And so it was that the Great Goddess did descend on wings of light to live amongst the people. In Her infinite wisdom did She see the goodness of man and saw fit to reign over the Earth with kindness and strength. Hers were the ways of peace and oneness with the Earth, for in Her divine eyes did She see man and Earth as one, a united force to whom She dedicated so many of Her lives. Generations of Earth’s children did live and die under Her shimmering gaze, and even when the ravages of time did claim Her body, time and again She returned, Her holy spirit reborn from the ashes of Her former being. From the Goddess’ egg did emerge Her soul in new form, ready to live and to serve and to protect.
Under the guidance of the great Mothra, the labors and successes of man did bear fruit upon the land. Great cities rose to protect and nurture future generations, and the soil and seas were plentiful and healthy. As man flourished, so too did his understanding of Mothra’s will. To command Her subjects and deliver upon them Her sacred word, the Goddess did send forth two emissaries to walk among the people. The almighty psyche of the divine gave form to Her will and sound to Her voice, and so the Cosmos did come into the world. Through their words the will of Mothra was known, and through their knowledge did mankind come to know balance with the Earth. And so the land remained green, the seas plentiful, and the sun bright in the skies.
This was the way for generations. And then the day did come when the almighty Mothra flew no more, and did succumb to age and frailty. Her people did offer prayers and blessing upon their Savior, and made known their thankfulness for Her divine guidance. In Her final moments, Mothra did know peace and contentment. And so Her immortal soul took flight, leaving behind its frail physical vessel, and did appear as great colors and flashes in the skies. The light of the Divine Moth did swarm and dance around the people, and from its brilliance did emerge the Great Orb of Rebirth. The many-colored egg did come to rest within the Great Temple of Mothra, and from its newly formed shell did emerge the glittering forms of the Cosmos with good tidings for the people. Soon, the Great Goddess would return to us, hatching forth from Her egg to reign once more.
But in the absence of Mothra, mankind grew restless. While the Goddess did slumber and grow within Her mighty orb, the ambitions of man came to overpower his judgement. The People of the Cosmos did stray from the eye of the divine and seek to expand beyond their limits. In doing so, the sacred covenant between man and the Earth did shatter as glass upon a stone, and with each new generation came the commitment of greater evils. In his arrogance, mankind cleared the greenery and defiled the oceans. In his quest to conquer new lands, he did erect an unholy device to bring the elements under his command. Neither the crashing of ocean waves nor the raging winds of barren deserts could keep the expansion at bay.
And then, in his recklessness and stupidity, mankind did unleash the ultimate atrocity. From the minds of his greatest scientists came an evil thing, twelve machinations of unfathomable power and cruel intention. With these machines did mankind seek to draw the very life from the Earth, summoning it to the surface and subjecting it to his will. And so it was that the People of the Cosmos became drunk with this power, and did continue to commit further evils with its aid. They were as the children of sin, and cared not for the living essence they so callously siphoned from the very world they lived upon. With each use of the devices did come a great and terrible cry, for the Earth did weep in pain and sadness. But mankind could not hear its anguish. Their ears and eyes were turned inward, and at this the Earth wept louder still. The People of the Cosmos had forgotten their place, and in doing so did wage war against the Earth itself. And all the while, Mothra and the Cosmos continued their long sleep.
And so it was that a generation of evil passed before the Great Goddess did send forth Her emissaries once again. The Cosmos emerged into a world of chaos and disorder, and did weep as they heard the Earth’s cries echoing through the darkened skies. It was into this world of sin that Mothra was destined to be reborn, and to a fallen race of sinners that She was bound in holy unison. Though they wept, the messengers of Mothra knew that nothing could be done, for only their divine Creator could pass judgement on Her people.
The word of Mothra’s return spread throughout the lands, and those few men who had not fallen into evil did sing Her praises and give thanks to the divine. They did flock in their thousands to the Temple of Mothra, just as their ancestors had done generations prior, to witness the rebirth of the Great Goddess. They did gather at the base of the Great Orb to pray and present offerings, awaiting the moment of resurrection with hope in their hearts.
