Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

He doesn’t want anyone to find him. Not in the state he was in. They had seen that enough after his frankly embarrassing defeat at the Brotherhood’s hands.

Cracking his eyes open, Nezha’s eyes stung against the light that was attempting to escape from the lotus shell. The power crackled and ripped through the air, and it was all Nezha could do to keep breathing. The ground was cold under him, cracked and shattered from the outburst of the Emperor’s power before Nezha had been able to contain it. Barely.

Peng’s laughter, the spear in his side as he attempted to keep the power from exploding any further than it had. The fallen warrior landed on the ground in front of him, their head cocked to the side and malice in their eyes.

“I was going to kill you,” they told him, staring down at him. “But now…” They kneeled, cutting off his line of sight of the power he was desperately trying to control and Nezha glared at them with all the strength he could. “You’re killing yourself, aren’t you?” They reached out and grasped onto the spear, yanking it from his side and eliciting a gasp of pain from the young god.

“This power… you’re not equipped to handle it. No matter what you told Wukong and his group of idiots.” They stood back up, a smirk curling up the side of their beak. “I was going to kill you in retribution. Now, I think I’ll sit back and watch you kill yourself.” They tapped the spear on the ground as they talked, ignoring the blood that dripped from the edge of it and stained the ground of the throne room Azure had killed the Emperor in. The room that Nezha had been using to hide the outburst of strain that went through him often as he worked to keep the power in check. His hands twitched as the seal sent alarm through his brain, warning him of the surge in power. “Unless, of course, you swallow your pride and admit to Wukong that you’re not capable of guarding the power.” A chuckle sounded in the room, dry and mocking. Peng nudged one of his hands with their foot, making Nezha hiss in pain as his, probably, fractured wrist flared in pain.

“We both know you’re not going to do that.”

Nezha placed his other hand, his mostly undamaged hand, on the ground and tried to force himself up to at least a kneeling position, so it was easier for him to redo the seals that covered the Emperor’s power. The seals that were cracking. His chest and knees screamed in protest, but he simply shook his head, bit his tongue, and ignored the pain until he was in a moderately better position.

Reaching out, he tried to grasp onto the power that slept in his own chest, that he had been using to cage the Emperor’s power for the past four months. Tried to form it back into the chains that had been carefully containing the incredible power that none of them had known what to do.

But nothing answered him.

Biting back another sound of pain as he shifted closer to the now visibly breaking seals, he reached out, touching the outer ring of lotus petals. The shell had grown as the output did, now the size of a large mammal, instead of the palm size it usually was.

“Work,” he hissed out breathlessly, allowing all his senses to fall into his mind, into the seal he was trying to remake. “Work.” He grasped the seals with unyielding stubbornness, twisting and forcing them in a way that they definitely weren’t made to do, wrapping them around the Emperor’s power in a desperate bid to stop it from exploding.

For a second it was quiet, and he risked opening his eyes, seeing to his relief that the lotus had shrunk back down, not quite to the size that he liked, but it was more to the size of a potted plant, so better at least.

Then all the pain that he had been holding back hit him at once.

With a choked off gasp, his knees buckled, and he returned back to the ground, hitting it with a thud that pushed all the nonexistent air out of his lungs. Burning sensations spread across his arms in quick patterns, each lining up with a slash or stab Peng had gotten on him when the warrior had ambushed him. Their fight had lasted an hour. The last fifteen minutes had been Nezha trying to keep the Emperor’s power contained while Peng used him as a pincushion and training dummy.

His legs twitched feebly as he tried to make anything move, the shattered kneecap that he must have had sending rivers of pain up his leg while both his ankles bled freely from where Peng had shattered his wheels, injuring both feet in the process. Nezha got the feeling Peng hadn’t wanted him to be able to escape and call for help until they finished him off. Not that they had in the end.

The spear wound was basically gushing blood, staining the ground beneath him red. As he looked down at it, in his eyes he could see the reflection of Ao Bing’s eyes, the last he saw the dragon being a pool of blood eerily similar to this one. Hmm, fitting.

Forcing himself to at least stretch one hand out, he touched the shell of the seal again, grasping it with whatever power he had left, which wasn’t much, and forced it back into his body. Back next to his heart, where he had been carrying around the power. It was too dangerous to leave it anywhere else.

But the lotus bloom resisted and Nezha couldn’t stop that sob of pain that slipped past his lips as the seal returned to the living world, sitting oh so innocently next to him. This is your fault, he thought bitterly, before cutting off the train of thought. This was his burden to bear, after he had so foolishly allowed the Jade Emperor to die, allowed him to be killed by Azure and his Brotherhood. If he was destined to die protecting this power, as it looked he would, Peng hadn’t been lying when they said that he wasn’t equipped for handling the power, it would hopefully be enough penance for the misdeed he had allowed to happen.

Another stab of pain went through him and he coughed, blood bubbling from his lips and staining his face. He could feel it on his face, mixing with the tears that dripped from his eyes. Sideways, as he still didn’t have the energy to sit up again.

Oh, he was going to die here, wasn’t he?

It was either use all his power to keep the seal intact or use that power to heal himself until he could get to actual healers.

He didn’t even have to weigh the difference before choosing an option.

Not that his death would solve anything. Without him, the seal would break again, and the power would reign, again, and everything Nezha had done would have been for nothing.

But what was the true point? He had failed in his duty, the only thing he had lived for. Perhaps it was right he died for it.

Another cough ripped through him, spattering more blood, from both inside his body and out. Each wound, weeping gently in time with him. Internal and external bleeding, coating the ground red.

His eyes felt heavy, but he couldn’t close them. He had to keep them on the seal, keep it closed and secure for as long as possible.

His fingers twitched. Pain and magic went through him.

The world began to darken.

~

Through all of this, it hadn’t even occurred to him to reach out to the Monkey King and his associates, despite knowing that the “phone” Mei had given him and was sitting innocently a few paces away, as he had dropped it there when Peng attacked and it somehow hadn’t gotten destroyed, was equipped with a panic button because Mei was a technological genius.

It hadn’t occurred to him. Or maybe, he hadn’t allowed it to occur to him.

But to the Monkie Kid crew, worry and fear was racing through each of their veins as they made their different ways to the Palace of the Jade Emperor. Because for a brief moment, about fifteen minutes earlier, yellow fractures had split across the sky and caused panic among them.

Mostly though, for the god they knew was supposed to be protecting the power.

Chapter Text

Mk swallowed past his panic as the group burst into the Celestial Realm, Mei’s newest technological wonder landing roughly on the ground in response to their hasty landing. His eyes had barely left the sky since they had seen it split almost fifteen minutes prior and Mk got the deepest, strongest feeling that something was wrong.

Mei leapt over the side of the ship following him, phone clutched in her hand and fire in her eyes. She had attempted to call Nezha no less than five times as they headed up to the realm and his failure to answer did nothing to soothe any of their nerves.

Their third followed quickly after them, flames sparking from his hands as rarely seen worry flickered in Red Son’s eyes. Unlike them, he had seen, truly seen, Nezha in battle. Had fought along side him to defend the Jade Emperor’s palace all those months ago. He knew Nezha was not one to be defeated easily. It had taken the combined might of all three of the Brotherhood to finally bring him down.

Which is why Mk knew he wasn’t the only one panicking.

