried, her face tortured with sadness "... after all, I'm not even human! I'm an Iss! They wanted to find a way to get rid of what was making me abnormal ... that's why that they wanted to find Ahtohallan ... because of me! "
Although surprised by Elsa's reaction, Anna did not let herself be broken and insisted too, coming to take her sister by the shoulders.
_ "Stop, I forbid you to say that, do you understand ?! Listen ... you are an Iss and you are not my blood sister, it's a fact, but you are not a monster! Your so powerful and unique bond with the titans proves it! You are special, Elsa! You are a blessing sent to this world for a very good reason. If anyone can save Arendelle and restore peace between humans and titans , it's you! Me, and all of us, we believe in you."
Everyone else agreed with Anna and stepped forward. Elsa had listened and was deeply touched, although still affected by the events. Then she remembered something else that might be important.
_ "At the camp, when I was talking with Honeymaren ..." Elsa explained to the others. "... she revealed to me the existence of a fifth god, and who, according to her, would be the bridge that would unite titans and men ... I think I understand now ... this mysterious voice. .. it is this fifth god who is calling me, from Ahtohallan ... the answers are there!"
_ "So, no more hesitation ... we have to go to Ahtohallan." Anna declared with determination, to which the others were also in agreement and enthusiastic. However, Elsa was less, her face remaining closed.
_ "Not you ... me." she replied without smiling, leaving the others surprised.
_ "What? But why?" Anna asked, not understanding this reaction. Elsa answered immediately.
_ "The Dark Sea is way too dangerous, and with all these titans, I don't know what could happen. I couldn't protect you all ... I'm very sorry ... I hope you can forgive me. .. "
Not everyone understood these last words, but Elsa, taking advantage that they were all gathered in one place, summoned an ice rowboat under their feet and with a wave of her hand, pushed it forward.
_ "What? Elsa, no!" yelled Anna, but too late. Anna, Kristoff, Sven and Olaf, all gathered in the ice boat, began to slide at full speed down the rocky slope, while now alone Elsa watched them go, showing great and sincere remorse for this gesture, but thinking it was the right decision. With that, she began to walk, alone, towards the shores of the Dark Sea.
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Meanwhile...
After hours of swimming through the dark waters of the Dark Sea, Godzilla gradually rose to the surface. Lifting the water around him, the titan let out his head and his backbones tearing water like paper, to contemplate what was in front of him. A few leagues from his position now lay the shores and cliffs of the Enchanted Forest. He was there, finally, after such a long journey. Frowning and groaning deeply, Godzilla resumed his swim towards the shore ... deep inside he then felt a familiar and ever closer presence ... a presence and a power he never thought he would feel again. ... Elsa ... however, the anger and hatred within him quickly gained the upper hand ... so there she was ... growling fiercely, Godzilla quickened his swim towards the mainland, his eyes and spines beginning to begin. to emit its bluish glow abnormally ...
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