Chapter Text
Thick fog covered the area, obscuring all that Macaque could assume was there. The smog floated around his feet, making his tail and legs only faintly visible.
There was someone else there.
Macaque spun around, trying to find them- he didn't know who he was looking for, just that they were there.
And that they were going to kill him.
A haunting, familiar laugh filled the room, echoing around the fog and growing louder by the second. Macaque took a step back, trying desperately to find out where the other demon was.
The white fog continued to build up around him until he couldn't even see his lower half, and as he froze in panic, the cloud nearest to him started to turn blue. It continued, and soon infected the rest of the smog- a light, bone-chilling blue billowing out from somewhere and surrounding him, almost like it was trying to suffocate him.
Macaque tried to wave some of the fog away, but it just kept coming, invading his space until it was all he could see. He tried to take a step back, to escape this hellish place, but before he could-
Something cold and wirey wrapped around his ankle, yanking him down to the ground so fast that his head slammed against the ice-cold floor, heartbeat loud and ears ringing. The laughter was still going, nearly tripling in volume and overwhelming all of Macaque's senses, rippling in his ears, his brain-
Macaque slowly managed to lift his head up, catching a glimpse of what had dragged him down- a smoke version of his own tail, pure white amongst the blue smog- the longer he looked, the more torn up and thin it looked. It slipped into the blue, disappearing from his sight.
Macaque tried to pull himself up, all his limbs feeling like there were obsidian shackles binding him. He stumbled, and the fog started to clear away.
It floated away in front of him, creating almost a path- one leading up to a body on the ground, their back facing him. Macaque stumbled forward, wanting nothing more than to collapse and let the fog take him.
Finally, he reached the body on the ground, collapsing into a kneel next to them, rolling them over so they could see the skyless world.
It was Red Son.
Ice shot up through Macaque's body, the chill of the ground spreading up to his fingertips and to the tip of his tail. Red Son was motionless, aside from the occasional tremble and scrunching of his eyes.
He was crying.
Meaningless whimpers and whispers escaped through his lips, body trembling in terror and tears streaming down his face. His horns were their full length, tufts of fur by his longer ears and a bull's tail peeking out from the side.
Macaque shook him, calling his name over and over, anything to get him to wake up-
When the whole world turned blue .
***
Macaque jolted awake, sweat from the heat of the covers dripping down his back. The sun wasn't yet peeking over the horizon, the only light in the room being from a small lamp near the door. He grimaced as the branding on his back suddenly shot up with a sharp pain, curling around his ribs and making his back numb.
There was a rustle of something on the ground, and Macaque froze, only to realize it was Red.
Red Son.
Macaque shot up out of bed, kneeling down next to Red Son on the ground and shaking him urgently. "Red! Red, wake up-"
There was a noise of confusion from the other demon, and then Red's confused, bleary face was there. He made a sound, something that sounded rather like, “what the fuck?”
Macaque sighed shakily, kneeling back onto his heels and giving the younger demon a squeeze on the shoulder. “I… nothing. Just a nightmare. Go back to sleep.”
Red squinted at him for a moment, trying to process his words, before rolling over again and burrowing under the blankets again. “...fuckin’ weirdo,” he muttered, before closing his eyes and relaxing onto the blankets.
Macaque sat there for a few minutes, just watching his kid breathe, fast asleep on the ground. Macaque had suggested that Red take the bed, but… apparently it was too comfortable for him.
That was… probably some trauma he’d have to get into later.
Quietly, Macaque stood up after squeezing Red’s hand, silently exiting the room. He rested his head against the door for a moment, before starting to walk down the near-silent hallway. All of the doors were closed, and there were snores coming from a couple of them.
Macaque made his way through the main rooms, glancing at the pig demon asleep in the kitchen, covered by a blanket and a pillow having been slipped under his head. There were a few cats dozing around the room, and a couple looked up as Macaque walked by. None followed.
He made his way out to the entrance of the cave, sitting down on a rock and looking out at the large, dome-like forcefield surrounding the cave. There was about forty or fifty feet of space between the dome and the cave in each direction, so at least there was room for training. And so Macaque could not be harassed about Red Son by literally everyone.
The sun was going to come up soon, he noticed. He couldn’t see the city from where he was, which was… nice. He had spent days waking up to see a misty, blue-filled city of silence in the distance. It wasn’t a sight he liked to see. It had clearly shaken Red Son up too- Macaque had caught him staring at the city for several minutes at a time a couple times.
Though maybe he was thinking of his parents. Where they were, if they were safe… if they were even looking for him.
There hadn’t been any attempts at contact from them.
Macaque sighed, staring off into the distance. Something brushed up next to him, and he startled, before realizing it was one of the cats from outside. It had pure-black, long fur, and decided that the best place to be was on his lap.
Cautiously, Macaque pet it, and it purred, rubbing up against his hand. “...Huh.”
