Chapter Text
Macaque had still been half asleep when he received that call from Mei.
Mk got hurt.
The girl didn’t call often, not that he blamed her. They weren’t exactly on the best terms. So when he saw the caller he knew something must have gone wrong.
Mk got hurt.
Because of course he did. It’s Mk.
He let out a small sigh, already feeling a growing headache. He could feel the shadows from the day before calling him out to him again from the back of his mind.
They weren’t as loud as they had been before though, and once again he found himself thankful for the absolute force that was Sun Wukong.
After convincing Wukong to let Red Son and Mk have their date in peace, neither of them wanted to let the other go. Too many nerves in the air and their powers were so out of control from it that neither wanted to be left alone for long. They were quick to make their way back to Flower Fruit Mountain and simply spent the day in each other’s arms. Sunbathing and enjoying each other’s presence.
It reminded him of their younger days. Before Mk, before the pilgrimage, even before both of their immortalities. When they were just two young monkeys enjoying life to the fullest. When all he wanted was a friend who would ignore his extra ears.
Life was simpler back then. It felt like it was just the two of them, in their own little heaven.
That was centuries ago of course, but he can't help but miss how simple everything was back then, especially on the mornings when he woke up to Wukong holding on to him like his life depended on it.
They were in the Kings room again, the air in the cabin being filled with small dust particles thanks to sunlight coming in from the window. He could hear the chirping from all the other monkeys in the mountain going about their business. The birds singing their little songs and the waterfall that keeps them hidden from the rest of the world.
Wukong's face was smushed into his neck, his snores loud enough that he had to focus to hear anything else. Both his arms were around his torso and holding on to the fur on his back like he was trying to make sure he wouldn't go anywhere. Their legs and tail were both intertwined with a mess of blankets around them from how much they seemingly moved during the night. He himself had one hand twirling the fur around Wukong's head while the other held onto his phone, watching the news of the attack yesterday.
The attack where Mk got hurt to protect a kid.
The same attack they could have probably stopped had they actually been there.
(When Mk gets hurt you're never there. Always abandoning him to deal with it by himself. Always running. Do something, do something, do something-).
He groaned, letting his phone fall into the shadow realm before bringing himself even closer to Wukong, not surprised at feeling shadows retreating off of his skin. The wonders of having magic that shined brighter and hotter than the sun itself.
The force that was Sun Wukong indeed.
Although that does remind him of the information the king got from his spying. It was Red Son and Mk out yesterday. Mei wasn’t even in the fight from what he saw on the internet, and she was never one to not get involved. Her moves tended to be on the flashier side anyway- it's not exactly easy to hide a giant green dragon manifesting out of thin air. Which means Mei was certainly aware of Red Son and Mk. His theory about it being her who gave the blessing for them to date seemed to be correct.
Although, if he was being honest with himself, that's not really what he was mad about.
He knew Mk well enough to know that he was a stubborn beast, worse than the two of them combined, probably. There was no real point in trying to take back Mei's blessing. Mk is theirs, Red Son is a coward and not good enough, and they certainly could overrule the blessing but-
But wouldn't that all be proving Mk right?
There must be a reason that he's so hesitant to tell them about- well, anything. Macaque knows that Mk hasn’t really forgiven them for everything- or well, he's forgiven, but he can't bring himself to forget no matter how hard he tries to. He’s seen it, the sudden caution or anger that flashes in his eyes before it vanishes. The change of topic whenever they try to talk about his childhood.
(The spell. It always goes back to that damn spell doesn’t it?)
They had done it to keep him safe. He doesn’t regret casting it. Not really. But sometimes, sometimes he wishes that they had been something else they could do. Mk doesn’t like to talk about it, never mentions it in fact.
He remembers what Mk told them a week ago, what he had told that ex of his, ‘how alone and different’ he felt. They had understood the meaning well enough, but Mk hadn’t dwelled on it, so they didn’t either. Maybe they should have. Side effects of a spell like that have probably affected Mk his whole life and he hadn’t even had an explanation for it until recently. He can’t blame Mk for holding it against them.
(But what else were they supposed to do?)
