Chapter Text
“Okay, kid; today’s lesson is gonna be another lesson in focus.”
MK groaned loudly, making Macaque’s ear flick.
They were in a clearing nearby the half-built hut that was going to be Wukong and Macaque’s new home. The shockwave that had happened when Azure was defeated had destroyed Wukong’s old hut and a decent chunk of Flower Fruit Mountain, and considering that flowers had bloomed where Wukong’s hut had stood as a shrine for Azure, the two Celestial Primates just couldn’t bring themselves to destroy it.
Wukong and MK were attempting to start a training lesson in the clearing as Macaque played with the younger monkeys, who had latched onto him even after he’d gotten them out of the Scroll. He chose to ignore them calling him ‘Queen’ despite him remembering the implications of that.
“We can’t use you as free labor forever, bud.” Macaque pointed out. “Besides, don’t you wanna learn how to control those fancy new powers of yours?”
“Well, I mean, yeah…”
“Then you gotta meditate.”
MK groaned again. “But meditating is so boring!”
“MK, you wanna know how long it took me to be able to control Yān Shén? Your War Form is so much bigger than him; you’re gonna need all the focus you can get to control him.”
MK frowned, rubbing his arm.
“What Macaque means is that with every new power you get, you’ll have to train to be stronger so you can use them to their full potential.” Wukong said, giving Macaque a pointed glare and making the raven-furred monkey flick his tail. “I know it’s hard meditating, kid, but it’s kinda important for all this. The more training you do, the more control you’ll have over your powers so it shouldn’t be as scary.”
MK gave a sigh, making Macaque roll his eyes. He understood that MK was still beating himself up about ruining Flower Fruit Mountain and destroying Water Curtain Cave, but if he didn’t get over himself and train his powers then it was just gonna happen again.
“Fine; we’ll meditate with you.” Macaque huffed, patting the ground next to him.
“Huh?”
“Yeah! We can all just meditate and chill together!” Wukong said with a beaming smile, nudging MK towards Macaque and making the troupe of monkeys scatter as Wukong flopped down onto the ground near Macaque.
“But… but what if I-”
“We’ll be right here, bud; you’re not gonna lose control.” Wukong reassured MK, who finally seemed to give in. He sat on the ground, the 3 of them sitting in a circle in the grass.
“Okay, now the trick to meditation is complete focus. You can’t let anything distract you. Let yourself breathe and find the calm within yourself.”
“I would say that’s a load of rotten peaches, if it didn’t work.” Macaque muttered, Wukong smacking his arm with his tail.
MK took a deep breath, crossing his legs and setting his hands on his knees. “Okay. Complete focus. I can do that.”
“Now remember: we’ll be right here if you feel yourself start to lose control.” Wukong said, Macaque rubbing his arm as he crossed his legs as well.
“Okay… okay, I got this.”
“You sure do, bud.” Wukong smiled, the group soon closing their eyes.
Macaque hated meditating. It forced all his senses to shut down except for his hearing, and everything that he’d managed to turn into a dull rumble grew into screeches demanding his attention. It gave him a headache.
He opened his eyes slightly, seeing Wukong give off a golden glow as MK gave off a softer glow of his own. Well, those two seemed to be well into their meditative states. Maybe he could get away with just… sitting here quietly. He could do that.
He looked over at Wukong. In the few weeks since they’d defeated Azure Lion and rescued Wukong from the Scroll, the bags under Wukong’s eyes had lessened and he’d seemed to be recovering from the toll the memories had taken on him, but he still seemed… weary. Macaque knew Wukong well enough to know that if they hadn’t found him when they had, Wukong may not have escaped without breaking down. As it was, he knew Wukong hadn’t slept well the first week after the defeat of Azure; he’d heard Wukong’s terrified gasp every time he woke up from a nightmare before he curled up and held his head, if he even fell asleep at all.
He looked Wukong over, taking in his ginger fur that was well-groomed by his lieutenants, and the small dent in his head fur from his time with the Golden Circlet, his peach-colored mask and his golden eyes that… were… also cracked open. And also looking at him.