He sat there, petting a cat for the first time in… a lot of years, leaning back against the cold stone behind him and watching the sunrise.
Eventually, when he was starting to realize that the cat had fallen asleep on his lap and now he couldn’t really get up without disturbing it’s slumber, which he did not want to do, someone stepped out beside him.
At first, he thought it was Red Son, up to train early, but…
Sun Wukong stepped out of the cave next to him, staring at him out of the corner of his eye. Macaque grimaced, crossing his arms and staring in the opposite direction.
The two were silent for a minute or so, but Wukong unfortunately broke the wonderful silence. “I… wanted to talk to you about something. So. Um. Nice that you’re already out here so we don’t have to bother anyone.”
Macaque ignored him, glaring off into the distance.
Wukong sighed dramatically, like he always did when he was trying to get Macaque to respond. “Look, I… I’m sorry about yesterday. It got out of hand. Red Son… clearly trusts you more than he trusts me, for obvious reasons. You should be the one to be training him, not me.”
“Train him for what?” The last word out of Macaque’s mouth was sharp with a quiet rage. “To get himself killed fighting that… that thing ? To fulfill some stupid destiny you’ve made up for him? If she was stoppable, the gods would have come and stopped her by now!”
Wukong clenched his fists, clearly gritting his teeth. He let out a shaky, exasperated sigh. “Look. All I’m saying is that if he can unlock his Samadhi Fire from wherever he’s hidden it away in his head, we can defeat the WBS! Hell, he defeated me with it! And that was when I was in my prime!”
“He doesn’t have his powers anymore! Neither of us do!” Macaque’s voice was raising, and the cat was, both annoyingly and cutely considering the situation, kneading his shirt. “He can’t unlock them because he doesn’t have them! I watched the WBS take them from him, yes , even the Samadhi Fire! He can’t defeat her just like the rest of us can’t, because he is completely powerless !”
Macaque was basically screaming at that point, and Wukong froze for a moment, speechless. His eyes were wide and his mouth open like he was about to snap something back, but completely forgot what he was going to say in Macaque’s rage.
Before he could try to regain his voice, a window kicked open behind Wukong, and Red Son’s voice yelled, “CAN YOU SHUT THE FUCK UP?!”
The window slammed again, and Wukong sat down with a plop.
Macaque’s throat would be sore later. He let out a shaky sigh, resuming his angry glare towards the horizon.
Macaque could hear Wukong twiddling his thumbs behind him, trying to figure out something to say and clicking his tongue like he wanted to say something but Macaque wasn’t facing him. He cleared his throat.
“What.”
“Ah. Macaque, I…” he trailed off with a sigh. “This was a mistake.”
Macaque rolled his eyes as the other monkie stood up. He ignored how Wukong hesitated and looked back while standing in the doorway, before accepting his fate and disappearing back into the cave.
Macaque stayed, sitting until the sun had fully warmed his fur and the cat had long ago gone back inside.
Hours after Wukong had returned in, there were somewhat-familiar footsteps next to Macaque. He glanced over to find Xiaotian, awkwardly tapping his fingers together and looking nervous.
Macaque sighed, leaning back against the rock and crossing his arms. “W’d’you want?”
The kid awkwardly sat down. “Just, uh. Wanted to see how you were doing. Also, um, wanted to apologize. That guy that kind of… drugged you? He’s been chasing after us for a couple weeks now. We lost him, but… apparently he thought Monkey King was you. That dart? It had a poison on it that was supposed to kill Monkey King, but since it hit you, it kind of, um…”
“Made me high?”
“...Yeah. That.” The kid paused for a moment. “Monkey King… you know he’s not
trying
to bother you, right?”
Macaque cracked his neck. “How much of that did you hear?”
“Kind of all of it. I don’t think Red did, though, so…”
“Good. He doesn’t need to be dragged into that.” Macaque sighed. “Do… do you think he’s a weapon?”
The kid winced. “I don’t… I wouldn’t call him that. I mean, he is strong and stuff, even without his powers, and… Though he’s a bit of an ass sometimes, I guess he has some charm to him.”
Macaque raised an eyebrow. “Charm wasn’t part of the question.” Xiaotian was pretending to be focused on a very interesting pebble. “...Nevermind. You know, I… I didn’t get how you and… and him had a father-son thing going on.” Xiaotian tensed up slightly at the lack of Wukong’s name, but Macaque continued. “But now…”
Before he could continue, Xiaotian shot up. “That’s it!”
“I- what?”
“Oh- sorry, I wasn’t really listening, I was thinking about something else- I think I know how to get Red’s powers back!”
“Wait, what ?!” Macaque sprung up after the kid, who was speed-walking through the cave, likely going to wherever Red was.
“Ok, so-” Xiaotain dodged a dumpling flying past his face from the pig demon and the older human arguing- “Red told me last night that his horns have kept growing, right? So there’s got to be some magic there! Monkey King found a bunch of magic stuff lying around here, there’s gotta be something that amplifies it!”