And so, before the eyes of the penitent few, the Great Orb did begin to move and crack. A great silence did fill the sacred space as holes began to appear in the egg’s mighty shell. A great sound did burst from the egg as the shell split and the Divine Moth did rise into the air, its great, long body turning to look upon its people. There came a great cry of joy from the Temple, and the men and women did sing praises to the Mighty Mothra.
But within the very ground beneath their feet did stir the enraged life-force of the Earth itself, for it knew that the Divine Moth would not turn Her back on mankind. Her ways were those of forgiveness and kindness, but for the sins committed against it, the Earth knew not of such things. Mankind had sinned a great sin in the sight of the Earth, and for this the Earth knew no forgiveness. Mankind had defiled the life that in turn had created him, and for this the Earth knew no kindness.
And so, the Earth did send forth its essence into the world of man, and the eyes of those who bore witness to Mothra’s rebirth did see a most unexpected sight. As the great form of Mothra’s body pulled itself from the Great Orb, the shell did shimmer and shine in a most unholy way. And before the peoples’ eyes, the shell did crack again, and from it did crawl a second Mothra, its form the same as the first. A great silence fell over the people, for no such thing had ever occurred before. Their eyes beheld two Goddesses before them, and a great confusion did begin to spread upon their lips.
The Cosmos too bore witness to this strange occurrence, and they did look into each other’s eyes in confusion. In their hearts they felt the soul of one Goddess, but not the other. In their minds they beheld the thoughts and fears of only one, sensed the movements of only one, saw through the eyes of only one.
As the people continued to behold the strange sight, a darkness descended upon the Temple of Mothra. The sound of thunder did echo through the ears of the penitent, and the lights within the temple did burn bright red and violet. And then a new sound exploded into the air, and the people did see the massive form of the second-hatched Goddess convulse and writhe upon its place of hatching. The creature did shriek as if in deathly pain, and great bolts of lightning did erupt from its flesh, tearing great gashes into its soft body. The first-hatched Goddess did watch with sadness in Her eyes as her twin’s body tore asunder, expanding and reforming, its blood staining its twisted body black. The people did scream in terror, and sought to flee the unholy scene before them. As they ran, the Cosmos did weep as they watched the final moments of the second-hatched Goddess’ transformation. A violet light burnt their eyes as a great horn ripped its way from the suffering creature’s forehead, and a great cracking sound did fill the Temple as its spine bent and snapped into irregular forms.
At last, the final crack of violet light did subside, and before the Cosmos and Mothra rested a most unholy aberration. The second Mothra was a Mothra no more. Its form was twisted and darkened, and great ridges of scarred flesh did rise from its back. Its spine arched at a most unsettling angle, ridges running along its back and connecting to a face most malevolent. A great horn rose from its head, crackling with a vengeful energy, and two red eyes stared hatefully into the world. The eyes finally settled upon the frightened form of the Great Goddess, and from them did burst a stream of lightening that sent the young Mothra flying from its presence. Before the eyes of the Cosmos and the few people who had not yet escaped, the two beasts did engage in a brutal battle. The Temple crumbled around them as they fought, and in the end the Goddess could not stand before the might of its unholy twin. The Divine Moth did flee with Her emissaries, and the blackened beast reveled in its victory.
Below the ground, the Earth wept no more, for the instrument of its revenge had been born. The Black Mothra had come.
While the true Mothra hid Herself well to heal Her wounds, the Black Mothra did lay siege to the achievements of man. Thousands perished before the beast’s might, both sinful and innocent. Great cities fell, fields and farmlands burned, and one by one, the twelve evil machines were blasted from the face of the Earth. With the destruction of each machine, the Earth did grow stronger, and so too did the Black Mothra. In twisted mimicry of the true Goddess, the unholy beast did grow wings to fly, and its thirst for blood grew tenfold. Even with the evil machines destroyed, the blackened thing did not stop its killing. Wherever the Black Mothra flew, only death remained in its wake.
