alexthething

Okay so it's my first time posting on here,but I gotta share my ideas somewhere.

(My art below)

This au takes place after the confrontation with the Jade Emperor. Wukong gets sealed under the mountain as usual. Macaque and Wukong have their fight under the mountain, but alongside leaving Wukong there alone, Macaque decides to be petty.

He decides f this and goes to run Flower Fruit Mountain his way to prove he doesn't need Wukong.

But finds that in order to gain the trust of the other monkeys living there, he needs to find the most believable way to take the throne. Wich just so happens to mean exploiting the unclarified "friendship" they had and spinning it into a fake marriage (with proper documents ofcourse, Macaque's scheming is very carefully planned). Since Wukong is preoccupied, who would be able to object to his claim?

Also magic

Some things about my last chapter.

I wanted to share with you guys the monkey lore I was spiraling about and how I used it in my previous chapter! :)

(Please note that some of these facts are about different species of macaques, namely the Rhesus Macaque and Japanese Macaque. These traits often differ between monkey species, but I chose to take inspiration from multiple to better fit the story.)

First up: Stress Relief

Often just being able to see other monkeys getting groomed helps them calm down. So in Wukong's case where he can't seem to calm down hints at a deeper problem with how he processes stress.(Possibly from trauma)

The social hierarchy:

With how I mentioned the state of Wukong's coat, it was very unusual for a monkey like him to get matted fur. The fact that he does have it parallels the way his influence in the kingdom has faded over the years. So when someone like Macaque, who is very high in the social hierarchy, grooms Wukong he is not only restoring a bit of Wukong's pride, but also reestablishing the previous social standing he had.

Conflict Resolution:

Grooming was a way they both frequently used to resolve their feelings, especially when taking it out was hard.

"They used to groom eachother even after flinging one another off mountains"

This part was an example of where conflict resolution was used where a conversation most likely would've helped alongside it.

By having Macaque offer to groom him, it was a show of how they're taking slow steps to becomming close again.

Cultural implications:

When I read this, it fit unbelievably well into why Wukong preferred Macaque to be the one grooming him. Macaque has been around for almost as long as Wukong has and is probably the only one who remembers how to groom in the way Wukong was used to. The kingdom's way of grooming had grown over the years with the introduction of other troops and the mixing of traditions, but that way that gave Wukong so much comfort in his youth was something only Macaque and a handful of others could provide now.

It's a sad reminder of how the culture evolved without him while he was stuck under the mountain.

Vocalizations:

Since grooming establishes social bonds, strengthening friendships and courtships. The sounds are different depending on the age and relationship between the 2 monkeys. Macaque and Wukong are the only ones truely around the same age and are thus the only people who can truely express these vocalizations as equals to each other and not as elders. Also the vocalizations for courting are also very specific, in comparison to ones between friends.

Something specific about courtship:

All this sound familiar?

My headcannon is that the rest of the troop had assumed they were courting for multiple years before Wukong got imprisoned. The constantly being around eachother, the peaches they shared, the insistence to fight alongside eachother so often, all of it was starting to make them suspicious. So when Macaque showed them the document and they saw he had taken over Wukong's room, very few people questioned him.

I lost the screanshots for these, but there are some things they didn't do fully wich failed to complete courting.

That being the gift giving (though there was definitely a littlebit of that) , scent making, acrobatic displays and something similar to batting their eyes as a form of interest.

Something that is important though, that Wukong did unintentionally, was stealing.

Stealing is a rather common way to impress a potential mate and what is more romantic than a whole bunch of celestial whine?

(Part 27)

(We are so back! Hope you enjoy)

Wukong is freaking out.

A mixture of anxiety and anticipation fuels the flickering glances he gives Macaque while the other quietly shifts to sit behind him.

The feeling of having someone in his blind spot. About to touch where he himself couldn't reach. This was supposed to be second nature to them both. One of the simplest actions between monkeys of the same troop.. They had done this thousands of times in their youth...