Behind them, the sounds of Sandy leaping from the ship reverberated around the air and Mk sent quick thanks to who knows where that the Celestial Realm hadn’t ever truly repopulated after the fall of the Brotherhood. Many of the Celestial Gods had chosen to stay at personal temples or houses until another Jade Emperor could be chosen. The only god who spent most of their time there was Nezha. And that was the reason they showed up here. If Nezha wasn’t here, then… they wouldn’t know what else to do.

“Bud!” Mk looked up at the shout, seeing to his relief Monkey King and Macaque appear on one of Monkey King’s clouds. The shadow-weaver who had yelled disappeared in a flood of shadows, appearing next to them. “Did you just get here?”

“Yep,” Mk replied, skidding to a stop. “What about you?”

“We haven’t found anything,” Monkey King responded, settling down from the cloud in front of them, the lashing of his tail that only indication of the panic Mk knew was running through the immortal’s veins. For all their fights, Mk could see that Wukong genuinely cared about Nezha. He had seen the way Wukong had stuck to Nezha side for a good three days straight after they finally defeated Azure, waiting until the younger god was mostly healed before heading back to Flower Fruit. Mk wondered if Nezha had even realized that the Monkey King had done that.

“Well-” Sandy started, having caught up to them and nonverbally reminded Red Son to breathe or he was going burst into flames again, but was cut off by laughter that rang through the courtyard they were standing in.

Eerily familiar laughter.

“Peng,” Mei ground out, eyes glowing green for the briefest second, whipping her head around to gaze at all the shadows surrounding them, all the perches. “Come out, you filthy pile of burnt feathers! What did you do to Nezha?”

The laughter tapered off, melding into a few snickers as a flash of light revealed the Golden-Winged Eagle standing on one of the lower roofs.

They leaned forward slightly, their staff at their side. “Well, had I known that making this much of a fuss would have brough you all running, I might have done it earlier,” they snickered. “Of course, I hadn’t meant to let you come quite yet. Not until I finished with the Lotus Prince.”

Red Son snarled, the flames licking at his fireproof clothes as he glared at the fallen warrior.

“Where is Nezha?” Wukong asked, throwing one hand out to gesture the three teenagers back, each of them having taken a step forward, and gave his former sworn brother a dark look. “If you’ve killed him-”

“If I had killed him,” Peng interjected. “You would have seen it. The sky would be doing its best repeat performance of four months ago.” That, at least, allowed Mk to breath slightly easier, something he saw reflected across the group. Macaque still had his hand on Mei’s shoulder, a nonverbal warning to the dragon girl not to interrupt Wukong and Red Son was still sparking, but they all could now think clearly. If Nezha was dead, the Jade Emperor’s power would be spiraling out of control. So, he had to be alive. And even if Peng had captured him and spirited him away, that still was better than dead. They could rescue him if he had been captured. They couldn’t rescue him from death.

Then he remembered Macaque’s whole… thing and revised that statement. Honestly, if Nezha was dead, Mk wouldn’t be surprised if Wukong marched down to the realm of the dead to get him back.

“Where is he?” Macaque snapped, shadows building around his feet, and Mk looked over at him through the corner of his eye. While he knew that Macaque and Nezha didn’t have the same history as Monkey King and Nezha, it had also been clear that Macaque had gained some level of fondness for the young god. Mk had seen Macaque gently and carefully check and change Nezha’s bandages three times a day while they were preparing to fight Azure, something that he hadn’t ever done for any other person for as long as Mk could remember. Even when they had gotten injured in the past four months. Macaque usually bandaged them once, gave them instructions on how to care for it, and sent them on their way.

“Where do you think?” Peng asked, tipping their head to the side, smile curling up their face. “I haven’t taken him, don’t worry. Why would I bother with someone so… inconsequential?” Mk heard barely perceptible growls from the four celestial beings around him, Sandy not engaging in that sort of thing, and he could feel his own glamour attempting to slip through the cracks as his mind ran in circles.

Nezha was somewhere in the Celestial Realm. Nezha was alone. Nezha was some version of hurt and no doubt emotionally hurt as well. Peng had a way of getting under people’s skin, after all.

“Though I do have to wonder…” At this, Peng rocked backwards on their heels slightly, gaze moving up to the sky. “Will you find him first? …Or will the blood loss?” As they spoke, they spun their staff in their hands… Sending droplets of blood flicking from the edges and spattering the roof they stood on.

Everyone knew whose blood it had to be.

Peng chuckled again. “Good luck.” With that, they spread their wings and flew off, faster than any of them, except probably Wukong, could follow.

But Wukong didn’t because his mind was clearly on the missing and now confirmed injured god somewhere in the Realm. Without a second thought, he reached up and tugged on his head, springing four clones into life which each shot out in different directions. A few shadow clones followed after them, going separate ways as well.

“Plums, you and Mei go to the Throne room,” Wukong said into the silence after a second had passed, the rest of them stuck in their thoughts of what was happening to Nezha? Was he okay? How long would he survive? “Check the surrounding halls as well. Kid, you and Red Son check the east, I’ll check the west, Sandy you go over this area.” He looked in the direction Peng had gone. “Keep your phones on you, answer any call. It’s how we’ll stay in touch. You find Nezha, you tell the rest of us.” A flurry of head nods answered him and he grimaced slightly. “If you can’t safely get to him, wait for Macaque or I, no matter how injured Nezha is,” he told him, no doubt thinking about the Jade Emperor’s power that Nezha always carried close to his heart. If Nezha was losing strength, so were the seals holding the power. It had already cracked once. “Nezha wouldn’t want you getting injured for his sake.”

After that, Wukong turned, summoning his cloud again, and vanished into the west side of the Realm. Mk swooped in to give his girlfriend a quick kiss on the cheek, a reassurance for the both of them and a plea to keep her power in check because hunting down Peng wouldn’t help anyone at the moment. She returned it, giving a similar one to Red Son before her and Macaque vanished deeper into the palace. Sharing a final worried glance with Sandy, he and Red Son hurried into the east side of the Realm. Without a second thought, his gold vision snapped on, looking for anything Celestial.

They had to find Nezha. They just had to. And fast.

~

Macaque hated his hearing most of the time. The glamour that surrounded the extra pairs of his ears on the sides of his head usually muffled the sound coming through them and usually he never pulled it off, unless accidentally during a panic attack. Which had happened an embarrassing amount of times. Thankfully, Wukong had learned the spell before even Macaque had, so he was always able to press it back on to keep Macaque from being overwhelmed.

Macaque almost never pulled off the glamour willingly.

He did now.

His enhanced senses scanned the palace as they ran through it, his and Mei’s projections existing at a much smaller scale, something the two of them had been working on in the past months, and roamed the halls that they couldn’t, always in constant mental contact with their hosts.

But it was Macaque’s ears which first picked up signs of the young, hurt god.

The sound of broken, labored breathing broke through the heart wrenching silence and almost made Macaque skid to a stop in surprise. Instead, he simply tripped slightly and when Mei turned to look at him, he shot her a grimace.

“I can hear him,” he told her without prompting, seeing her eyes go wide. “Contact the others. He’s in the…” His ears reached out, trying to lead him where the sounds were coming from. “Throne room.” Mei nodded instantly, eyes going down to the phone as they ran, somehow not running into any walls as they moved towards the room. All the while Macaque could hear broken sounds of Nezha’s body trying desperately to keep itself alive.

The two of them rounded the corner.

