Chapter Text
It was over.
It was finally over.
The deed was done, the world was saved.
Azure finale saw the error of his ways, he chased a dream that caused havoc in its wake, a dream that caused death and blood to be splattered. From Camel Ridge, to his current position. His body decayed at an agonizing speed. The lion looked towards a familiar orange-furred stone monkey, Sun Wukong, the Great Sage equal to Heaven, his idol, his Brother.
"Wukong-" The Lion's attention wavered, turning to a different figure, one he assumed at first to be Wukong's Shadow, yet, the outcome was different. The boy, his brother's Mentee, a sight to behold. "You…" Azure felt threatened by the boy's very appearance. Yet, he seemed to understand, he felt this power within the 'child', a large potential. He gave the 'child' a halfhearted smile. He understood his struggles, he didn't understand why the Mentee was always so on edge.
This is what the boy wanted, correct?
This is what their goal was, right?
So why does the 'child' stand before him, wide-eyed, cowering at the sight of the decaying Lion, it disgusted Azure, the scent of fear being stronger by the second.
Fear, a funny feeling, it has no bounds, fear isn't something that you should run from, it's something you should face, something Azure learned when he was cub, and something he longed for the 'child' before him to learn.
"Boy."
The Mentee was broken from his spell, he approached the Lion with caution, Azure made sure to note the 'child's' hesitation.
"No. . . Xiǎotiān." The Lion corrected himself. He gave Xiǎotiān a soft smile, Azure knew many things, and his knowledge grew with his short-lived time as emperor, but one of the things that fascinated him, was Xiǎotiān's name, meaning 'Little Sky' or 'Little Heaven', it was a fact that he lingered on for a while, it was an alluring name to say the least.
On the other hand, Xiǎotiān flinched at the sound of his name, and so did Wukong, he had never heard the boy use his real name, and Xiǎotiān knew full and well it had been years since he had even last seen it.
Azure leaned what was left of his decaying body forward, his nose pressing against Xiǎotiān's forehead, "You must be wary xiǎo hái, you will be tempted and tried by something bigger, a bigger threat than I was, tempted by the need for more, and temptation always leads to darkness eventually." The Lion paused, sensing Xiǎotiān's hesitation, "They are watching, they always are. Be mindful zhízi, do not become a pawn in their game."
The two Monkeys stared, confused for a moment, yet the moment was short-lived as the Lion's time seemed to be up, his final words being an apology, one not directed at no one in general, but to the world he almost destroyed, in his place was a orb, pulsing with power so far out of this world that it knocked Xiǎotiān back a bit.
"Come to Us."
"We want to help you."
"We'll free you, if you free us."
"Embrace your destiny."
Xiǎotiān reached his hand out towards the power, mesmerized by the sweet promises the voices made, leading him away from chaos, helping him lead his family to safety.
He was so close.
Just a few more inches.
"Kid!"
Xiǎotiān whipped his head around nearly catching Wukong as the Monkey king stood In Front of him, shielding him from the pulses the orb gave off. "Stay behind me, I got you, I'm not letting you go again."
To Xiǎotiān's surprise, he smiled, yet it was clear he was scared, he was lying. The boy grimaced at that, after all, if it wasn't for him, this wouldn't have happened. He needed the power, the voices told him so, and their word is always right.
Xiǎotiān began to protest, only to be cut off by a familiar god, it fascinated the boy, that even though the young Lotus Prince was so beaten up and abused, he was still able to be so strong.
Xiǎotiān loathed him, yet he was family.
And he protects family.
A sigil similar to the pattern of a Lotus flower appeared, Xiǎotiān guessed it was a form of a concealing spell, one the prince used to conceal the map of Samadhi Fire.
The Prince smiled to Xiǎotiān and Wukong, "Yeah don't worry about it Wukong, I got this- maybe."
The Sage's tail twitched at that as he looked at Xiǎotiān with a smile, "Don't worry Mk, it'll be fine, I promise."
Wukong looked at him with a smile, he was smiling, why?
Why would he smile when his own Mentee cause pain to everyone. He deserved something worse than smiling.
Mk's attention didn't stay on Wukong long, but to Nezha and the energy he was trying to conceal, Xiǎotiān, Mk, the monkie kid, seemed to be stuck, stuck between helping the prince or jumping to take the power himself as the voices demanded.
Sure they'd be angry, but he was helping.
They'd understand.
They don't have a choice.
The next moment's were a blur: the power being concealed by the Prince, and at last the mountain was finally at peace. He felt pained at the sight of everything, yet seeing his family and knowing they were ok.
Mk wore a smile as his body made contact with the ground, instantly becoming bombarded by the people he called his family. Yet as he caught a glimpse of the Prince's attempt at leaving he spoke up.
"Leaving so soon Nezha-?"
"Correct, the power of the Jade Emperor has been greatly over estimated, it must be contained, not to mention how the world may function without a ruler such as a Jade Emperor." The Prince sighed, it was clear to Xiǎotiān that this was the one and only chance he was going to get.
"why don't you chill out here? You must be tired, you should rest!" Mk piped up, his smile replacing the running thoughts that Xiǎotiān thought behind closed eyes.
A shadow appeared behind Nezha, rising out of it stood a Monkey with fur that captured a night sky, "The kids right Nezha, the Celestials have been working you tail to bone, can't have that now can we?"