Yet Wukong was gritting his teeth, as if any second the other's simple presence would lead to a dagger shoved between the king's ribs....

He wanted desperately to trust Macaque again,to show to the other that what they once had could not only be mended, but also be made better...

So why was he so...worried..? Why was the air around them both still so tense? They used to groom eachother even after flinging one another off mountains! Now the idea of grooming couldn't even calm him enough to sit still after a small outburst....

Had-...had the mountain imprisonment truely left him so...damaged...? Had the wrath of heaven really broken one of his most primal instincts...?

Macaque moves carefully, placing a hand Wukong's back. Those already tense muscles jolt at the sudden contact.

The Great Sage's breath stutters...

The queen's voice turns to a whisper..

"Hey, it's alright...just try and relax.."

Macaque bites his lip slightly. Maybe it was foolish of him to have offered this so early on... This wasn't the same Wukong he had always known,maybe he needed more time. Or maybe a different approach? The shadow demon was grasping at straws here. Grooming was supposed to diffuse tension, not worsen it..

"You know...if you want to change your mind..."

The king flushes out of embarrassment, this was his husband for crying out loud...What kindoff immortal being would be distraught over something so simple...?

"No no...continue. Just...be warned...my fur may look rather....neglected...Shameful as it may be..."

Macaque turns Wukong's head to look at him.

"Wukong.."

The Great Sage's thoughts suddenly go quiet in favour of focusing on the way his queen's fingertips gently stroke the fur under his chin... He gains a nervous grin while the other forces eye contact. Macaque's voice is determined...but not unkind.

"I have dashed open the skulls of our enemies and stood unflinching as their brainmatter gushed out. There is no state of simple fur and skin that could appal me. What is important to me, is wether or not I cause you discomfort."

Wukong bites his lip and looks away... Being the king usually ment he was first priority whenever grooming time rolled around... It was a show of his status... A show of how well the troop cared for him...and now...he'd let all their years of upkeep turn into a horrid mess...

However, the conviction in Macaque's words were said with a conviction he could not deny. If the shadow demon truely believes he can handle such a foul sight...so be it.

"...Just...get it over with...don't be cruel..."

Macaque's brows furrowed but he kept his lips sealed. Wukong hadn't overlooked the way the queen's fur glistened in the light of the setting sun... That was how a real ruler's fur must be kept, neat and clearly cherished... Stunning,even more so now than how it was in his days as a beloved warrior...

Wukong takes off his shirt... letting Macaque lay his eyes apon the layers and layers of centuries old mats...

The shame threatened to sizzle like acid against his heart... It was too thick to see the poor skin it was tugging from, too filled with dust to make out the original colors... His bath from yesterday had at least alleviated the smell, but it still clung to him faintly, a brutal reminder of the filth he was kept in...

He almost raised all his glamors again. No longer wanting to burden the shadow weilder with such a daunting task.

However, before he could even utter the words of an apology he felt firm hands start to rub against the aching muscles of his shoulder blades.

Wukong has no words...only a small chirp of surprise was allowed to escape, followed by a overwhelmingly nostalgic silence.

He feels the gentle tugs of Macaque's claws observing the structures of the mats. A gentle warmth starts to spread through his chest...

Curse Macaque and his unreasonable talent.

Wukong had forgotten what it was like under those knowing hands.... Those palms that spent centuries memorizing the shape of each curl, testing each sensitive spot... Even now those diligent hands recognize every curve of his spine and how to leave the Great Sage shivering...

The moment the queen starts to gently pick appart the knots of that endless fluff. Wukong is utterly done for... It's as if Macaque were carefully separating the painful binds of his very soul... As if every sin was being picked off with the little specs of dirt and dead skin the other had managed to set free...

After so many years in solitude, it almost brought Monkey King to tears... Like a streetsweeper being offered a tray of gold, he questioned wether or not he truely deserved this level of attention and care... Every scar was handled as carefully as an open wound, a harsh contrast to the blades and fires that created them...