He’s seen Mk fight to the end of the world for those he loves. Especially as he grows older, bold and confident in a way that reminds him of Wukong.
(The reckless, arrogant, dangerous Wukong).
Part of him knows that if they don’t approach this carefully, they might actually lose Mk for good.
(“You know, you really are that bit too much like him”).
And that’s what scares him.
(He had recognized the move. Of course he had. Hard not to, when that move had been the one to put you down under. The kid didn’t know who he was. Even if he had, how would he know that? Wukong hadn’t even been around to teach him during his shadow play era. And yet).
He should-
He should go on patrol. He hasn’t done that yet.
With that thought, he suddenly realizes that the world around him is as clear as ever. The water rushing, the monkeys on the mountain, the birds. He could even hear some of the city now-
“You know, for someone called the Six-eared Macaque you sure are bad at hearing your surroundings.”
“Fuck off.”
Wukong couldn't help but laugh, considering he was able to feel the way Macaque had jumped at the sound of his voice from how tight he was holding on to him.
Macaque only grumbled and tried to separate himself from the mess of limbs they’d become.
“Oh no you’re not going anywhere.”
All he got in response was a raised eyebrow. A glint in his eye that he’s intimately familiar with at this point.
All he did then was grab on to him harder, trying to pull him down to switch their positions. He heard a small ‘hey’ but didn’t get farther than that as the hand that had been absentmindedly playing with the fur around his head grabbed a handful and pulled backwards. He let out a small growl more out of instinct than anything else before trying to get up to get the advantage. Macaque shoved him down and they quickly started to roll over each other, trying to get the other to stand down.
Neither of them were using their real strength but he still celebrated when he got Macaque on his back. His knees were trapping the others legs while he took the chance to hold both his hands, slamming them down on the mattress.
“Gotchu!”
Macaque struggled for a bit, before he sighed and relaxed, grumbling, “Yeah, yeah. Laugh it up. Let’s see who’ll let you use them as a pillow next time.’’
He only snorts. They both take a moment to breathe and he takes the chance to check up on the simian under him.
Macaque has been more distracted recently. He usually was hard to surprise. Not that he minded, if he was honest. He liked being able to shock him every once in a while. It led to some nice views, if he does say so himself.
Three sets of ears were twitching, the middle set focused on him. Their glow was a little dim, but he loved watching how the light from them would reflect across Macaque's darker skin. How the sunlight beaming in from the window caught each and every scar. How his white and black fur looked like the moon's glow shining on the trees on a dark night-
Macaque was just so pretty.
”Are you gonna get off anytime soon or…”
“Huh?”
In his moment of distraction, he hadn’t realized that he had gotten close enough for them to be face to face. Or that he had been staring. Macaque's eyes bore into his. One milky and unmoving, the other a dark pit that shined with something.
(Like the dark and bright side of the moon, with that stupid shy-but-trying-not-to-look-it smile and damn it, why did he ever let the man under him go?)
There was something bothering him though. He had woken up when he felt that he was being held tighter, the change having been enough to make him think that something was wrong. He tried his best to look at his face but the position he had been in didn't exactly make that the easiest thing in the world.
“What were you thinking about? Before I woke up.”
Macaque sighed- their closeness allowing him to feel the heat radiating from his breath- a warning in his tone,“Wukong.”
He smirked, “About me? Hmm I suppose I have always been quite the topic for people.”
He leaned down fully to steal a kiss- enjoying the surprise from the other, not giving him enough time to kiss back before he pulled back. Looking down as the flush started to form on Macaque's face and ignoring the slight glare that was being thrown his way.
(He loves him. He doesn’t deserve him, he knows that, but if Macaque will still have him after everything then gods damn it he'll enjoy every damn second).
He shook his head, it was too early to get into that can of worms.
It was his turn to sigh, focusing back on Macaque, "You don't actually have to tell me… but you know,” he leaned down to kiss his cheek, moving down to snuggle into his neck and mumbleing, “Communication and all that.”
That's one of the things they talked about, when deciding they wanted to make this work. Communicating their feelings and what they're thinking and bla bla bla. All the good stuff Sandy told them about.