Nezha stammered a bit as Wukong stepped forwards, pushing the black-furred monkey aside, "Macaque's right, you should stay here, me and him can keep an eye on Ol' Yellow-Tusk, not to mention that you could keep the power safely in Water-Curtain Cave, the Marshal's and Generals can watch over it during the day."
Nezha seemed to ponder this for a moment as he simply just nodded, "Ok, I suppose rest wouldn't hurt."
Macaque was aware that Nezha was a child under all of his titles, and he would make sure that his title as a child was not overlooked.
Xiǎotiān smiled, he was close, so very cl-
"Mk! You did it! Not to mention your new Monkey form, you looked sick!"
"Mei! I'm glad you're alright, I'm glad that I didn't hurt anyone now that I think about it." Mk grinned, twirling Mei around, the young dragon laughing at his worried words.
"You couldn't hurt a fly if you tried, stop worrying so much!" She replied with a twirl of her sword, "plus you'd never mean it."
Xiǎotiān just smiled, laughing nervously, he knew what she was saying was a lie, the voices told him so.
"All right! Let's get everyone out of these scrolls, I'm sure they're tired of being cooped up in there." The Sage smiled over to Mk, who nodded, grabbing a singular scroll, running his hands along the wording before handing it to the Monkey King.
The voices spoke again, yet their words were jumbled and unfinished, yet there was one thing that Mk could make out.
"Gain the power."
"Save your friends."
"Your family."
A Dream.
Paws thundered on the ground, clicking up small spats of dirt.
A memory.
The hungry snarl of its predator close behind it.
A feeling.
The panicked noises coming from its throat.
This wasn't a dream.
Large teeth locked around its panicking body.
This wasn't a memory.
A hungry growl rises, muffled by its caught prey.
This wasn't something for a person like him to enjoy.
The predator shut its jaws, a deafening crunch rang through the terrain, causing the world to halt and bow beneath the predator's paws.
This…was a Nightmare.
No, this was something worse.
It was reality.
Xiǎotiān gasped, letting go of the prey in his jaws, the fur on his body bristling as he stared down, but what lay there wasn't the prey, but instead lay the bodies of his family, mangled and cold, the only warmth came from their spilled blood.
"Don't defy us child."
Mk jumped up, awakening from his sleep in a cold fit, his breathing becoming loud and rapid, almost the point of wheezing.
It took a while for him to calm himself, looking to his left and right to see his two friends, one being Red Son who slept peacefully and elegantly, and the other being Mei, who slept sprawled over Red Son, which made him smile, yet there was no time for smiling, he had a job to pursue, and hell, he was gonna do it.
He got up from the makeshift bed made by him and Mei and made his way over to the door of the room, peaking through he saw Wukong sprawled on the floor, snoring loudly and Macaque sleeping on the couch. He assumed Pigsy and Tang shared a room while Sandy and Nezha shared one also.
Xiǎotiān made his way out of the room slowly, yet he was met with a floating Lotus petal, he recalled hearing about Nezha and his meditation techniques, the Prince used the petals as a sort of alarm system, and all Mk had to do was doge them.
Xiǎotiān shifted himself to become a small dog, placing his paws carefully on the wooden floor, doing petals that floated past him almost perfectly, yet, his nails tapped at the floor rhythmically. Mk was so focused on sneaking that he missed the Shadow that rose behind him, squinting the purple outlines it had for eyes.
As Xiǎotiān made his way out of the hut, he met eyes with the flower that concealed the power that he needed, a Lotus Flower with the beauty of a sunrise one a damp day.
The voices called to him.
"Yes, closer now."
"Embrace us."
The shadow stared, he didn't want to believe what he saw, and it wasn't until Mk shifted back and approached the flower, reaching his hand out to brush against its soft petals, did he act.
"Kid, what are you doing?" Macaque chirped, his arms were crossed as he approached, yet the flower was already opening, the petals becoming larger as it pulled Xiǎotiān inside.
Xiǎotiān was confused, yet the voices yelled out in desperation as Mk received a great amount of power, within the flower, the boy felt his body being rearranged and put back together, his bones being snapped and fractured only to be forced back into place, and he felt his more fearful form being forced out from hiding. He felt unbearable pain, causing him to let out a blood curdling scream which made a symphony when mixed with the Voices desperate pleads and cries for power.
Macaque tore at the flower, trying to open its petals, his ears twitching from the screams he heard, and he could help but let tears well up in his eyes from the thought of the pain his cub felt.
"Mk!" Wukong yelped, followed by the rest of the huts' residents as both he and Nezha joined Macaque at trying to open the flower.
It wasn't until the screams died down into pitiful sobs and hiccups did the flower open again, with he voices satisfied and they power within Mk resting for now the boy had time to breath, to take in his surroundings, he let out an glass shattering sob as he pleaded for forgiveness, which was met by Wukong and Macaque desperately trying to calm him.
Mei and Red son were at his side, along with Pigsy, Tang, and Sandy as Nezha stared in confusion, running his hands along the large flower.
Xiǎotiān clung to Wukong, tears falling at an concerning rate, his body curling up into a ball.
"Please, help me."
A pawn has been moved, and the game has begun.