Then, as if all of that weren't enough he carefully lent in to whisper.

"Is this okay?"

Gods, is this how he tricked Wukong into marrying him?? That unfairly considerate bastard!

The king wanted to respond...he really did...but when he tried, all that came out was a low trill... Shit, had he always been able to make that sound...?

He was going to consider how embarrassing that must've been...but Macaque had other plans...Letting out a similarly low coo, before gently scratching the bit of skin under the fur he had just freed up.

Wukong felt as if his brain chemistry had been irreparably altered in that moment...

What the hell was that and why was the king's heart beating faster than the wings of a humming bird?!

There was something so right about it, the way it pulled on those past memories. Memories of quiet moments sleeping in shifts under the moonlight, the loud cheers shared after a shared victory. It had always been there...something so unshakable set within his primal reality... The anxiety of uncertainty had been chased out, only leaving the feel of Macaque's hands and the sound of his voice behind.

Gods...that...that's not something he'll ever be able to forget will he?

Hearing Wukong's heart race, Macaque gently starts to sort out the fur at the back his king's head, carefully picking around the circlet he still hasn't found the opportunity to ask about.

Wukong takes great comfort in his queen's presence... Though his mind is still trying to make sense of the feelings he is having... Macaque isn't just a friend anymore.. not legally anyway.... For all Macaque's talk of them being married, Wukong had never stopped to think about what that would mean for moments like these...

He feels his eyes grow heavy at the mind-numbing care the shadow demon was putting into his coat.

"..I missed this more than I realized...."

"I figured...I really should've been there to prevent this..."

"It's not your fault...My coat isn't your responsibility.."

"If I had been there, I could have helped you as soon as you were set free. Also, I have always taken it as my responsibility."

"Why..?"

Macaque pauses...then takes a breath.

"Because I had made a commitment to you, even before the marriage. I was your warrior and I took that role to heart... Even so...I took it too far..."

"Too far?"

"Unfortunately so...I had given up my identity in the process... Though I have grown past that. I will not compromise on it again."

Wukong keeps his gaze locked on the grass infront of him, the garden really was lovely. He only wishes the other would tell him what he ment by "giving up his identity"..

"Hey...Macaque...?"

The queen hums in acknowledgement as continues to rake out the knots in the fur of Wukong's back.

"Could you...tell me...what you could remember from the day we em...got married...?"

Macaque pauses for a moment....right...he needs to keep his story straight... He knew Wukong would ask eventually...

"My recollection is a bit fuzzy on the details....,but it was a bit before we joined the brotherhood..."

The king's eyes widened.

"Really...? That long back?.."

"Mhmm, do you remember when you brought us both celestial wine for the first time? You insisted we have such a large celebration.... I was such a lightweight on that stuff....You'd been endulging since noon...by the evening we were stumbling through the kingdom hung from eachothers shoulders..."

"I do remember....vaguely.."

"Well, eventually you wanted to do something wild and unpredictable....."

"A frequent occurrence."

Macaque chuckles.

"You tossed me over your shoulder and took me all across the mountain...the forests...our spot on the beach... till late in the night..."

"Then when we stumbled back into the main village...you decided right then and there...you were going to get the town 'officiant to marry us. Heh, you shure gave him a fright awakening him from his slumber. You were relentless, practically threatening the man to draw up the document for us to sign..."

The kings eyebrows raised.

"Wait wait-.. so...i didn't ...court you or anything...? No gifts? No proposal..?"

"I'm shure there was some sort of proposal, I did sign off willingly as far as I remember."

"But...we only did a legal marriage...no celebration...? No courtship. No further claiming...?

The shadow demon prayed that Wukong wouldn't turn around to see the anxiety building in his expression...Calm down Macaque, you've practiced this..

The king on the other hand, was absolutely baffled. Of all the ways he could've impulsively married someone, his drunken foolishness had decided to do the most unromantic part of the whole ordeel! Shure Macaque did say he took him across the mountain, but there was no reality where that was even comparable to a regular demon courting!