“Nezha!” Mei shrieked in surprise and fear as they laid eyes on the room. At all the blood that coated the walls. At the pulsing orb of power in the center of the room. At the god who laid in the biggest pool of blood, unmoving.

Chapter Text

“Nezha!” Mei shrieked, racing forward and falling to her knees beside the young god, hands hovering uselessly over him. Macaque shot forward next to her, his skillful eyes raking over the injuries on the young god, clearly categorizing them in order to help.

“Mei, contact the others,” he told her, repeating his order from a minute ago. Mei sucked in a breath before forcing her hands to work her phone, group calling the chat that had all of them in it. While that meant that Tang and Pigsy would also get the call, she couldn’t find it in her to care. Nezha was… He needed help.

“Mei?” Mk’s voice broke her out the slight stupor that she had fallen into, watching as Macaque’s hands ghosted over Nezha’s body, checking for pulse and working to suppress the biggest blood flow, which seemed to be coming from his side.

“In throne room,” she said as explanation, a quick look down seeing all the icons up and glowing, even the husbands who stayed back on earth. “Nezha’s hurt bad.”

“On our way,” Wukong snapped out and Mei let the phone fall to the ground as she forcefully shook herself aware. Nezha needed her help.

“How can I help?” She asked Macaque, the familiar dragon anger and protectiveness building in her again as her eyes gazed at the downed god.

“Put pressure on his neck,” Macaque replied, one hand turning Nezha’s head to the side. While the wound in Nezha’s side might have been the worst, there were still dozens of them crossing the god’s body, all adding to the steadily flowing clock they were racing against. Mei reached out, pressing one hand to the slash down the god’s neck. She tried not to think about it.

Nezha will be fine, she thought, trying to convince herself. Macaque’s here, he’s one of the best healers there is. And the others are here too. We’re not letting Nezha die on us.

A flurry of footsteps announced the entrance of Mk, Red Son, and Monkey King. The two other adults were instantly by her side, their worried faces no doubt reflecting her own. The Celestial God fell to the ground next to his partner, anger and worry warring on his face as he looked over the younger god.

“Wukong, the power,” Macaque gritted out, one of his shadow clones pulling bandages out of his satchel. It wouldn’t be enough, they didn’t have any medicine or anything of the like, but it had to be enough for now. Enough until they could get Nezha to Macaque’s clinic.

Wukong stood, wrenching his gaze away from Nezha to reach out, forcing his own seals on the glowing orb that was steadily increasing in size.

Outside, jagged tears ripped across the sky.

“Mk, come here,” Macaque instructed, placing his student’s hands on the side wound as he pulled the carefully unwound bandages from his clone’s hands. “Red, his armor. Can you pull it off? Mei, keep pressure up.” The three young adults listened instantly, each of them shaking and scared. They had all been there, in some capacity, when Azure had taken over Heaven. Red had been there in the battle, had seen Nezha get hurt. Mk had been there when Macaque bandaged him, when the young god watched them prepare to fight Azure with shame and guilt in his eyes. Mei had been there in the aftermath, walking among the empty courtyards that shook with barely contained power as Nezha struggled to finish the complete seal in concurrent with his powers working to heal himself.

This, now, seeing it all over again… It was giving them all flashbacks.

A cracking sound rang through the room and the Emperor’s power was forced in a seal, squeezing down into the size of a peach, covered in a film that looked like the aforementioned fruit, before vanishing into the air, held by Wukong. The Great Sage Equal to Heaven gave himself only a millisecond to adjust to influx of power rushing through him before turning back to the others to offer help.

Macaque didn’t give any indication that he had heard the sealing at all, nudging Mk’s hands away from Nezha’s side to start wrapping it. Red Son sat back at he did that, having been carefully unlatching the lotus themed armor that covered the prince, allowing Macaque greater access to cover the wound. Mei’s eyes skated over the bandages as he did that, seeing the red that already started to bloom on the white material. Blood continued to drip through her fingers despite her best efforts and she squeezed her eyes closed, desperately trying to block the tears before they slipped out. Nezha twitched under her hands, no doubt a response to Macaque, and she flinched.

Red Son scooted over, pressing his shoulder into hers wordlessly, and she leaned back, swallowing the sob that threatened to overflow out of her mouth.

Things had been fine.

They’d had no battles, besides the one offs with Jin and Yin or some rebelling Bull Robots that Red had helped them take down or that one time that a demon had kidnapped Tang because he had thought that the human was the weakest among them. He had ended up getting taken down by Pigsy, of all people, who had been very upset that his husband had been stolen on the one date night they had managed to get in the past month.

But things had been fine.

Red Son was healing with his parents, Mk was learning his limits and abilities from Macaque and Monkey King both. The two of them had fully reconciled, which led to long buried romantic feelings bubbling up. Sandy had opened his therapist business even further, Mei had been looking into specific online courses to help her business start, their friends from their journey had been visiting them, sometimes randomly.

And they hadn’t realized, hadn’t realized that Nezha had been visiting less and less, one off excuses and handwavings becoming increasingly more common and smiles dimming until they were barely seen anymore. They hadn’t realized that Nezha seemed distressed with the state of the Heavenly Palace, the way he would jump slightly when they visited, as if not accustomed to the sound of voices other than his own. They hadn’t realized that his spiritual power was so depleted because if it wasn’t, he would have been able to heal from this.

Mei jumped as Macaque’s hands ghosted over hers, gently nudging them aside in order to wrap some more bandages around the younger god’s throat, and she leaned back, falling carefully into Red Son’s embrace, unable to look down at her own hands. Because all she would see would be Nezha’s blood staining her hands, both figuratively and literally.

Because they hadn’t noticed.

“Mei?” Mk asked quietly and she looked up at him, trying desperately to control her breathing. Ignoring her, a tear slid from her eye down her cheek.

“I- I don’t…” Her breath stuttered and she had no idea what she was trying to say. Her hands shook and her mind ran in circles and all she could was Nezha, he’s hurt, he’s been hurt, he’s dying, he’s dying and we let this happen.

“Shh,” Red Son murmured, hugging her tight, pulling her back a little further as Macaque moved again, his eyes scanning over Nezha, who looked more hurt covered in bandages but less likely to die on them. “Nezha will be okay. Macaque’s got him now.”

“He…” Her voice trailed off again. “Why isn’t he healing?” Because she knew gods. She had been subject to Mk’s rants, Tang’s, even Monkey King when he got into a mood. She knew that that they should be able to heal from a lot. And she meant, a lot. So why? Mk’s face showed that he didn’t know anymore than she did.

“I can move him now,” Macaque’s voice announced and Monkey King was instantly at his side, reaching down to pick up the young god. “Not you.” He swatted at Monkey King’s arm. “You’ll go too fast. The ship will just have to take us to the clinic.” The other Celestial Monkey nodded before reaching down again to pick up Nezha, holding him gently. Mk guided Mei to her feet, sliding his hand into hers, and she held on with just as much strength.

“You three, go tell Sandy to prepare to leave,” Monkey King instructed them and the three of them nodded, hurrying out of the room. Mei knew what he was doing, knew that he didn’t want them to have to witness Nezha injured for more than absolutely necessary, and she was grateful for it.

Nezha’s blood still stained her hands, his injuries were still ingrained in her mind.

But now, they had a plan.

They would help their friend. And then, they’d figure out what had happened. Now and before.