He felt Macaque snort, to which he tightened his grip on his hands and brought his knees closer, jamming them onto his sides.
Macaque groaned, “Motherfucker-”
He was about to laugh but it turned into a yelp when the body underneath suddenly disappeared into the shadows.
Did he actually-
He feels himself falling into the portal but then is pushed back and thrown sideways onto his back. He feels dizzy at the sudden change and doesn’t have time to react when he feels a weight fall on him from the ceiling, the bed creaking at the force of the drop.
”I was actually thinking about you and Mk. What is it some people say? The apple doesn't fall far from the tree?” When he opened his eyes again, they had switched positions. Macaque was now the one staring down at him, smug as ever as he added, “Well peaches in this case.”
He rolled his eyes, “You think you're so funny, don't you?”
”Something like that.”
His right thought, as much as he loathes to admit it.
It’s always been a fear of his if he was honest. He’s not someone to be like, and usually that's not something he has to worry about. No one can be like him. He is one of only four celestial monkeys in existence, has more immortalities than he can even count, has done more stupid shit than he can count. People look up to him, want to be a ‘hero’ and fight demons and whatnot- that's fine.
They don't want to be the Monkey King that got himself stuck under a mountain for five-hundred years.
(And there's a little voice in his head every time he sees Mk perform great feats that most demons and celestials could only dream off. A little voice that whispers ‘he's going to end up like you.’)
And he can't do anything to deny it. He can tell himself that Mk isn’t as arrogant as him, not as angry, not as entitled. He’s right, Mk isn’t those things but-
(But he walked into the samadhi fire without any hesitation. But he just kept trying to talk him out of Lady bone demon's control, even though he came so close to killing him).
There was a glint in his eyes sometimes. Nothing dangerous- not really, but-
(But he had dreams of Mk with the Golden Circlet and part of him knew it was a real, tangible possibility. And he was scared. Terrified-)
”It’s not the worst thing in the world-,” The feeling of Macaque tightening the hold on his hands took him out of his own head; hearing him add, “-for him to be like you. There's certainly worse things he could be.”
The laugh he let out was more self deprecating then he meant it to be, “Oh? You think so?”
Macaque's voice softened, leaning back fully, now seated on him. “He’s certainly not as stupid as you were,” he brings their joined hands towards him, “Plus he has us and all his friends to keep from doing anything too dumb. He will be just fine.”
Right. They’ll keep him safe. They have to. “Yeah. I guess you're right.”
“Of course I am.”
”Uh huh,” he rolled his eyes, “Come on get off, we can patrol together and then we need to figure out what we’re doing for training today.”
He saw Macaque pause for a moment, holding on to his hands tighter, “Macaque?”
A moment passed before, “Their was a demon attack at the city during their date, Mk ended up with some bruises and a concussion, but-”
What.
He tried to get up immediately, letting go of Macaque's hands. Instantaneously he was pushed back down into the mattress- hard.
”Macaque, get off.” He pushed down the growl that was building up in his throat, throwing a glare at the man currently sitting on him when their son was hurt.
“If you would let me finish you would know that he is being taken care of by Mei.”
”But-“
”Look I want to go and see if he is okay as much as you do but we can't hover over him all the time. Plus, I don't think Mei will take us visiting right now very well.”
He wanted to scream into the universe. Things never go their damn way.
”Well… visit later then.”
He saw Macaque relax, “Yes, later.”
Macaque slowly got off of him and off the bed, seemingly trying to make sure that he really wasn’t going to run off the first chance he got- which, rude.
“Come on, we can go on patrol and eat however many disgustingly sweet peaches we want after. We can even put some aside to bring to Mk.”
His mood lifted a little at hearing that, chuckling, “Well when you put it like that.” Finally getting up from his bed and starting the day, determined to make the best fruit basket he's ever made in his damn life.
.
.
.
When Mk opened his eyes, he immediately noticed two things.
One, he was on his sofa with Mei, for reasons he can't seem to remember.
Two, something inside of him was wrong. Terribly, horribly, and all the other fun adjectives, wrong.