"Not that I recall....damn that booze filled haze...I'm not surprised you forgot a couple steps though, you were as out of it as could be"

Wukong grumbles..

"It's a shame... someone like you deserves better than a half assed document..."

Macaque paused at that...someone like him? What did he mean by that..?

"What happened after that?"

The shadow demon steadies his voice.

"Well, do you remember when we woke up with splintering headaches near the hotsprings?"

"Yeah?"

The king turned to look back at him.

"That's around where my memory picks up again"

"And you didn't talk with me about it after?"

Shit...calm down...It's only a small question...you can be somewhat truthful...right?...

"Things got complicated.."

"You started messing with the celestial realm more..."

" Then the brotherhood came along... A part of me just assumed you liked having someone who could fill your shoes when you weren't around. That maybe you just wanted a marriage out of some spontaneous idea for convenience. There wasn't really much reason for me to oppose the document, it was mostly just a piece of paper at the time..."

" I considered it a bit of an honer being the person you chose to be legally binded to...and even if I did have a problem with it, divorce was an incredibly rare and often looked down apon thing. It seamed inconvenient at the time..."

"And now, as the queen I could spare the people from so much heartship...all because of our little alcohol fueled adventure"

"You still should've told me....I would've treated you more like a husband deserves..."

Macaque pauses at that...he wonders if that was even something the monkey king could offer...,but if there was a chance...

"Well, you know now..."

"...."

Wukong's cheeks became dusted with red... Macaque is right... He does know now, but being a husband was such a foreign thing to him... So he does what he always does...Avoids the issue...

"Well uh, that's enough for today, we should probably get you something to eat, you've been out here for hours!"

"Wukong, if you're still upset we can-"

"Hub bub bub, you don't deserve to go hungry. Now let's go"

Macaque chuckles at Wukong's hasty attempts to stand, silently grateful that the questions have come to an end.

...Does MK make an appearance?

I mean, during Wukong's Journey to the West.

How large is the army?

Yes, the kingdom we currently see is a mix of not just the original troop Wukong had, but also other troops that immigrated there.

There is a group that worships merciful Guanyin and another that pays tribute to Chang'e.

The monkeys' worship of Wukong is stronger in some places than in others. There are still shrines littered across the kingdom where people leave fresh fruit out and many houses have a household alter where they choose to pay respects. Some don't view him in the same way, because somewhere in their family they felt betrayed by Wukong's absence. Others view their support of Macaque as a show of faith in Wukong, because they are trusting in his choice of spouse and life partner.

The size of the army has changed a lot over the years.

While solely under Wukong's rule there were most likely only a few hundred troops maximum, since Wukong himself could defeat armies of gods without breaking a sweat. The troops were only really there for civil disputes and as a fallback for when Wukong was preoccupied. Macaque ws the previous general of this army.

You know guys, sometimes you try and write a sweet chapter of Shadowpeach grooming eachother-

-but I just so happen to have found myself in the rabbithole that is the inner workings of monkey societys.

So only time will tell when I will have figured out how to write this next part :)

This is how I feel right now :

I was thinking about all the ideas I gave surrounding General Ba and I think they can best be summarized like this.

Basically his whole plan:

Alternative

I like to think this is how the Demon King of Confusion would talk about his death while in Diyu

(Part 26)

(Sorry for the long wait guys. I've been very busy. Soon I shall finally be set free to write once more)

(Back in the present)

Macaque sits with Wukong as the afternoon sun moves across the sky. Their backs are leaned against the bark of a peach tree... The king gathers his thoughts while gently tracing the small purple flowers, it's a marvel of how recognizable Macaque's magic remains to his senses.

After 500 years of having his words fall only on the rocks of his imprisonment he has someone to hear him again...

His side is pressed against the shadow demon, a reassuring point of contact to keep them grounded until the silence is broken.

The great sage takes a breath.