They had to.

Chapter Text

He drifted.

It felt like the sea, like he was laying on a boat in the sea. The waves rocked gently under him, but every now and then they’d raise up and smother him, bringing him deeper into their depths.

For some reason, it didn’t bother him.

“Where’s the bandages?”

“In the back.”

A grunt, followed by the feeling of the sea becoming more solid.

“The medicine?”

“Let me do it.”

Shuffled sounds. A banging open door.

“What happened!?”

The sea rumbled underneath him, pressing safety, loneliness, and regret into his heart. He remembered the sea well.

“Peng happened, that flea bitten-”

“Not now, Mei.”

He finally managed to get his eyes open, blinking at the sunset that stretched above him. Ahh, sunset. One of his most favorite times.

“Nezha!” Ao Bing called and he blinked in surprise, turning his head toward the sound. The rocks surrounding him, when did he leave the ocean?, seemed a lot bigger and he hummed in surprise.

His only friend bounded closer, the sunset catching on his horns, and Nezha moved closer, suddenly tipping over his own feet. What…? He looked down, surprise rushing through him as he saw his child-sized hands hovering in front of him, ready to catch him.

“What?” He wondered quietly, but he didn’t have that long to think before Ao Bing was standing in front of him. His confusion must have shown on his face because concern radiated from the dragon.

“Are you okay?” He questioned, his hands coming to land on Nezha’s shoulders. “Is it the people again? I swear, I’m going to-”

“No, no,” Nezha replied, cutting him off and waving his hands slightly. Just doing that made him feel off kilter but… why? Why was he feeling so… out of it?

He frowned in confusion. Could it have been something the other kids had said? He… didn’t remember why he was out here? Disregarding waiting for Ao Bing, of course.

“It… It wasn’t them,” he settled on and Ao Bing gave him one last searching look.

“If you say so,” he responded, still looking like he didn’t completely believe him. The dragon turned, removing his hands from Nezha’s shoulders in the process, and headed closer to the ocean water. Nezha’s heart leapt into his throat and he bounded forward, trying to grasp onto Ao Bing’s hand.

“Ao Bing, wait!” He exclaimed.

“What’s he saying?”

“A name…?”

“It’s been three days and the first thing he says is a name of someone not here?”

“…Ao Bing? Oh.”

“Monkey King, do you… know who that is?”

“What is it?” Ao Bing asked, giving him a bemused look. “The waters not going to hurt me.” Nezha knew that, he knew that. But why…? His eyes moved back to the ocean, the ocean that Ao Bing had come from, but nothing good sprung to his chest like it had the last times he had looked at the ocean. Looked at the thing that had given him his dearest friend.

“I…” His tongue tripped over the words. “Just… don’t go.” He managed to grasp onto his friend’s hand, only for it to disintegrate right in his grip. “Don’t go.”

The waves surged and rushed over him, drawing him deeper into their depths.

“He’s asleep again.”

“Good, hopefully with better dreams.”

“Was this… Ao Bing… really that bad?”

“No. In fact, he was one of Nezha’s dearest friends.”

“That’s the immortal that everyone is so concerned about?” Nezha scoffed, leaning over the cloud and peering down at the… monkey(?) that was currently laying out across the mountainside he made his home, curled up in a sunbeam like a cat. “Him?”

“Yes,” Erlang Shen replied with an eyeroll, his hound curled up asleep at his feet. “Nothing special, is he?”

“So why would the Jade Emperor send me-?”

Jade Emperor. Jade Emperor.

The one you failed, the one you killed. Terrible, pathetic, weak excuse of a god-

“His temperature is spiking again!”

“Damn it. Move, this is-”

“Nezha?”

“Wukong!” He stumbled, the tiles of his broken Lotus Palace tripping him up. Bright light shown in the distance and he felt hate and anger burn through him. Wukong was going to kill them all.

He felt blood build in the back of his throat and he spat it out without a second thought, his wounds from his fight already starting to knit together due to his abilities. That damned monkey-!

“Easy friend, you’re okay.”

The light bounced off his eyes and he twitched, feeling warmth all around him. What-? He hadn’t felt this warm since…

“Nezha?” Something dark fell over him and his eyes screwed up on instinct. Someone made a sound of surprise.

“Wu… kong?”

He blinked again and the Monkey King came into focus. His golden eyes swept over the younger god.

“You scared us bud!” The king exclaimed, leaning down over him. “It’s been almost a week and a half and if you spent anymore time asleep, I’m pretty sure Mk would’ve-”

“Move Wukong,” Macaque snapped out, pushing his partner to the side, and Nezha’s eyes drifted, following the movement.

“Nezha!” Wukong laughed, nervously, Nezha noted, spinning to face him. The mortals, crowded behind him on the train, looked sufficiently scared out of their minds. But his gaze was on Wukong, and Wukong only. He hadn’t…

Damnit.

“Nezha?” A hand tapped him, though it was like being hit through several layers of blankets, and his eyes drifted open again. Everything was…

“Are you back?” The voice wavered in and out of focus and Nezha couldn’t breathe. Erlang, of all the moves for you to pull, setting Flower Fruit Mountain on fire was a little too-

He flinched as a hand landed on his shoulder, Peng’s feathers stabbing him over and over, Macaque’s hand retreating back.

“Easy bud, Plums is just checking one of your wounds.” Peng above him, he was pinned down. Azure was walking past him, easily, and he was going to kill the Emperor-

“It’s pretty old, are you sure this was the first time Peng attacked you?”

Nezha was laying on the ground, staring up at the ceiling, the last bits of leftover adrenaline fleeing his system. Azure was dead, Yellow Tusk was contained, Peng was gone.

The Emperor was dead.

“Nezha?”

In his chest, in his heart, he could feel the power that he had sworn to protect just a few hours earlier. Could feel the power that shouldn’t be there because the Emperor was supposed to be alive. Alive and better.

“Peaches, stop it. I don’t think you’re helping.”

Nezha, at the next interval of the power rushing through him, snarled, tears beading in his eyes, and without a second thought, summoned one of his knives, stabbing it into his shoulder.

“Nezha, what is up with this wound?”

Into the same place where Peng had pinned him down. When Peng had stopped him from fulfilling his duty.

“Nezha!”

“Stabbed…” His breath shook and he blinked at the ground, it switching between the Celestial Realm and staring at the ceiling in a room.

“Stabbed? Who? Who stabbed you?”

He blinked, rolling his eyes backwards slightly. His head felt like it was filled with cotton.

“Me,” he replied. Who was he even talking to?

“…WHAT?!”

“Wukong-!”

“What’s wrong?” Ao Bing asked, blinking slowly at him as the two of them laid on the beach, curled up carefully under the rock formation in an effort to keep hidden from all the prying eyes. And unfortunately, there were a lot of them.

“Nothing,” he replied, fighting the urge to cover his eyes with his arms. He just… didn’t want to deal… any of this.

“I don’t think that’s true.” Nezha could hear the smile that was in Ao Bing’s voice and he rolled his head over so he could give his friend a deadpan stare. An affect that was greatly lessened by the fact that he was a child.

“Everything’s fine,” he said and Ao Bing’s face flickered for a second, as if deciding whether or not to believe him before the dragon simply shook his head gently. His hand reached out and placed itself on top of Nezha’s head, fingers curling through the rough strands.