Amidst the destruction of their land, the few remaining penitent men and women did seek out Mothra and her Cosmos, believing their power to be the key to ending the Black Mothra’s blasphemous existence. The Cosmos took pause, and were hesitant to save the people who had so defiled the earth in their absence. But in her divine wisdom, Mothra did hear the pleas of Her people and so agreed to deliver Her wrath upon the Black Mothra. The people did weep with joy, and prayed before their Goddess as She wove about Herself the vessel of Her final transformation. As the people continued to pray, the song of the Cosmos did fill the air with magic, and from the silken vessel did emerge the beautiful form of the Great Goddess. On glittering wings She did fly into the night, seeking out Her unclean twin.
As the sun did rise upon the ruined land, two colossal shapes came to meet in violent confrontation. The Divine Moth and the Black Mothra did clash in the darkened skies, their beams of energy and light scorching the flesh from each other’s bodies as their fight continued without end. The people did witness their divine battle, and from their lips did come a new name for the unholy thing that threatened their Goddess. The name of Battra was born.
On the third day of their battle, the People of the Cosmos bore witness to the arrival of Mothra and Battra in their last great city. It was here that arrogant men had first achieved their control of the elements, and where the great machine that afforded them this power had stood for a generation. As the fight continued, the people did scream a great scream as the massive form of Battra did collide with this machine, and upon its destruction a great thunderous sound did echo from the heavens. Mankind could no longer keep the rains from falling, no longer keep the winds from blowing, and no longer keep the crushing ocean waves at bay. As Mothra and Battra continued their struggle, the great city below them disappeared beneath rushing waters, the screams of the innocent silenced forever. The Great Goddess could only weep silently as Her fight carried on.
The sun would rise three times more before the end finally came. Above the freezing waters of the Great Northern Sea, the colossal forms of Mothra and Battra flew on tattered wings. Each stood on the edge of defeat, yet each held on, determined to find victory. The giants did circle each other in the sky, awaiting the perfect moment to attack. In its haste, Battra did strike first, but its aim faltered, and the Great Goddess did strike with divine wrath, slicing the unholy beast’s wing from its body. A great cry did shake the frigid air, and amidst a swarming trail of violet energy and crackling lightning, the broken body of the Black Mothra spiraled ever downward and plunged into the sea. At long last, the profane thing known as Battra was dead forever.
But Mothra did not revel in Her victory, for the beast’s death had come too late. The People of the Cosmos were no more. The arrogant and evil men who had betrayed the sacred covenant between mankind and the Earth did bring about the deaths of both wicked and penitent alike. In seeking its revenge, the Earth did play no favorites, and did smite all who stood in its way. As the Great Goddess flew over endless oceans, She and Her Cosmos did weep. The great cities of their people lay ruined under the sea, lost forever beneath the crashing waves.
And so Mothra did fly from Her ruined world to seek refuge and new land. Amongst the waves did rise the tops of submerged mountains, now mere islands buffeted by cruel weather and rough tides. It is to one of these new islands that Mothra did come to rest, and where the last survivors of Her people did take refuge within its forests and caves. The people did praise the Great Goddess and give thanks for Her bravery, and did pass the story of Her great battle down to each new generation. The few who survived lived a simple life, eating and drinking of what they could while caring for their weakened Savior. In time, Mothra’s soul did once again shed off its broken body, and did leave behind a new vessel of rebirth. The remaining people did pray before the Great Orb, sending forth their hope that their Goddess would return when mankind did need Her again. They did bequeath their beloved Mothra and Her guardian Cosmos to the next generation, their hearts filled with hope for the future, and faith that no man would walk the road of arrogance and evil again.
The Godzilla Novelization Project 