"Look...what I need you to understand is that....what I went through wasn't pretty...Nor was it glorious like the heat of battle... It was scorching, neverending, pathetic agony..."

Macaques brows furrow.

"My punishment was not just my isolation...it started long before that...,before they considered imprisonment as an option..."

"...They wanted me dead Macaque."

"They tried everything known to the celestial world... Tried to peel my immortalities away layer by layer and torch my insides.... As if I were some feral beast that needed to be put down..."

Wukong grits his teeth.

"But HA! None of them even came close to being rid of me!"

The king raises a fist to the sky.

"I'm still here you son's of dastardly men!"

Wukong looks to his palm, seeing the healed over gashes from heavenly weapons and lowers his voice...

"Though...their methods didn't leave me without a few nasty reminders..."

Macaque looks over Wukong's unglamored form.....fingers itching to soothe those tense muscles...

A dangerous anger simmers within the shadow wielder's chest... How dare they even attempt to strip his King from the living world... The shadow almost considered spinning their nerves into weaving tred himself...

He looks to Wukong's face....

"May I...ask what caused..."

"The eyes...?"

The Sage asks in a whisper...his tone a bit more somber than before.

Macaque nods...

"...Laozi's furnace..., it's not just the eyes...burnt the last of my mortality too..."

A look of horror paints the other monkey's expression...

"As if I couldn't get more monstrous..."

"You- I could've sworn I'd-..Dammit..I never even gave you a chance to tell me..Did I?.."

Wukong shrugs...

"Yeah well, I'm not shure I would have let anyone know regardless... The eyesight really isn't something I'm proud of..."

The king raises his hand to try and reapply the golden ruse.

"I won't bother you with the sight they're-"

"-Like rubies..."

Macaque clamps a hand over his own mouth at the unexpected slip up.

The sage has gone still as the stone he was born from. He had to have heard that wrong...

"W-what...?"

"...Rubies...the gemstone, sorry I didn't mean to interrupt I just...was thinking out loud..."

Wukong stared for a moment then averted his gaze. Macaque hadn't denied what was just said...

Th queen could see his face turn a shade redder at the simile.

"I wouldn't speak of old wounds with such...admirable comparisons.... Though you always were a poet at heart..."

Macaque speaks a bit more hesitantly...

"Are they...still painful?..."

"Yes, but it's more of a dull ache most days..."

"Do you have something to soothe them...?"

"Not really, I'm used to it at this point."

"...Just because you're used to it doesn't mean we can't do something to make it more manageable..."

"What? Are you going to whip up a potion to heal centuries old damage to an immortal being?"

"No, just... help with the pain a bit, make life a little less of a burden..."

"...Do not concern yourself with it...I have delt with it this long. I am no weak man...Though I doubt you'll find a witch who wouldn't run off screaming at the sight of them."

"...How so..?"

"They're unsightly... That much is obvious...to everyone accept you apparently"

"Unsightly?... Wukong you are many things,but unsightly is not one of them."

"As if you believe that"

"I do...as infuriating as it is to admit, time has only dulled that blade slightly. Despite its many attempts..."

The king lets out a scoff.

"Careful now ,you've dished out one too many compliments. It might rain tomorrow."

"You haven't believed in those superstitious since we were younglings"

"I might have changed my mind, you'd never know."

"What else don't I know oh great sage?~"

Wukong's teasing mood falters... The air grows thicker with the kings lack of response...

"..."

"I'm not shure I'm ready to tell you about everything that's happened yet..."

"That's understandable..."

The sage looks over at where his and the other's shoulders are pressed together..

"Just...having you here....it doesn't seem real.... No matter how angry I am.... I'm just...glad to not be alone..."

Macaque nods...

"Though I need to ask....why didn't you come back....?"

"..."

" I have spent almost every thought of my imprisonment trying to puzzle out which collection of mistakes has lead us here...Please Macaque....just...give me clarity here..."

The queen sucks in a breath...