“If you say so,” Ao Bing murmured and Nezha huffed, victory singing through his veins. He did say so, thank you very much.

“Nezha.” He sat up, beach vanishing in a second. A hand pressed into his back, the feeling of floatiness returning to his body and he hummed, mouth feeling sticky and dirty. “You’re really scaring all of us.” The voice was… feminine? “You haven’t woken up since that… really scary moment where you… Did you really?” The voice trailed off, sounding like she was choking on her words and Nezha twitched. For some reason, hearing that voice sound so sad felt… wrong.

“Mei’s right.” Another voice. The ocean beneath him rose up but he, for once, pushed back, trying to keep his head above water. “And you… Macaque says, now that he knows what to look for, he says… a lot of your wounds were old. Peng just… aggravated them. As well as adding his own.”

“Why Nezha?” The feminine voice asked, though maybe begged was a better choice of words. Something encircled his hand and he looked down through smog and smoke, seeing nothing but getting the impression of someone holding it tight.

“Why?” It felt… He needed to answer. To the kids whom he had tried to protect. Tried to save, over and over again. What sort of a god was he, that he couldn’t protect these kids?

“Boy, look out!” He moved, shoving Mk back. He might not know that much about Wukong’s successor but it was clear he had some skill. Skill and heart.

So he threw him backwards, even as he felt the ice shoot up his veins, felt Wukong’s hands slam into his back.

“Why?” There was the sound of sobbing. No, no, no, he was supposed to protect them. So don’t tell them. He was supposed to make them feel better.

“Failed,” he rasped out, the words like glass being pulled from his unwilling throat. There were sounds, shiftings, an aborted gasp, and the screech of a chair leg.

“Macaque! Monkey King!” No, he had to tell the kids. Had to make them understand. What a terrible choice they had made, deciding to know him.

“Failed to save the Emperor, failed to save Red Son.” There was a bitten of curse and then the hand that was holding his was suddenly a lot warmer.

“No! You didn’t fail anyone, you… you-”

“Failed the power, failed to stop Peng, failed to save Mk from Wukong, failed to…”

“What’s he saying?” There were more footsteps. Failure, failure.

“Nezha, bud, stay awake. Now.”

He groaned, rubbing his temples as he paced around the room. The map to the Samadhi Fire sat in the center of the room, untouched, unspoiled, and covered from corner to corner in the best seals he could think of. No one would be getting through it.

And yet…

He turned again, his feet clacking against the ground being the only sound in the room. Everything from the past months turned over his head again and again. Saving the boy, hiding the rings, taking the map, spending over a week working on those seals.

And yet…

How could he be sure they were safe? How could he know?

“This is your fault,” he mutter mulishly, a tiny remnant of his broken childhood coming through as he glared at the map. No, no, cutting that off right there. It was an honor to guard the map, to be trusted to this task by the JadE EmpERoR.

The Jade Emperor was dead. Peng’s feathers pinned him to the ground, his ribbon falling in pieces around him.

He couldn’t breathe. He could see their smug smirks, the way he had failed and failed and failed-

“He’s waking up again!”

“Fully?”

“He hasn’t been awake fully at all.”

He punched the wall of the throne room, taking pleasure in the way his skin split at the knuckles. Every piece of pain, everything he hadn’t felt. He should have felt worse, he should have been left to rot in his pain after he couldn’t protect the one person his job had been to protect.

The Jade Emperor’s power swelled in him and he bit his lip, stifling sobs and shaking shoulders as he sunk down to the ground, leaning against the wall now decorated with his blood.

He couldn’t do anything right.

“He’s crying.”

“Nezha, Nezha wake up.”

“Hey, are you… okay?” Wukong rocked back and forth on his heels as he leaned on the doorframe, scratching the back of his head and looking like he would rather be anywhere else than there. “I know I was hard on you, back during planning but-”

“Why do you care?” Nezha asked, voice cracking under the strain. Wukong sucked in a breath before looking to the side.

“Because I just care, okay? And I know that it must have been… grating, to hear us plan and be unable to help.” Because you failed. Because you let Peng hurt you, let Azure walk right past you. Couldn’t help Red Son. Couldn’t help Mk. Worthless, useless failure.

“Nezha, hey bud, of course we care. Everyone cares and I know…”

Ao Bing hit the ground with a thud, looking back up with a halfhearted growl and pain in his eyes. Tears swam in Nezha’s and he wanted nothing more than to snap his staff in half, reach down and grab his friend, before streaking off to the smallest, most unknown corner of the world where they wouldn’t have to fight anymore.

He glared at Ao Bing instead. “Why won’t you hurt me?” He snapped. If he was going to hurt Ao Bing, Ao Bing at least deserved to get some of his own hits in then. And if Nezha’s guard happened to slip when that happened, well… Ao Bing was always the better of the two of them anyway. It would be better if he survived.

He moved down and his opponent turned into Peng, the Golden-Winged Eagle laughing as he and Nezha faced off. Around them, the sounds of battle permeated through the air and Nezha needed to wrap this up quick, needed to go find Red Son and protect him. Needed to find the Jade Emperor and protect him.

But then Azure came into the picture and grasped him by the throat and threw him into the wall and he looked up to see Red Son vanishing and no, please, and Peng’s feathers pinned him to the ground and the Jade Emperor died.

“Nezha!”

“Okay, kids out.”

“What?”

His hand smarted and he shook it out and he stalked through the walls of the Celestial Realm. His only balm to his still healing pride was the fact that the Monkey had been caught and soon, after they got him out of the Brazier he would be nothing more than a pit of nothingness that had used to be a Celestial Monkey.

Good riddance.

“Nezha.”

“Plums, his wounds.”

His knife sunk into his flesh as he sat against the throne. Not on it, no he didn’t deserve that honor, not at al. Instead, he sat at the foot of it, next to the arm. Where he should have been. Then, when they attacked. Before, as it was his role. Now, because that was all he deserved.

The wound from Azure reopened with an easy flick and Nezha sighed, leaning his head back to press it against the throne. Now, with the power flowing through him, he could almost pretend that the Emperor was still there and he was sitting there in the calm quiet, ever a faithful servant, waiting until he was needed.

“I’m putting him to sleep.”

“He’s already asleep.”

Ao Bing’s blood dripped from his hands and he sunk down to the ground, shock rushing through him. NO, no no no. Why him? Why couldn’t Ao Bing just have killed him?

“No, so he won’t dream.”

Wukong’s easy grin as they stood around the ritual irked him to no end and he wanted nothing more than to smack it off his face.

“If that really necessary?”

The kids’ magics flooded the air as they faced down the Lady Bone Demon and even though there was still ice on his arms, still pain in his heart, still drainage in his own power, he reached out and added some. He had to. Had to help the kids. Had to help when he failed before.

“Yes.” A sigh. “And, when he wakes, we’ll get answers.”

Mk’s head rested in his lap as the boy snoozed, completely drained from that day’s training session with Wukong. Mei leaned on his side, half in his lap, half off, somehow not managing to shove Mk out. Red Son curled up on his other side, one of his hands loosely curled into Nezha’s shirt. His ribbon carefully made sure the demon wouldn’t fall from his precarious position.

He sighed, smiling, looking down at the kids. He would protect them.

“We’ll get answers.”

His wounds twinged against the magic he poured into them, keeping them open as long as possible.

The ocean rose up and swallowed him whole.

