Chapter Text
The world was in chaos. It had started very shortly after the Destined One took up the mantel of Sun WuKong. Beasts and demons started becoming erratic. The gods and goddesses grew paranoid. Cracks appeared across land and sky, tearing through the fabric of reality. There was only one option left to correct the damage done to the universe.
The Ten Kings were prepared for this moment. The cycles rarely diverged from each other in pattern. The universe restarts, the stories of the gods restart, celestial primates enter the stage, Sun WuKong causes havoc only to receive punishment followed by redemption, the world continues on with his and many other’s stories as folktales to teach lessons to future generations.
The Sun Wukong of this cycle had been very clever in his attempt for freedom, but he had only seen the physical imprisonment of his own pain, not the everlasting cage of the cycle that held an iron grip on the universe. While his freedom from the heavens was brief, he would not escape destiny. His reincarnation was unfortunately an issue. Sun Wukong wasn’t supposed to die. His fate was written in that way for countless cycles; the sudden change had thrown the world’s tapestry into a pile of knotted threads and loose ends.
When the world was on the very edge of collapse the Destined One was summoned to the underworld by the Ten Kings. The monkey met their gazes with even determination. With such a delicate topic they chose to inform him of his role in saving the world in a quiet meeting hall. The words that were spoken did not leave that room.
As the kings of the underworld filtered out, the tenth lingered behind. He motioned for the Destined One to stay behind as well.
“I’ve brought you here to make a proposition, Monkey.” The King lifted his cloak revealing a snake demon draped in a golden sarira. Nine snake heads moved in perfect synchronization from their position above where his assumed shoulders would have been. The snakes spoke all at once creating a singular voice that echoed faintly. “The position of power I hold is temporary, but with your help we can stop the destruction of the universe. Permanently.”
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A Monkey stood at the edge of the world. Five colored stones followed him through the air as he approached his demise. The Pillar of Heaven barely stood as cracks raced up its sides, breaking off chunks in their wake. The Destined One turned back one last time. He spotted a heavyset figure trying desperately to reach him but turned to the cloaked figure in the crowd instead.
“You better hold up your end of the deal.” He muttered to himself before leaping into the pillar’s light.
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In another time on a familiar mountain a hero’s journey was reaching its end. A young monkey had wandered away from the main troop into the dense mountain forest. He looked almost identical to all the other monkeys on the mountain. A splash of red across his face was the only thing that had set him apart from the others. The mark of the soul his body held and it served as the only reason he was lured away from his troop with a fragrant peach. All that was left was to awaken what was slumbering within.
A piercing scream rang out across the mountain alerting the troop. The absence of their missing youth was immediately noticed among the panic. Four of the most trained monkeys quickly made their way toward the dwindling sound. It went on for what felt like hours but must have only been a few minutes. The closer they got the scent of iron grew overpowering. What they found was a sight they wouldn’t forget.
Blood soaked the grass and trees. A peach pit rolled unsteadily towards them. A streak of red following its path. Patches of creamy white fur clumped up and turned pink as it mixed with the stained mud of the forest floor. Huddled under the brush was their missing youth. Blood stained the edges of his eyes, dripped down his nose, leaked out his ears and spilled out of his mouth. He huddled closer to himself in fear as the other monkeys approached. It was an unsettling sight in contrast to what was previously just a beautiful day without a single cloud in the sky.
They could see he had changed slightly, so they assumed to understand his fear. The youth’s torso had shortened and his legs had gotten longer. The four monkeys had only witnessed the birth of a celestial primate one other time. Sun WuKong’s birth had been explosive; he had even fired lasers from his eyes. Clearly, even if the circumstances were different, this must be what happened. The youth had been born with a similar birthmark to every other celestial monkey they’d known, so perhaps this one was a late bloomer.
It took quite a bit of coaxing to get the youth out of his hiding spot. Normal methods like bribery through food were met with fear and distrust. What finally worked was slow physical contact. A small cuddle pile formed to slowly gained back his trust and ease his fears. They used the promise of more comfort to lead him back to the main troop while one stayed behind to clean up the horrifying scene.
It wasn’t a surprise when they weren’t able to determine the young monkey’s original parents. They had lost many of their members to raids and attacks over the years. Sun WuKong had erased many names from the book of the dead, but it would have been impossible to account for everyone, no matter how much their king had tried. Generations had passed since their king’s journey to the underworld and the amount of monkeys born between that time were uncountable.
The four monkeys took it upon themselves as the troop’s strongest warriors to raise this new celestial monkey in their king’s absence. He wouldn’t be able to care for a child while on his journey with the monk and company. Surely their king would praise them for doing such a good job taking responsibility.
Upon the Monkey King’s return, he noticed a change in his troop. He made sure to visit is home frequently between battles and accomplishments during his journey to be assured of his family’s safety and for his own peace of mind. The disturbance troubled him so he approached one the elder monkeys about anything that could have happened while he was away. The news that one of the youths had transformed into a baby celestial primate was a shock to him.
Meeting the newly transformed monkey was immediately put at the top of priorities. He had to be certain that this wasn’t a trick by another disguised demon and if the youth truly was a celestial primate like himself. His previous experience lingered on the former and dreaded the latter.