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The day MK picked up the staff, Sun Wu Kong’s life force had already started its descent.
Barely noticeable at first, his wounds heal only a few milliseconds later than usual, his powers just barely slower than usual to heed his commands. He does not notice at first, deep into retirement.
MK’s development was fast, driven by impossible situations. Wu Kong’s situation decelerated faster. Most days feeling lethargic more than anything, even when simply resting on Flower-Fruit Mountain, surrounded by monkeys he’d raised generations of.
His divine energy flickered during the fight with Ne Zha, as if threatening to disappear. He’d almost faltered back then, until they returned full force, scorching his body with power. He bit back screams as they burned through his lungs, his eyes teared up with the burning sensation, like he had swallowed bubbling lava.
It was a bit harder not to notice the glaring differences after that. Not with how his limbs ached and trembled after training sessions with MK, the exhaustion almost carved deep into his bones with how it’s never lifted despite the hours he spent napping to replenish his energy, the fierce headaches reminiscent of the golden circlet after every use of his power. Though, it was still easy to hide his troubles, at least for now.
Wu Kong had a suspicion, one he did not want to confirm.
MK continued to grow, and Wu Kong’s pride and confidence towards his dearest disciple never faltered even when the other was caught up in a hurdle. A wide, proud grin permanently inked on his face as he watched a titan-sized Azure be made a joke of by none other than his disciple.
That night, curled up against a sleeping MK and with Mei’s legs in his lap, his nails started to dust off, decaying right before his eyes. He felt his hair fall off in patches without even seeing it himself. Head ringing against his skull, vision blurry, blotches of colors splattered all over it. It felt like a small explosion was going off behind his ears every time he breathed in.
Breathe in, and out. One step at a time, Wu Kong.
His fingers came into view, more shaken than he’d ever seen them being, trembling violently. Distantly, he felt his entire body quivering just as hard. For the first time since being born into the world as the stone monkey, Wu Kong felt the fear of death lingering right over his shoulder.
“Mmm…Monkey King?” MK’s yawn followed by a sleepy question jerked him fully aware, vision suddenly clearing. He was quick to glamour, as if it were a naturally born instinct.
“Yeah, bud?” Tone softened unconsciously, surprisingly more stable than he’d thought it would be.
“Why’re you.. Not ‘eeping?..” The other tried to ask through another yawn, face scrunched up as he tried not to fall back asleep.
Wu Kong reached down to ruffle the kid’s hair, only for his hands to abruptly flicker in and out of existence, briefly disappearing in front of his eyes. The king gasped sharply, cold wind filling into his lungs, heart shuddering painfully against his ribcage.
It fortunately went unnoticed by the drowsy kid. Another breath out, his hands were back, and he threaded through the soft lump of hair settled right underneath his chin, humming lightly before giving a half-hearted reply, “Was just gonna..” It seemed to be answer enough, the kid relaxing easily and drifted off to dreamland.
“Something’s up with you.” Mihou’s voice sounded from the shadows of his cave, Wu Kong gritted his teeth, irritated, as he brushed through another knot in the growing cub’s fur.
“Get out of my house!” His annoyance barely shone through (there was none, not for him) his tone, pitching near the end of his shout. The teenage monkeys fled from his lap at the raised tone, briefly terrified.
“ Not , an answer to my question.” The other’s face remained stoic, glistening against the stark darkness. A hint of concern present, which must say a lot seeing as they were both still adamantly keeping up the pretense of hating one another.
“Question?” Wu Kong’s tone turned snarky, a habit he ought to change whilst being confronted, as advised by everyone he’d ever met. He smirked,“I didn’t hear a question being asked?”
Mihou growled, teeth bared against smooth lips.
“Your powers, you rarely use them anymore. You’ve been giving more excuses from training than lessons to that kid you’re so fond of, and you stay cooped up in your mountain for weeks, weeks ! Even before this-” Mihou cut off at the end, earning a raised brow from Wu Kong. He’d thought all evidence of aging (was it suitable to call it that?) had been hidden well enough under glamour, though he knew he could never hide anything well enough from Macaque, after all.
As if annoyed by Wu Kong’s sudden bouts of silence, Mihou finally stepped out of the shadows, practically pouncing on the Monkey King. “So?” His face was right in front of Wu Kong, “What’s the current mystery with our king ? What trouble has found its way to you now?”
Wu Kong grimaced, the title used against him like gravel against his scalp. Guilt churned inside of him, he had honestly not expected weeks to pass by as swiftly as it did, too busy preparing the mountain for his eventual absence, giving out orders to the monkeys so they would not end up maiming each other when order was gone, and… Other stuff! That he happened to be doing.