It was night time, and a part of him knew that was wrong as well, and his living room was weirdly quiet. He could still hear some of the outside, mostly cars driving by and his neighbors talking to each other. If he put a little more effort he could hear some of the stores near his apartments, but he couldn’t hear the whole city like he usually does. It was nice. Must be a spell of some sort but why-
The date! Right, he got hurt during the date. He vaguely remembers something about a concussion, so that explains why he feels a bit out of the loop.
(But there was more to it. More to why something felt so wrong. He just couldn’t pin point it).
Before he could think more about it though, the mass underneath him moves and he suddenly remembers that he's currently using Mei as a pillow.
Before he could do anything about that she abruptly sits ups, throwing him off the couch and into the sad, cold floor. He mourns for a moment. He's going to get a headache from this isn’t he? From falling into the hard cold floor of his living room like a-
It takes a moment to register the tail holding on to his torso, keeping him a couple inches off the ground. It takes another to recognize that he is not, in fact, falling into the cold miserable floor.
“Mk? Mk!”
“Wow!”
He’s pulled up hastily and next thing he knows he's pulled into a soul crushing hug.
“Mk! You had us worried to death! Are you feeling better? No headache?,” His pushed back and Mei holds him at the shoulders, watching him intently. He tries to go for a smile but he's sure it must have looked more like a grimace as she only gives him a suspicious glare before continuing, “You don’t look as shit as you did when you first woke up, but that was pretty bad. You have been asleep all day though so-“
He widens his eyes at that, “I’ve been what?”
She finally lets him go and in a mess of movements that he's a little too dizzy to decipher, they sit side by side on the sofa. Mei's tail wrapped around him, the end laying on his legs, the green scales shining like emeralds. She pushes a cup of water into his hands that he doesn’t really know where it came from. His own tail moves to wrap around hers, playing with the tuft of black hair at the very end in gratitude.
“You’ve been asleep all day. Don’t worry about Pigsy and training and all that, they already know you got hurt.”
Safe to assume Bai He decided to take it upon herself to fill in for him. He’ll have to find a way to make it up to Pigsy, and figure out how he's going to make rent. Although he should have enough? Not like he’s bought any merch recently (not that he remembers at least) and he doesn’t spend that much money on food anyways. Pigsy always sends him home with some food after a shift. He’ll also have to figure out how to make it up to Wukong and Macaque. He can’t imagine that they took the news very well, especially since they have been more overprotective lately.
He only hums as a response, taking a sip of the water. He quickly starts chugging the water and he blatantly ignores Mei’s giggling. He hadn’t actually realized how thirsty he had been. Or that he had been thirsty at all for that matter.
He pulls the cup away from himself, about to ask Mei if anyone has come to visit when he notices something in the corner of his eye.
Was that ink?
He looks towards the kitchen area, watching over Meis shoulder at where he saw the ink. Focusing on the spot right on top of the kitchen counter realizing that their was nothing.
Huh. He swears he saw- well it doesn’t matter. He blinks and when he opens his eyes again-
“I’ll do it for you brother.”
They were on the side of a river, a little farther behind them was their campsite for the night. They could hear the laughter of their companions over the fire. The monkey took away the waterskin from the other.
“Really Ao lie, I’m fine! I can do it myself!”
The man giggles, the long green sleeves of his robe covering most of his face as he hides them behind his hand, “Oh I am well aware of that. I simply like making your lives easier whenever I can. After all, you did take a pretty big hit, I wouldn’t want you to fall into the water.”
The monkey rolled his eyes seeing the mirth behind the others words, “Ha ha, you’re hilarious.”
The other only smiled, leaning down into the river and filling up the waterskin before handing it back.
The monkey looked at the waterskin and slowly grabbed it, one hand scratching the back of his head as a slight bashful smile grew on his face “I, uh, thank you. I appreciate it, and everything else you do for us.”
The other eyes widen a little in surprise, and the monkey receives a gentle smile in return, “Of course brother, always.”
Mei in front of him, with her hand hovering around him as if unsure whether she’s allowed to touch him. The tail that has been around him not a second ago was now lashing out, worry radiating from her. He was leaning on the other side of the sofa and the cup of water he had been holding had fallen into the ground, the little water left spilled all over the floor.