Macaque stiffened, his fur fluffing up as he quickly shut his eyes, his tail lashing as he tried to ignore the blush sneaking onto his face. Shit. He’d been caught looking; Wukong was never gonna let him live that down.
Macaque took a deep breath, trying to kick away his embarrassment as he began to meditate himself. Once he was deep enough, the sounds around him were drowned out; it was some of the few times he could ever get true peace.
After a longer moment a doubt began to gnaw at the back of his mind. With Azure and the Jade Emperor dead and that power not yet given to a new host, what did the future hold for them? He’d had suspicions, and he’d told Wukong as much, but… he hadn’t actually used his ability. He hadn’t really felt safe enough to, not since the Lady Bone Demon had her lanky puppet-boy torture him to force him to use his powers. But… she was long gone, and so was he. And the kid needed all the help he could get right now.
After another moment of hesitation Macaque let his ears unfurl, and with one more deep breath, he let his powers flow into his future-hearing.
“I mean, I know they all want to make sure I’m okay, but the constant training and meditation just… doesn’t feel like it’s enough, y’know? What if the Scroll’s Curse was right? What if you guys end up… end up turning on me because I lose control? Maybe I should just be locked up before I-”
“Whoa, whoa, little man; we’re never gonna turn on you. Not for any reason. We’re a family, and family always helps each other, even if it means we have to calm you down if you do lose control.”
“But what if you can’t? What if I hurt you guys? No one knows how scary this is; I-”
“MK.” A pause. “When you and Pigsy and the others first came to find me, remember how Pigsy asked where the ‘angry, glass-chewing, fist-throwing buddy he used to know’ went?”
“I mean… yeah…”
“I remember what it felt like to lose control. To be that angry all the time. It’s a gross, scary, black feeling, isn’t it?”
“Yeah.” MK said, his voice trembling.
“If no one else knows what you’re going through, I do, little man. I’m gonna make sure you’re okay, and I know everyone else will, too.”
There was a thump and a sniffle, and the sound of cloth being moved.
“Thank you.” MK sobbed, his voice muffled.
“Anytime, MK.”
"So… how long did it take you to control Smokey?"
"Smokey?"
"Your… your War Form."
"Yān Shén?"
"Yeah, him."
"Well… it was at least a century; I didn't have control over him when we fought the Jade Emperor, so I wasn't able to use him in that fight."
"A century?! Man, I don't know if I have that kind of time- I mean, I might. Maybe not? I don't-"
"Kid. Breathe." A loud exhale. "Even if you don't, between me and Peaches, we'll get you trained up in no time."
"Peaches, huh?"
A sharp inhale.
"I- I didn't say that- I said Wukong."
"Nuh-uh~ you said 'Peaches'."
"N- no I didn't, kid; you're hearing things-"
"Nah~ I think my hearing is perfectly-"
The soft thrum of Macaque's magic could be heard shortly before MK let out a panicked squawk.
"Okay okay OKAY!!"
"Training starts now!"
“So, if you weren’t trying to eat MK, why did you chase him?”
“I just… I got excited… with the way Bába and Uncle Ma raised me, there weren’t really any monkeys around my age to play with… and the few that were around, either their parents told them to stay away from me because I was the Celestial Primate’s son, or they got scared because my arms are too long and I have no tail.”
“Your arms aren’t too long; they look just fine.”
“I Glamour them; I’m a Long-Armed Gibbon. But after Dad died, I was the only one I knew with arms that long, so… I’ve been Glamouring them around others ever since.”
“What?! No!! Let ‘em free; they don’t deserve it!!”
“Mei- Mei, I-”
“Show me your arms! You’ve gotta be able to give the best hugs!!”
“Okay, okay!!” The stranger’s voice laughed, the soft sound of a Glamour falling and cloth shifting before Mei gave a happy hum.
“I knew it.”
The stranger laughed before it went quiet for a moment.
“...Thank you…”
“No problem, Space-Case.” Mei said with a happy chuckle. She then gasped, the breath knocked out of the stranger before Mei spoke again.
“You wanna know what would cheer you up so good??”
“Wh-what?”