“Sorry… Didn’t expect time to go by so fast, I guess.” Words filled with uncertainty tasted weird on his tongue. Though, he figured it was no competition when paired with what he’s living through right now.
Mihou stared back at him, golden eyes narrowed as he observed Wu Kong, mulling over the other’s words. Wu Kong stared back, a slight smile on his face. Heart almost beating with anticipation as he allowed some glamour to fall through, revealing deep, dark bags coating the under of his eyes. A risky move on his part, but who could he trust if not his Mihou?
The other’s eyes were wide with shock, pupils shaking violently, a faltering grimace deep into his face.
“Wha..what’s happening, Wu Kong?” His voice shook, shaking Wu Kong’s heart with it.
“Nothing much, Mac, tell the kid we’ll be back to training soon.” His voice was scratchy against his vocal chords, thralling a harsh ache through his temple. His smile remained, strong and earnest, eyes curved into crescent moons, “I’ll be fine.”
A hmph, faux pout, and Mihou was gone.
Wu Kong was briefly aware that might’ve been the last conversation they’ll ever share.
MK was inheriting his powers, in a literal way. To speak frankly, MK was replacing him in the world, both physically and literally! His powers left him day by day, and the various shields of immortality stripped second by second, supplying MK instead.
Which left Wu Kong in this predicament.
His hands shook around the pen he was stubbornly holding on only with willpower. He thought he’d have more time to say his goodbyes. Wu Kong knew he was not strong enough to say farewells face to face, having no experience for them after all. More than that, he knew it would do more harm to MK than it’d do good in comforting Wu Kong, he’d rather not have the haunted look of guilt etched into his mind during the Monkey King’s final moments.
He felt his legs stiffening first, tears gathered in his eyes as shaky breaths clouded his vision, his pen moved fast, words blurring together as he messily wrote down what he’d been trying to say for months. Why had he really been afraid of saying it before? Pride? Fear of being acknowledged as a being capable of love? None of it mattered as time ticked down, death trickled right by his neck.
His torso grew numb, crawling up his spine, to the back of his neck.
Right as Wu Kong finished the final letter, he was no longer.
The world felt the Monkey King’s death. Skies turned gray, decorated with lightning streaks, rain pattered and howled with the wind. The citizens mourned, unaware but feeling nonetheless.
More importantly, MK felt the moment his mentor died; Macque felt the moment his other half moved on; and Ne Zha felt the moment Sun Wu Kong perished, vanishing from the world.
Shouts, a flurry of noises, chairs scrapped over, hushed voices and crying pleas. The three arrived in the room at the same time, followed closely by others.
A table made of the island’s oldest tree, paper crafted from the finest trees, ink grinded by the most delicate of stones. And letters written by the longest living legend from the stories.
Piles of letters sat atop the table, only one remained open. ‘MK’, written shakily but determined sat at the top of the page. MK took it with shaky hands, reading through it with further blurring vision. At the end, the sight of ‘I love you’ written in shaky handwriting, messy and unpolished, as if written in a rush as a desperate chant, punched out sobs from the growing boy, unable to express distress in any other way.
Macaque’s letter was almost ripped to shreds. Ne Zha would avoid the opening of his letter for years, decades to come.
A small stone egg sat in the empty chair.
Millenniums following this event.
MK sat with Xiang Yu Kong, the successor to the Harbinger of Chaos, his disciple, an arm wrapped around the other’s shoulders.
Even after generations and generations of living, MK’s eyes still shone with the same intensity as it did before. Even after millennia of loneliness, Yu Kong’s mentor smiled just as brightly as the day he accidentally picked up the staff belonging to the Harbinger of Chaos.
His family partied around the campfire somewhere behind them, the Harbinger of Chaos was distant after the events that transpired during the day. Yu Kong had felt the need to check up on him.
“Harbinger of Chaos?” His mentor perked up from beside him, turning his full attention towards Yu Kong, smile ever present on his lips.
“Ummm, are you feeling alright?” His hands wrapped around the edge of the cliff in between his swinging legs, “I hope you know no one blamed you for being all,” He paused, glancing towards the other, “Possessed, and stuff.”
MK laughed, light and breezily, before staring back into the sunset.
Yu Kong huffed, unsatisfied with the lack of response but willing to play the game with his mentor, until a hand was in Yu Kong’s messy lump of hair, earning a soft sound of surprise from him. It tugged softly around his knots, scratching his scalp in a soothing way.
His mentor grinned, rays of the sun reflected in his eyes, “I’m alright, Yu Kong. You, on the other hand… Might require some extra training from Liu Er Macaque instead, with how unfocused you’ve been!”
An offended gasp paired with relieved shoulders, Yu Kong frowned at his mentor, scandalized.
“If anyone was said to be unfocused, it’d be you, Harbinger of Chaos!”