He blinks again. And again. And again.
“Mk? Are you okay? What happened?” She goes to touch him and-
He backs up before he can think about the action, shaking his head as he ask, “Did you see that?”
What the hell is happening?
He can feel his ears twitching wildly and suddenly the fact that it was so quiet in his apartment was no longer as much of a comfort as it had been a couple minutes ago. There must be something he's missing.
Wait.
He saw ink! Or at least something that looked like ink. Hasn’t he seen ink before?
We’ll obviously he has seen ink before; he loves to draw when he has nothing better to do. Or even when he does have something better to do. His priorities were never the best when it came to his responsibilities if he was being-
The rant he was about to go gets stopped when Mei snaps in front of his face, frowning at him, “You’re really worrying me monkey man, see what?”
He goes to try and explain to her about the weird ink and the- vision? Memory? Hallucination? What was that? That was Wukong for sure, and that name. Ao lie. It sounded familiar but he had a bad habit of forgetting the names of the others in the journey because they weren’t Monkey King.
Damn it he got distracted again. He can see it in Mei's face as the worry in her eyes starts to melt away, visibly trying to hold back something. Laughter?A smile maybe? That little smug look she gets when he just stares at her?
That line of thought gets caught off as soon as he sees another spot of ink, right in between them on the sofa. His heart spikes as he sees it grow and he makes the split-second decision that he doesn't want to experience whatever happens next alone.
He jumps onto Mei, holding on to her like his life depended on it and promises himself to apologize later for everything as he feels them fall through the coach. Closing his eyes tight as he feels her arms wrap around him.
He doesn't know how long they fall for, or if the fallen sensation was actually all in his head, but when he opens his eyes-
Everything was on fire.
The blues skies of Flower Fruit Mountain were no more, a bright red taking over the once peaceful skies. Ash took over every sense. Eyes burning from the smoke, coughing up a lung as one was left with no option but to breathe it in. All they could hear was the crackling of dying trees and screams of terror. The usually sweet smell of the mountain was replaced with burning flesh and fur.
In the middle of all the chaos was a monkey, fur now grey and brown with dirt and ash, desperately running. Three pairs of familiar looking ears glowing brighter than ever as he looked around desperately.
“Shit, shit, shit-“
A small voice that carried in the wind, loud to only the monkeys ears, called out for help. Shadows were quick to speed towards the voice. The monkey hoped and prayed they would make it in time.
His running is stopped when a celestial spear breaks through the plumes of smoke, missing the monkey only by a hair. A growl ripped from his throat as he looked towards the sky, tail lashing dangerously. The smoke and fire was too thick- he couldn’t see past it- but the monkey didn’t seem to need sight.
He jumped back as a flurry of spears rained from the sky, avoiding each and every one with expertise. The shadows grew around the simian, but with a wave of a hand they dispersed outwards. Attention needed to stay on him, and his shadows would be far faster in getting to those who needed help. The monkey ignored his own frantic heart, starting his running again as he felt the weight of heavenly eyes on his back.
He gasps and sits up, as if he was waking up from a nightmare. It was in a sense, wasn’t it? Flower Fruit mountain burning. He can still taste iron and ash at the back of throat. Panting as if he had been the one running.
Macaque.
That had been Macaque. An apparently much younger Macaque than he was used to, but Macaque. Running away. It seemed too real to be just a nightmare.
He shook his head to try and get rid of his worries, looking around feeling disoriented as he took in his surroundings.
A black void all around him, as he sat in what looked like an ocean of ink. Light blue ripples occurred every time he touched the ink below him, the glowing ripples bringing him a sense of ease compared to the rest of the void that surrounded him. The ink moved like ocean waves, the movement calm and familiar. Right next to him-
“Is that what you meant earlier? Where are we?” Mei was standing over him in a familiar fighting stance, green sword at the ready as she looked around. The usual shine of her scales and sword was dim, the ink around them swallowing any light like a black hole.
He sat behind her taking the place in before the realization hit him, “I’ve been here before.”
He watches slowly as Mei lowers her sword- taking in her shaking hands slowly as if watching her through thick fog, “You have?”