“You wanna help me pick on Red Boy?”
A gasp of excitement. “You do know how to make me feel better!”
Something heavy slammed against a wall, the sound of flames loud as Red Son growled.
“Listen here, Space-Brain. Dragon Girl doesn’t need to be continually flirted with.”
“No? Coulda fooled me; she seems pretty into it.”
“She… she’s taken; stop trying to court her.”
“Oh? Taken? By who?”
“By… by me, obviously. Of course the son of the Demon Bull King would choose someone as powerful as-”
“Got a question.”
“What?” Red Son hissed, obviously irritated at being cut off in the middle of his speech.
“If Mei’s your girl, why is she flirting back, then?”
There was an intense silence before flames roared into an inferno and there were multiple screeches of panic.
“Red, no; we need him alive!!”
“Stop, stop; it was a joke!!”
The sound of a scuffle flared up before dying down a moment later, a deep sigh rising above the majority of the sounds.
“Child. What have I said about badgering other Celestials and Demons?”
“...To not to. But Uncle Ma, he’s just so fun to tease-”
“Peasant! I swear I’m going to-”
“Down, Red Boy, down!! It was a joke; we were both in on it!!”
Red Son grumbled before he stomped off, the older voice giving another sigh.
“Children, now is not the time to be playing these silly little games. You need to prepare; there’s only so much Meilin can do to keep the wards up against their brother.”
An uncomfortable silence.
“We know, but… we were just trying to… lighten the mood, I guess? I mean… what Yuan did to Macaque-”
“Liu’er will be fine. However, if you are not properly prepared, then his sacrifice will have been pointless. The Water is not something to be taken lightly, as you all already know.”
Another silence.
“Now, if you will excuse me, I must discipline my nephew.”
“What? No, Uncle Ma; I hate meditating-”
“You will be finished meditating when you learn to behave yourself.”
A thump as someone flopped onto a stool and a small, panicked squawk of fear in reply. There was a moment of quiet, the only sounds being broth being stirred in the kitchen and cloth being played with.
“So, um… MK says that you had a… vision?” Tang asked nervously.
“Not a vision.” Macaque grumbled, his voice slightly muffled. “It can’t be a vision if I don’t see it.”
“A… a premonition, then?”
“Why are you asking, Tang?” Macaque growled softly, his voice becoming slightly more clear.
“Well, I, um…” A sigh. “MK was really upset about it… he’s been worried about you since it happened.”
“Yeah, I’m not surprised.”
More silence before the sound of a ceramic dish hit the wooden countertop, a second dish being placed down soon after.
“...Eat. Before I change my mind.”
More quiet, the sound of chopsticks and Pigsy cooking something in the kitchen being the loudest sounds.
“I…” Another sigh. “I know you don’t like talking about your problems or really anything about you, but MK really is worried. He’s started looking up things about water creatures-”
A choked sound and a violent cough, a thumping sound before a smack.
“No! No, he needs to- *cough* -to stop! Right now!”
“Why? What’s wrong with him researching water creatures?”
“He’s gonna get hurt; I can’t-”
“What do you mean, ‘hurt’?”
“So help me gods, Macaque; if my son gets dragged inta one of your messes or schemes-”
“He won’t as long as he stops looking into it!!”
“Macaque… we all know MK’s not gonna do that.”
A tense silence.
“We know you don’t want anyone to get involved, but if you want MK to stay safe, we need to know what you heard. We can’t help protect him if we don’t know what to look for.”
A long pause before Macaque let out a teary breath.
“...I can’t promise this bastard won’t hurt MK too.”
“We’re not gonna let him.” Tang reassured. “Whoever this ‘he’ is.”
“What do you mean, ‘too’?”
Another shaky breath.
“I think… I think this guy is going to torture me. And I can’t promise that he won’t go after MK, too.”
Macaque opened his eyes, narrowing them with a frown. Who the hell was going to bother the kid now? It hadn’t even been a full month since Azure’s defeat; MK was still learning how to use his Monkey Form and they didn’t even have a house yet. Who the hell would dare try and piss off his troupe like that so soon after the last battle?