Chapter Text

Nezha became aware of things slowly, one sense at a time. He felt the bed beneath him before he heard the wind rustling through the open window. He smelled the tang of disinfectant before he registered the blackness in his eyes.

He opened his eyes just as slowly as he regained his senses, letting one inch of light before moving on. The brown ceiling came into focus, as did the sun streaming across it, and the first thing he thought was, ‘The Heavenly Realm doesn’t have ceilings like those.’

Because it wouldn’t have been the first time he woke sprawled on the floor, sides or arms aching from his own directed anger and helplessness. It wouldn’t have been the first time he didn’t remember the night prior, mostly because he knew the memories would be too painful to recall. It wouldn’t have been the first time that he woke up and wished he hadn’t.

He blinked his eyes again, trying to place where he was from the ceiling alone. He knew it was a futile measure, but he had to try. Who had taken him? Where was he?

A voice from his side answered the question.

“Nezha?” He turned to look to the noise and saw the Six-Eared Macaque rising from a seat at his side, eyes wide and six ears flicking in surprise. What was Macaque doing there?

“Ma…caque?” He questioned, feeling his throat protest firmly at his use of his voice. Macaque’s ears flicked higher in deeper shock, and he reached forward, placing a hand on Nezha’s forehead. The god didn’t have enough energy to stop him.

“What are you doing awake, bud?” Macaque asked and Nezha belatedly realized that his voice was softer and gentler than any time Nezha had heard him speak. “We guessed it wouldn’t be for a day or two more.”

“’We’?” Out of all the pieces of information he had been able to glean in the past thirty seconds, that was the part that worried him the most. Because what ‘we’ could Macaque be thinking of except…

“Shh, that doesn’t matter right now,” Macaque murmured, moving his hand down to instead pull back the blanket that covered Nezha, giving what Nezha assumed was his side a critical look. “Your wound seems mostly okay, but… strange that you’re awake now.”

Of course, Nezha hadn’t heard that last part, as his mind had screeched to a halt the second Macaque had mentioned his ‘wounds’.

Loneliness.

Anger.

Peng.

Words above him.

Wukong.

“Wait,” he rasped out and tried to squirm out of Macaque’s reach. But his body had no energy, a body he was just now realizing felt much more healed than Nezha had ever allowed it to be, and he barely made a twitch.

But Macaque was a doctor and thus, very observant. “What is it?” He asked, pulling his hand back and replacing the sheet. His hands hovered over him, like they wanted to do something, but Macaque didn’t make another move. “What’s wrong?”

Nothing, you just might have seen some things that I definitely didn’t want you to see, he thought, but didn’t respond. Instead, he shook his head slightly.

“What happened?” He knew he had been attacked; he knew he was dying. Finally. But after that…

“We rescued you,” Macaque told him, sitting back after a second. Allowing his eyes to roam, Nezha could see that there were more chairs scattered around the room, which looked to be one of the recovery rooms in Macaque’s clinic, several of them pulled close to the bed like people had been sitting in them. But who would visit him? “Peng had attacked you, left you to die. We found you and brought you back here.”

“How?” He asked. How could they have possibly known? He hadn’t called for them, he wouldn’t have anyway, but he had been too busy trying to con…tain the… Emperor’s Power-

That he couldn’t feel.

Within a second, he had shoved his hands into the mattress beneath him and attempted to shove himself up. Macaque squawked, a sound that Nezha remembered happening several times whenever Wukong would do something particularly heinous in the Celestial Monkey’s eyes, and jumped up again, grasping Nezha’s shoulders and shoving him back down. Even if he had been in a true fighting shape, he would have trouble fighting Macaque’s strength when he was in ‘Medic Mode’, so he stood no chance now. He fell back onto the bed extremely disgracefully and Macaque leaned over him, panic sparking in his purple eyes.

Why are you worried for me?

“What the heck?!” Macaque barked out, staring deeply into Nezha’s eyes enough that the Lotus Prince wanted to look away. “Lay down, Princeling! You’re in no shape to go anywhere!”

“The Power!” Nezha gasped out, panic starting to build and rile in his chest. What had happened, where was it? He couldn’t lose it too, not after everything! Not when it was the last thing he could do correctly! “Where is it?! Where?! I can’t- I can’t feel it!” He didn’t mean for his breath to hitch on the last sentence but could already feel the burning in the back of his eyes. He wanted to get away from Macaque’s eyes, from his grip, because it was gentle and he didn’t deserve it, especially if he’d lost the Power he was supposed to protect, the last thing-

“Wukong has it!” Macaque exclaimed, pressing down further when Nezha made another attempt to sit up. No, no, not when Wukong had already done what he was supposed to do, over and over again. Not when Wukong had been nothing but tired and wanted nothing more than to train his successor in peace!

“No,” Nezha gasped out and while confusion swam through Macaque’s eyes, he didn’t let Nezha up.

“No?” He questioned, tipping his head to the side. Nezha didn’t want to flinch, he couldn’t, but Peng had tipped his head to the side as he laughed at his feathers pinned Nezha to the ground, as his ribbon fell down around him, and Azure approached, going to kill the Emperor, and Nezha couldn’t do anything about it-!

“Nezha!” Someone snapped out and he flung himself backwards, something that didn’t really happen as he was still laying down on a bed, but now there wasn’t anyone holding him down. He still felt heavy and warm and safe and unhurt and he wanted to grab one of his knives and fix that because he couldn’t be fine when he had failed so badly but-

“Nezha?” A different voice asked, and his eyes flew open from where they had been tightly closed and he could see the young successor that Wukong was so proud of and that Nezha had been so protective of and who had saved them over and over again and-

“Nezha?” Mk asked again and Nezha realized one of his hands was held in the young warrior’s grip and that Macaque suddenly wasn’t the only person in the room anymore because Wukong had been the one to snap him out of his flashback and Mei was frozen in the doorway and Pigsy was at her side and Mk was still holding his hand and-

And he felt shame and anger and sadness swell up in him and he opened his mouth to apologize only for unconsciousness to appear and sweep him up in its hold.

~

Macaque cursed violently as Nezha slipped back into sleep and moved forward again, nudging his mate to the side so he could reach his patient. Wukong and Mk had taken the different sides of the bed once they entered, and Macaque needed their help in snapping Nezha out of his flashback. But now he needed to make sura Nezha hadn’t pulled anything.

“What happened?” Mei whispered and Red Son appeared from whatever shadow he had been lurking in, reaching over and pulled his partner into a side hug.

“A flashback,” Wukong said grimly, not resisting when Macaque moved him. He knew them well, as both Macaque and him had gotten them at different points in their life.

“From what?” Pigsy asked and Macaque gritted his teeth as he checked over Nezha’s bandages. The sad thing was that it could be from anything. If the mutterings and dreams Nezha’d had while recovering was any indication, he clearly hadn’t been dealing well with anything that had happened to the young Prince over the course of his life.

“Is he okay?” Mk asked Macaque as the Monkey sat back and Macaque knew he was only asking physically, but the doctor couldn’t bring himself to say ‘yes’ when it was so clear that Nezha was not okay.

Macaque knew what self-harm scars looked like, he knew what the proper amount of time was for certain wounds to heal, he knew what dehydration and starvation looked like on a Celestial. He knew all this and so he withered when he checked over Nezha every morning and night. How had they let it get to this?

“That… remains to be seen,” he settled on and Mk looked back at the sleeping Lotus Prince.