"I was afraid...."

"It's no excuse... But that day.. It made me question everything I thought I had known... You yelled and screamed at me for something I tried to warn you about... I had spent so many centuries by your side and all you brought up after so long was the times I had fled... I had spent countless hours trying to find a way to free you, but I had failed you again... Part of me felt ashamed, I thought I had dedicated my life to someone who barely tolerated me... Now I find out you never even viewed me as a partner...Seeing you there...I couldn't take it...Not after I realized the peaceful life I craved was never a promise you planned on keeping."

"You saw me as a coward and gods did I hate how true that turned out to be..."

"It was selfish... I didn't stop to think you might have just been lashing out because of your situation that day... For that I owe you an apology.."

"Things only got worse after my return to Flower Fruit mountain...in one trip visiting you... The forests had been set ablaze by heavenly fires.... So many lost their lives that day... and I was too late to prevent it...It was springtime.. All of those little funerals, those poor grieving mothers... I couldn't stomach it... I became paranoid...started giving everything I had to this place just to starve off the feeling of guilt.... Just to hope I could recognize my home again... So I was afraid... If I wasn't there... what was stopping something similar from happening again...?

"I was anxiety ridden...somehow convinced you were better off without me.."

"..."

"I'm sorry..."

"...I'll have to sit with that for a while..."

Macaque nods once more. Then speaks up more carefully.

"Can I...ask you something too...?"

The king shrugs.

"Sure I guess..."

"Did you really mean wat you said.... That I ment everything to you?..."

Wukong bites his inner cheek before answering.

"I did...even though I didn't know we were married... I couldn't shake this feeling....My eyes would always drift to find you on the battlefield...I would listen out for your voice in the palace halls in the late evening... You were always right there...always welcomed me... I didn't have to worry with you around... I could just...exist for a change... not having to tone myself down all the time. Your absence spoke the loudest of anyone..."

"And... it's a little embarrassing to admit but... I missed the way you groomed my fur... Nobodies hands moved like yours... gentle yet capable. As I started growing my list of enemies...you slowly became my baseline.... I could turn my back to you and feel secure... I treasured that more than any immortality.."

As the King looks over at his fellow ruler he can see the shadow's eyes are blown wide....Gods what he would give to read the other's thoughts...

"I could... try and groom it again....if you'd like...".

Wukong hesitates, but lets a whisper escape his lips.

"....Yes please..."

(Part 25)

Macaque lays limply on the ash-covered sand, not daring to move even an inch incase the unbearable pain chooses to return... His glamors have long since been discarded in the need for sustainable magic during the heat of battle. It was too uncontrolled to risk keeping on.

His veins feel like their thin layers were charred...

....What...was that back there.?.. All of that...raw power... Was...was that his?...

It left his insides inflamed, as if an otherworldly beast had threatened to burst out from his body of flesh and shadow.

Macaque runs his tounge over his bottom lip, the one left bleeding after he'd bitten it in his pain-addled state. His blood tasted vile, like sharpend metal aged and soured by the crafted ways of this unexplained power. Left behind was a splintering headache and the constanst pulsating agony from his physical injuries.

Layed out under the slowly setting sun ,accumulating rot just outside the queens view, was that once loud and vulgar king. The foul stench of death cloaks the monkey demon's senses, no heartbeat could be heard from where his enemy once stood... As far as Macaque was concerned...the Demon King of Confusion was dead....

"At least I did something right" His mind supplies while he starts to get used to the unnerving state of his own body, brutally battered and pushed past it's limits...

His burry vision starts to grow dark until the sound of frantic footsteps aproaches, alongside a quickened heartbeat and a distressed call.

"Your Majesty!? Hey!... Are you out here? I'm starting to think you made way with the wind. Please tell me I'm wrong!"

The shadow demon sneers at the sudden loud sound, but musters everything he can to return a shout.

"...over- *cough*.. here Ba!"