Macaque glanced at Wukong and MK, making sure they were both still meditating before he listened again, going deeper into his meditation and listening farther.
Water dripping in a large area, the echoes bouncing off of the walls as the soft rattle of chains shifting joined the echo. An attempted thrum of magic, weak and forced, before it cut off with a loud pant.
Cloth shifted as footsteps echoed off the walls, making the pants cut off in a sharp gasp.
“Come now, Macaque; I know you’re smarter than that. Between our… sessions and the energy being siphoned off of you, you know your powers are at their limit.”
“Fuck you.”
A disappointed sigh. “How crude of you.”
More footsteps and more chain rattling as Macaque gave a sharp, hissed inhale.
“Now, will today be the day you tell me what I wish to know? Or will you need more persuading?”
“The Lady Bone Demon couldn’t get me to use my powers; what the hell makes you think you can?”
“I’m not as weak as she was. And you… you’re not as powerful as you were then either, are you? You’re getting weak. It seems that when her magic was taken out of this world, the magic keeping you alive started withering away, didn't it? Tell me, how long do you think you have left? How many centuries has it been since your heart stopped beating? How much longer do you think you can keep fighting against Díyu?”
A growl and the thumps of a lashing tail.
“Now: are you going to use your ears for me? Or are we going to have to do this the hard way? You know, I take no pleasure in this. It would all be over if you just told me what I wish to know.”
“Never.”
A disappointed sigh, and then the sound of rushing water overtook every other noise. It faded to a softer flowing sound as the chains snapped taut.
“Now, let me see, we’ve already broken your arm, nose, ribs, and taken out a fang or two. Let’s move on to your legs and tail, shall we? Perhaps even some fingers.”
A loud snap echoed as the sound of water grew slightly louder.
“Stop! Let me go!” Macaque growled, his voice echoing and distorted.
“In a moment.”
The sound of more snaps as the sound of the water rose and fell, as if it was struggling.
“There. Now, I believe I can put you back.”
“W-wait, no-!”
The sound of the water grew to be the only sound again, and before it fully faded it was drowned out by the sound of an agonized monkey screech and the violent sound of chains rattling.
“Monkey King. Monkey King. ”
Wukong frowned, opening his eyes with the intent to chew out his student about disturbing someone during their meditation, but that plan was derailed when he saw that MK wasn’t even looking at him.
He was looking at Macaque.
Wukong looked over at the Shadow Monkey, his heart sinking. Macaque was giving off a deep purple glow that was almost black, his six ears fully Unglamoured and glowing, his body trembling violently and a soft, faint look of fear on his face.
“Monkey King, what’s happening to him?!”
Wukong rushed over, seeing that Macaque’s top set of ears were glowing brighter than the rest. He was listening to the future, and what he was hearing obviously wasn’t good. Whatever he was hearing had him caught; he was stuck in his meditation. He needed help getting out of it; if this went on much longer Macaque’s powers might lash out and hurt MK or the lieutenants.
“MK, stand back. I have to break him out of this; he’s stuck.”
“That can happen?!”
“Obviously, or he would have broken out of it by now.” Wukong pointed out as he wracked his brain. Pigsy had broken him out of his meditation by using that godawful pepper, but Wukong didn’t have one of those. Maybe he could use one of his abilities?
He took a deep breath, making sure that MK was a good distance back before he placed a hand on Macaque’s heart and the other on his forehead, taking a deep breath before he began to use his powers.
C’mon, Mac; snap out of it-
Macaque’s trembling grew worse until Macaque’s eyes snapped open and he let out an agonized, terrified scream, quickly scrambling away from Wukong with tears in his eyes.
“...Mac?” Wukong asked softly, his heart aching. He hadn’t seen Macaque cry since… since their fight.
“Macaque? Are you okay? What happened?” MK asked, moving towards the Monkeys just to freeze when Macaque flinched.
“I-I- I… I just… I need a minute-”
Macaque dropped into a Shadow Portal before MK or Wukong could stop him, Wukong’s chest tight as he looked at the spot where Macaque had disappeared.
What had he heard?