“We’ll have to wait until he’s awake again,” Wukong said, giving the other immortal a similar look. “And then we’ll figure out what to do.”

Chapter Text

When Nezha managed to open his eyes again, he didn’t wince any less than he had before when the sunlight once again fell into his gaze, but this time he was cognizant enough to make no more moves other than that. He slid his eyes back shut and tried to take stock of the situation.

I’m in Macaque’s clinic because they found me in the Heavenly Realm, he thought to himself. They have treated my injuries and Wukong now holds the Jade Emperor’s power. He paused, letting his hands curl into fists. He could feel the bandages wrapping his arms. They probably have figured out, or Macaque at least has figured out, that not all my wounds are from Peng. He opened his eyes, staring at the ceiling. Not the best situation to be in.

With a single deep breath as preparation, he pushed himself up into a sitting position, wincing again at the slight pain that went up his arms and spine when he did so. Definitely nowhere close to being fully healed, though he hadn’t wanted to be.

To his relief, there was no one else in the room with him. Like before, there were several chairs scattered around the room, but it was blissfully empty.

He reached up and pressed the heels of his hands into his eyes as his head swam slightly from the change in position. How long have I been asleep? He wondered. He recalled dreaming, dreaming of basically everything that had ever happened to him, but… other than that, nothing really. Except for that one interaction when he had first woken there.

A muffled sound came from outside the room and Nezha froze, eyes shooting to the door. Please, let no one find him. Let no one come in. They had already seen him weak enough, they didn’t need to see anymore. But the door didn’t swing open at all and with a blink, Nezha realized the sound had actually slipped through the window, the glass and wood not being able to stop all the sound.

Pulled by curiosity and the need to get up, he pushed the blanket slowly away from him. To his displeasure, his armor was missing and he was in one of his simple outfits. He briefly wondered how the others had gotten their hands on some of his clothes before remembering who they hung out with. Wukong probably got them from his palace, of course he did.

Swinging his legs over the side of the bed, he pressed his hand firmly down on the mattress and shoved himself up. He staggered almost immediately, his knees weak and unused to standing, but he managed to catch himself, throwing his arms out for balance. He was grateful yet again that no one was in the room. No need for them to see that embarrassing display.

He stepped over to the window, only narrowing his eyes slightly against the light streaming in from the glass. Thankfully, though he hated to realize it, the window had a seat attached to it, perfect for sitting and looking. Listening to his body, probably one of the first times he had ever done that, he sank into it, leaning his head against the window.

He was so pathetic, a walk of fifteen feet shouldn’t have tired him out so much. His thoughts swirled in familiar patterns.

Though his heart lightened slightly when he could see Mk, Mei, and Red Son all out of the grass, reveling in the sun. The courtyard of Macaque’s home had a perfect garden in the center of it for maximum sun exposure and Nezha knew that the young adults loved to take advantage of it. As did Wukong.

It had been the trio’s words thrown back and forth between them he had heard, and as he watched, he saw Mei laugh at whatever Mk had said, throwing her head back and leaning into the sunlight. He could see several of Sandy’s cats out there with them.

Unconsciously, a smile tugged at the corner of his lips as he watched the three partners. He had always done his best to protect them through every challenge that had been thrown their way and he was glad that they were now able to enjoy the peace that they had helped create.

Behind him, a door opened with a creak, and he looked over in an instant.

Predictably, Macaque looked at the bed first, so Nezha could see the way his eyes widened in shock when he saw it empty. He also saw the second later, when Macaque, on instinct, looked over the rest of the room and saw him sitting at the window.

“Nezha,” Macaque breathed out, in an instant hurrying in his direction. “Don’t scare me like that, I was worried you had run back off to the Celestial Realm.”

Nezha strategically decided not to mention that it had been his plan originally, but he had gotten distracted.

“Macaque,” he greeted calmly, for lack of something else to say, and Macaque paused a couple of paces in front of him. He looked like he was debating whether or not to say something.

“Can I check your injuries?” He settled on in the end and Nezha bit back the urge to say no. It wouldn’t help his case in the slightest and truly, Macaque could force the issue if he wanted to. That was probably the next step, if Nezha declined. It might just be easier to go along with it.

“Alright,” he acquiesced, preparing to stand up and hopefully make it back to the bed without falling, but to his surprise Macaque simply sat down in the window seat across from him, as the seat was big enough to probably be classified as a bench, and gently grasped one of Nezha’s arms, slowly unwinding the bandages from around the appendage.

“Your back, stomach, and chest should be okay at this point,” Macaque told him as he worked, carefully snipping the pieces of white fabric with his claws. “I had you in an enchanted sleep until I knew for a fact that they would be healed fully, so you had a less possible chance to…” He trailed off then, looking like he wanted to bite his tongue, before forcefully shaking his head slightly and focusing back on the arm.

Nezha flinched. He didn’t want to… He really didn’t want to, but he would be a fool to think otherwise. Macaque was a wonderful healer, there was no way he didn’t realize.

“So, you know,” Nezha said softly, unable to look up from where his other hand was picking at the cushion slightly, unwilling to meet the medic’s gaze, and he felt Macaque’s movements slow for the briefest of seconds.

“…Yes, I do,” Macaque replied, starting up his unwinding again and a moment later, the bandage was fully gone from Nezha’s arm. He didn’t bother to look. He knew what scars were painted across his skin, what story they told. “Nezha…”

“Don’t.” Nezha’s voice was rough, probably not as convincing as he wanted it to be but… “Just… don’t.”

For a second, Nezha was worried that Macaque was going to push. “For now,” he eventually answered, letting go of Nezha’s arm after his inspection was done. To Nezha’s surprise, he didn’t wind bandages back around it and the god finally looked up to gaze at his arm.

Closed wounds and careful patterns of scar tissue greeted him.

If Macaque had wanted to say anything now that Nezha had gotten a look at the damage, he didn’t say it, instead unwrapping Nezha’s other arm and doing another quick exam. It wasn't really needed, both arms were healed of injuries, but Nezha knew that it was just Macaque being a medic.

Once Macaque released his second arm, Nezha pulled both of his arms into his chest, crossing his arms tightly across his body. Macaque sighed. “Does anything else hurt?” He asked and Nezha shook his head.

More footsteps sounded from the hallway, from the door Macaque had left open, and Nezha winced again. Hopefully it wasn’t one of the kids, having come in during the time he looked away. That would be the worst.

Wukong entered the room.

Never mind, Nezha was mistaken. Nezha would take one of the kids coming in over this.

“Nezha!” Wukong exclaimed, a blinding smile taking over his face. Thankfully, he ended up closing the door behind him as he entered the room fully, so no one else would be coming in without some sort of warning. Hopefully.

“You’re awake! I thought it would take a couple more days but it’s not like I’m upset that you’re awake,” Wukong rattled off as he crossed over to their spot. His eyes were bright with happiness but Nezha could also see the worry, concern, and fear that was hidden in them. Nezha got the childish urge to pull his knees up to his chest, like he could hide behind them and block out the conversation he knew was happening. He didn’t give into the urge, though it was fierce battle.

A second later, Wukong settled himself on the bench near him, between Nezha and Macaque, and Nezha wanted to snarl at him to get away. He knew what Wukong would say, he knew what Macaque wanted to say. He didn’t want to hear it, however, because neither of them would understand and he couldn’t-

“Nezha?” Wukong asked, voice suddenly gentle, and Nezha looked up at him. He hadn’t realized his eyes had dipped down to his lap. “Hey bud, glad you’re actually awake this time. And lucid.”