The tall monkey's head turns and he takes off towards the queen, a bag of things shakes about while secured to his back. The mismatched armour made him hard to mistake, stolen form older generals throughout the years, it fit awardly on the lanky young man.

"Mac!..Oh thank the stars I your alive! I was not looking forward to explaining to everyone what-...happened... Yeesh you're looking ROUGH."

The queen groans... While he's not displeased to see the other, Ba was bearly trained to handle such situations. He was an incredibly skilled slacker that only bearly managed his guard position while Wukong was around...yet somehow was one of the few that managed to avoid getting whiped out by DKC... If Macaque had the time to think about it he'd say he was impressed..

"Thank you, Ba, I did not realize with all the agony I apear to be in."

Ba kneels down by the shadow monkey's side and takes the bag off his back.

"Well atleast your conscious enough for sarcasm and hey the half dead look fits your mystique."

The tall monkey pulls out some bandages to carefully close Macaque's open wounds.

"Not what I was going for"

Ba shrugs, pushing his queen's fur to the side to address the splinter filled wound on his arm. He takes note of those many ears layed visible to the sun.

"I figured, nice ears though, I always wondered why you had such good hearing"

Macaque's body goes rigid. His eyes scan Ba's face... He knows... This lowly guard has seen the very thing Macaque had been desperately trying to hide for centuries.... The thing that has gotten him chased out of every place he'd ever tried to find some sense of normalcy in.. This unholy mutation that scarred each part of his past before the Great Sage was around... and yet...this monkey was treating his wounds like it was no big deal... He saw something no reasonable god would curse apon a mortal and just went, "nice".... The queen was baffled. How could Ba just... continue as if this were nothing special...? Wukong had at least expressed curiosity... Was this man mad?....

The sight of Ba raising an eyebrow caught Macaque's attention.

"Your majesty...?"

No matter, he'll think more about it when his head stops pounding...

"How did you even find me? You were supposed to be guarding the others..."

"Oh that. I saw you get flung into the air and assumed it wasn't a very graceful fall, hence the bandages."

"Are they alright?"

"The others? They should be fine and if we can get you back before that dickface of a King returns you'll be fine aswell"

"No need to rush...I took care of it"

Ba pauses...a look of disbelief covers his face.

"What?...You mean he's really-...?"

"See for yourself"

Macaque shakily points to the side. Ba stands from his position to look over....shurely enough...a pile of purple stained flesh clinging to the remnants of a deformed skeleton lay partly burried by the mixture of ash and sand...

"Gods....you can't even recognize his face..."

"Mhmm..."

The sight of that slack jawed carcass made him nauseous...

"Remind me to never anger you...He's been reduced to bearly anything at this point..."

Ba walks over, hands trembling as his thoughts spiral to everyone he'd lost under the will of this dead man.... He's free... everyone is finally safe... Gods have mercy...

He let's his anger rise as the otherworldly purple glow still eats away the history of that maniac...

With one final show of disrespect, he spits on the corpse...

"A fitting fate. Vile excuse of a being..."

"Now let us get you back to the people"

Macaque hisses as his body is moved into the other monkey's arms. He can feel the strained muscle and worn bone cry out as they're disturbed.

"Apologies your highness"

The shadow demon shakes his head. Gesturing for Ba to continue.

"..do what you must.."

As Macaque is lifted from the ground the taller monkey notices the small purple glow at his feet...

"Wait...is that....a plant...?"

"What...?"

Macaque looks down...how had he missed that...?

"A ...flower bud... growing in the celestial ash...."

"Impossible..."

"No, my eyes do not deceive me so easily"

After centuries of trying....finally... something is able to overcome the destruction that poisoned this land...

"We'll be back for it... we'll need to clean up the corpse anyway."

Ba nods, though his shocked expression does not fade...

"Fair, no use in trying to study it while your own body may be deteriorating... That smell might aswell be a weapon in itself... Glad to see the bastard gone though."

(Part 1)...(Previous)...(Next)

Chapter 4 is up!