Right. They just watched Flower Fruit mountain burn.
(Mei hasn't been the same since the sammadhi fire).
He goes to reach for her hand, “Mei? Are you-“
She plops down next to him, sword forgotten as her tail swats at his hand, “Mk, focus. You know this place? How?”
He frowns. He doesn't want to move on from it, but pushing Mei to talk or do anything for that matter never ended well either. So he decides to pick his battles, like Macaque had taught him to do, and answers, “When I was sleeping I saw what happened during the date in this place. Or something like that. I’ve.. seen it before that though, in my dreams maybe? I'm not sure honestly. I’ve never been able to-”. He just waves his hands around them, not sure how to explain how he got either of them here.
Mei gives him a surprised look, “In your dreams? Why did you never mention it before?”
He shrugs, “I never remember them. I just- I remember that the dreams start out calm, and then it goes to shit.’’
Mei lets out a small huff at his wording, her shaking having calmed down. She shakes her head and asks, “That was Macaque wasn't it? Was all that- well you know, real?”
He's not really sure about that one, actually. He knew it wasn’t real as in ‘happening right this very second’ for multiple reasons. Macaque doesn't look like that anymore, for one. Macaque has had all black fur for a long, long time. It wasn't until some years ago that he regained some of his white fur. Second, Monkey King never showed up. Wukong wouldn’t take Flower Fruit mountain burning sitting down. He would do something. There was no way he would leave Macaque fighting alone. So, no. Not currently happening.
But it felt so real. He could still feel his own racing heart calming down from fear that wasn't really his own. Like when Tang would tell him stories to fall asleep to!
Wait.
Someone was telling him these stories, weren’t they? Last time he was here-
“Little star.’’
His ears perked up, using his tail and arms to push himself off the ground as a warm breeze hit them. He could feel Mei's stare on his back as she became more alert but he just shook his head.
The breeze felt like a warm hug, as he said, “Wind?”
His voice echoed weirdly in this place, and while he got no verbal response, another warm breeze that brushed through his hair was enough. It went from his hair towards Mei, ruffling her hair as well as she let out a small, “Hey!”
The wind circled around him, and he spinned with it, laughing from the strange unbridled joy that suddenly consumed him. He could hear Mei laughing as well and his heart melted from the sudden warmth he was feeling. The history he had seen not a minute ago already out of his mind-
Wait, wait, wait. History?
The word seemed more correct than the ones he had thrown around back in his living room. Not hallucinations or visions or whatnot. History. The past. Memories forgotten, or maybe those that were too heavy for one person to carry alone.
He stopped spinning with a wide grin, going over to Mei and grabbing her hands to pull her up, “It’s real Mei! I’m not going crazy!”
Mei looked at him like he was, her smile dropping as she asked, “It’s real?”
He nodded, “Memories, Mei. It’s all I’ve ever seen in this place! I saw Tang telling me about the journey, the date, Wukong and Ao lie!”
“Ao lie? Isn’t that-”
He hadn’t realized why that name sounded so familiar before, but he was hit with a sudden clarity as he said, “Your ancestor!”
He couldn’t help but twirl the both of them around, laughing as the ink around where their tails and feet hit glowed a bright sparkly blue. He didn't know how any of this was possible but a part of him knew that this was always something he was meant to be able to do.
Destiny, if he was so brave as to call it that.
(As they twirled, he could feel the ink around them trying to form into another memory. One of ice so frigid he could already feel the cold sweeping into his bones-)
Mei giggled as they came to a stop, “Alright, alright, I get it. You’re having the time of your life right now, huh?”
He just grinned and squeezed her hands.
She only snorted, “Alright, but we should get Red boy’s opinion on this. And the whole concussion thing.”
That was fair enough. Out of all three of them, Red Son was the one with the most medical and magical knowledge. He always assumed it was due to him being a prince and all, he probably had to learn all that during his lessons.
Although being the only one who knew about their abilities since birth probably helped too. He wondered if Red Son had any embarrassing memories from his time learning his power, he certainly loved making fun of them whenever they mentioned one of theirs.
“Alright so how do we get out of here?”
He blinked.
That was, unfortunately, a very good question.