“Yeah, I’m awake,” Nezha agreed after a second, trying to figure out how to spin this for them to let him go easily enough. “And I’m okay now, Macaque checked me over, so I can take the Emperor’s Power back from you, I know it must have been a drag holding onto it, and then I’ll be out of all your hair.”

He knew instantly that wasn’t going to work if the way Macaque’s and Wukong’s faces fell at his words. Damnit.

“Nezha…” Wukong said slowly, looking back at his mate quickly before back to the younger immortal. “I don’t think… we can do that.”

And Nezha knew that was coming, knew that Wukong was much too good to let him go, even if he didn’t really understand what was going on, but it still made his heart wither and his shoulders slump slightly.

“Nezha, we can’t let you go, not now,” Macaque told him, peering over his mate’s shoulder to see the Lotus Prince better. “Not with… your habits-”

“You make it sound like I was just using magic irresponsibly or something,” Nezha cut him off with an eyeroll, resisting the urge to look away. New plan, manipulate their emotions until they have to leave. Then take that time to run. “Why do you even care?” He already didn’t know how well this plan was going.

“Of course we care!” Wukong snapped, looking at Nezha with wide eyes. His hands moved, like he wanted to reach out and take hold of the Lotus Prince (Either to hug him or strangle him, Nezha wasn’t sure) but managed to stop that impulse. “Do you think we don’t?”

Nezha gave him his best impression of a flat look. It would probably be more effective if he was in full armor and hadn’t been taken care of by them for the past unknown amount of time. “You and I don’t have the best track record.”

“We may have a spat now and then,” Wukong conceded, but looked as determined as ever. “But I still care about you. You helped me countless times, especially during the Journey to the West and even more times since then. When did you get the feeling that I didn’t care?”

Nezha looked away. He could explain why he thought Wukong didn’t care about him, but unfortunately he had a feeling that it would only make his situation worse. If only Wukong didn’t care so much about people, especially people who didn’t deserve it like him.

His eyes caught on the window and the three young adults outside it. By the shifting of the cushion from next to him, he was able to guess that Wukong had looked in the same direction as he did.

“They care about you,” Wukong said after a second. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen them this worried.”

“That’s because they’re usually worried about you and you don’t to be in the area when that happens,” Nezha shot back, not looking away. Wukong sighed.

“Nezha,” Wukong started. “You’ve been hurting yourself.”

Nezha flinched. He knew what he was doing, he deserved it, but hearing Wukong say it like that, in his disappointed tone…

“Why, Nezha?” Wukong’s voice suddenly was a lot closer and Nezha looked over to see that Wukong had shifted closer to him, staring at him carefully. “What happened?”

“Azure killed the Emperor,” Nezha replied shortly and Wukong sat back slightly in surprise.

“Was this… because of the Emperor’s Power then?” Macaque asked and panic raced through Nezha. No, they couldn’t think that! Then they’d never give it back to him and he’d be even more of a failure than he was.

“No!” Nezha snapped with the best glare he could muster but, like before, he knew it wasn’t as effective as it could be. Especially against two of the Celestial Monkeys.

“Then why?” Wukong questioned and Nezha grit his teeth.

“Azure killed the Emperor,” he repeated, looking back down to the ground. Maybe if he just repeated the same thing over and over, they’d leave it alone.

“We’re going to need a little more than that, bud,” Wukong told him but Nezha refused to say anymore. Wukong sighed and a second later Nezha felt his hand land on Nezha’s upper arm. Nezha looked up at the silent prodding, doing his best to keep his face flat and emotionless as he gazed into Wukong’s eyes. The older immortal looked truly concerned, something that made Nezha want to curl into a ball and hide, but Nezha couldn’t say anything.

“Why does that matter?” Macaque asked him and Nezha wanted to snarl at him because of course it mattered, it had been Nezha’s job to protect the emperor but he couldn’t say that out loud, not with them. Unfortunately, it seemed something had flashed across his face and both sets of eyes of the Celestial Monkeys widened.

“Nezha, how specifically does this relate to the emperor?” Wukong asked him and Nezha bit down on his tongue, hard. “Nezha?”

“Why won’t you just leave it?” He snarled, finally snapping and yanking his arm out of Wukong’s reach, the momentum sending him nearly falling off the bench ungracefully, but he managed to catch himself, allowing him to get off the thing without looking too much like a dying bird. “It doesn’t matter, not to you.”

“If matters to me because it’s you,” Wukong countered, standing as well, and Nezha resisted the urge to cringe away from the older, stronger, and more powerful immortal. In the state he was, he wouldn’t win a fight. No chance.

“Well I’m not telling!” Nezha spat. “If you would just let me take the Power and leave, you could stop worrying about it!”

“We’re not going to do that,” Macaque told him evenly, staying sitting when the other two didn’t. “You could go and hurt yourself again.”

Of course I would, Nezha thought but didn’t say it out loud. That’s the whole point.

Wukong sighed again. “You’re really not going to tell us?” He asked and Nezha let his glare speak for him. “Fine. Then you’ll stay here.”

Nezha froze at that. “What?” He hissed and Macaque closed his eyes for the quickest second before standing, heading towards the door he had entered from.

“You’ll stay here,” Wukong repeated and Nezha could almost see him shifting his position slightly, like he was shifting from Wukong to Monkey King. “Where you can’t hurt yourself and we can keep an eye on you. Once you talk to us and accept help, we could let you out but until then…”

Nezha wanted to try and call him out, call his bluff, but… Wukong wouldn’t bluff about this, not when he was in that mood. But still… “You can’t keep me here,” he growled and Wukong’s face was a carefully crafted mask of blank emotion.

“We can and we will,” he told the younger immortal. “When we were healing you, Macaque and I placed a seal on your powers, to help with the healing process. We haven’t taken it off.” Nezha hadn’t felt his powers before, but he thought that was because he was tired and healing, not- “Let us help you, Nezha.”

Nezha paused for the quickest second. He could… He could… You deserve this, Wukong would have protected the Jade Emperor, how are you failing this badly that now you’re as powerful as a mortal and stuck in a room?

“I don’t need it,” he replied and Wukong looked away, crossing his arms.

“Fine,” he muttered, and he sounded like he was holding back some type of emotion, but Nezha couldn’t see anything on his face before Wukong turned on his heel and left the room, following Macaque out.

A lock slid into place behind him.

Nezha crumpled to the floor, finally giving into the urge and pulling his knees up to his chest, burying his face in them. Wonderful, another thing he messed up. Now he’s stuck in there because the others hadn’t realized how much of a screw up he was and Wukong still held the Power instead of letting Nezha deal with the one thing he could do in penance and he wanted to cry and-

He let his head fall against the wall behind him and closed his eyes. He wished he could punch through the wall and escape, like he had whenever else he had gotten into a predicament like this but Wukong hadn’t been lying, he had no access to his powers, and he had no weapons.

Maybe you should just accept their offer of help?

He shoved the thought away instantly. He didn’t need help, he didn’t deserve it, he couldn’t do anything right, he couldn’t-

He wished he was back in the caves with Ao Bing, before he had ever seen his first Celestial Spirit and the concept of immortality hadn’t even crossed his mind.