Before Macaque could say anything, Red Son turned a corner and without missing a beat, Xiaotain grabbed his wrist and started to pull him around a corner. “I-what the fuck?” Red Son turned to Macaque for an explanation, eyes wide in confusion.
Macaque made an exasperated sound. “The kid thinks he knows a way to get your powers back-” he noticed how Red’s eyes lit up, and continued- “and as your mother, I suggest that you wait until we actually know if it’ll work and not kill you-”
“He’s your mom now?” Xiaotian didn’t even pause in his hauling of the demon to say that, instead pulling Red in front of where Wukong was sulking. Macaque hesitated before following.
“Apparently,” Red muttered in response before Xiaotain let go of his wrist, depositing practically an inch away from Wukong.
“Monkey King!” The kid bounced on his heels. “I know how to get Red’s powers back!”
The monkie perked up an ear. Before Macaque could even say something sensible like, “Hey now, we don’t even know if this is going to work, and besides, we don’t know if it’s possible to get his-or anyone’s- powers back until we defeat the WBS, which we can’t do without our powers, so we’re kind of in an endless loop- hey, where are you going-”, Xiaotain was already whispering his plan into Wukong’s ear, who subsequently leapt up, the kid following him as they went to go search for a magic thing.
Leaving Red and Macaque in the room alone. The younger demon winced suddenly, glancing at his wrist, the one that Xiaotian had grabbed. It was the one with bandages on it, coincidentally, and fresh blood was starting to peek through.
Macaque gave him a concerned look, gently taking his kid’s wrist in his hand and pulling out a roll of fresh bandages from his pocket.
About thirty minutes later, after fresh bandages had been applied and the duo had sat down on the ground for a while, Xiaotain and Wukong finally returned from wherever they had been, holding what Macaque assumed was something magical, but what really just looked like a large, circular red band made out of metal.
Both demons remained on the ground, Macaque because Wukong motioned for him to get up, and Red because Xiaotain motioned for him to stay sitting.
Wukong set the ring in front of Red, and the younger demon stared at it, eyes narrowed. “And what is this supposed to do, exactly?”
“If I’m right,” Wukong murmured, setting himself down on the opposite side of the ring, “it should enhance what magic you have left. Someone needs to be there with you, though, to focus your energy, so-”
“I’ll do it,” Macaque announced immediately, standing up to walk over to the other end of the ring and stand menacingly over Wukong.
“No,” Wukong explained patiently and annoyingly, “I have more experience with magical items than you do. Besides, I doubt it’s meant for demons- sure, it was in a demon’s cave, but li’l Red probably stole it from some deity. He stole a lot of things. Including people.”
“I feel judged.”
“Shush.” Macaque turned to Wukong. “No. If anything goes wrong, I’m the one who should be there to pull him out. Remember what you said about his trust, earlier?”
“I could do it,” Xiaotain suggested, and Red nodded urgently, as if to say, “Yes I would not mind him doing it”, but both were ignored.
Before Wukong could open his mouth again, Macaque continued. “I’m just trying to protect him. I trust myself a lot more than I trust you, and that’s probably the same with hi-”
“Mo-Macaque.” Red Son tugged on his arm. “It’s fine. You’ll… you’ll be here to like, physically pull me out if something goes wrong. It’s fine.”
Macaque hesitated, before stepping back and allowing Wukong to return to a sitting position. He hovered over Red Son, tail wrapping around his shoulders.
Wukong sighed, cracking his back before closing his eyes, holding Red Son’s hands in his own. He started to mutter something under his breath, and the previously-hidden inscription glowed bright gold, and both Macaque and Xiaotain took a step back. The human and the pig that had been arguing earlier poked their heads in for a look, and apparently decided that it wasn’t worth it.
Golden light started to spiral around the ring, circling around both Wukong and Red. Macaque started to take a step forward out of concern, but the gold light suddenly flared up, as though something was telling him not to get close.
Swirls of both red and blue floated around in the gold for a moment, until they spun purely around Red Son. Wind whipped up around the room because of the golden light, and the duo started floating slightly, light whipping around them so fast that Macaque could barely see either.
All of his instincts told him to grab Red and get out of there before something happened, but… Wukong… knew what he was doing.
Ancient scrolls of paper flew around the room, creating such a strong gale that Macaque had to shield his face to avoid get hit, and both him and Xiaotian were blown back slightly. Macaque tried to take a step forward, but before he could, a beacon of gold light shot up from within the ring, splitting through the ceiling of the cave and shooting up into the sky, illuminating the room with blinding light.
Macaque squinted through his arms as the beacon seemed to die down slightly, Wukong and Red Son floated back to the ground and the light encircling them both began to fade, the wind receding back into the ring.
Macaque reached out for Red as soon as he was able to, the golden light flashing once, and-