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Erlang Shen was not often summoned by his uncle, the Jade Emporer. He responded even less. And after he was ordered and paid to burn the land and civilians of Flower Fruit Mountain in retaliation for Sun Wukong's crimes against heaven? After that, he responded to the summons even less so.
Dirty work. Shameful work. Work he hadn't agreed with but hadn't wanted to risk the attention of a spiteful and bitter hive of heaven into focusing their ire onto him. And he hadn't known that it would mostly be citizens instead of soldiers.
As far as he was concerned, Buddha's judgement upon the celestial monkie and his centuries of imprisonment were enough. Besides, the monkie was on that journey now. Heaven needed to learn to let things go, not that Erlang would voice that.
Xiaotian was quiet at his side, the gold highlights of her dark fur reflecting heaven's light. She seemed out of place in this bright and peaceful place. They both did. Two strays in a place that pretended they belonged.
The soldiers that guarded the door to his uncle's throne did not even glance Erlang's way until Xiaotian Quan continued alongside him. A single glare from Erlang had them shying away and wisely choosing to keep their mouths shut.
The Jade Emporer did not look up as Erlang and Xiaotian entered. He looked almost bored as Erlang approached and stopped before him.
He did not seem surprised by Erlang's lack of decorum as Erlang remained standing.
"You received the payment I sent along, then," his uncle spoke.
"Your bribe," Erlang said. "Not agreement upon whatever you may have to request."
His uncle's face remained impassive as he motioned to his servants, who quickly left, leaving Erlang and his uncle alone.
"A job for you," his uncle said. "An order we cannot afford for you to refuse, though refuse it you may be urged. You know of Nuwa's cycles?"
Erlang ignored the urge to shift his weight, remaining still and steeled before his uncle.
"Her Harbinger was found and taken, long before it was meant to come into life. You are to kill this beast."
The full weight of the Jade Emporer's focus fell upon him.
"This hunt will prove difficult," his uncle said. "The one you must strike down will not be like any you have faced before."
Erlang bristled under the scrutiny, lifting his head and glaring back at the celestial that towered over him but refused to take on a larger form. He did not need one to face his uncle.
"Have I proven myself wanting in past hunts?" Erlang spat. "Any demon, any celestial, any beast or monster, point me and I deliver results. You request me so that you may insult me?"
His uncle stood and stepped towards him, shrinking down with every step until he stood before Erlang only a few inches taller than him.
It always left his mood soured. Even in a more equal form, his uncle felt the need to look down upon him.
His uncle circled him and Erlang's fingers twitched with the quickly suppressed urge to tighten his hands into fists.
He did not jump, as his uncle's hand settled upon Erlang's shoulder, but the touch made his skin itch like cobwebs pulling across his skin as he felt his uncle's power nipping at his own.
His uncle's hand let go and moved up, brushing against Erlang's third eye. The itch turned stinging as his uncle focused his power to mix with Erlang's own.
"Open, and see your quarry."
Erlang opened his third eye and saw beyond this room, his uncle's power burning as it yanked his vision away. When his vision through the eye finally came into focus, he was looking into a nest.
A tiny form slept within. A small celestial monkie with four soft ears and a toirteshell pelt. So tiny, so small, lovingly swaddled in red fabric. Fur still soft with infancy's baby fur.
Erlang knew the moment he saw the mark on its face before his uncle even spoke.
"Sun Wukong and the Six-Eared Macaque found its growing form and infused it with their own power to hatch a child of their own. Despite Sun Wukong's imprisonment, the Six-Eared Macaque was able to bring it to term and deliver it far too soon into the world."
"It is an infant."
"It is a tool. A tool without need is to be put away until it is needed."
His uncle pulled his hands away and the power finally burned away, leaving Erlang Shen struggling to hide the weakness of his limbs as he almost staggered as the vision before him ripped away and left him stumbling as his uncle began to return to his throne.
"What is one life in comparison to millions?" His uncle asked him.
"And if one of them does not matter then why do any of them do?"
His uncle held a hand up without bothering to turn around, though he did pause on his return to his throne.
Erlang bit his tongue but did not bother to hide his scowl.
"Even your hound? You would see it come to an end as well?" His uncle asked. "Millions of infants for the sake of one? Your own life, even? You would see the cycle end entirely and doom every life within it? Even the Harbinger will die. Needlessly, deprived of its purpose."
Erlang glanced to Xiaotian and she looked back, tail wagging a little at his attention. He tore his gaze away but did not meet his uncle's eyes as his uncle returned to his throne.
"You will be well compensated for the difficulty, of course. I know how you like to make a fuss instead of being a good and proper nephew like you should."
Erlang met his uncle's gaze now, matching the cold stare with his own icy glare.
"You expect me to storm Flower Fruit Mountain and murder an infant."
"I expect you to save the cycles. To save the countless lives that have, are, and will be," his uncle corrected. "As for storming the mountain? Solve this hunt how you may, as long as the result remains the same. Now leave me, and see this done."
Erlang's heart was heavy, even as he smiled.
Despite the familiar face he wore, the monkeys of the mountain shied away from him. Each pausing in their excitement at the sight of him the moment they got close enough to realize he was not truly their king. Hopefully the Six-Eared Macaque's exhaustion of caring for the celestial infant would keep him from seeing through the trick long enough to carry out the ordered hunt.
His smile felt bitter. It probably was.
No matter how much he may struggle against it, his fate had ended up the same as any other celestial of his station.
Doing the Jade Emporer's dirty work and dancing to his strings.
The monkeys did not follow him through the waterfall or up to the home of the celestial monkies', the monkeys that remained not having the courage to face the interloper upon their territory. All the brave had died trying to defend their home when his uncle had sent Erlang and a battalion of men to raze it to the ground.
The Six-Eared Macaque lay within the home curled up in a nest of silk and pelts. The finest Sun Wukong could probably find, knowing the king of Flower Fruit Mountain.
Erlang could see three of the six ears that gave the monkie his title, their soft glow illuminating the room in a gentle light. They twitched at Erlang's footfalls, quiet though they may be.
His breath caught as the monkie stirred and he caught sight of the small infant celestial monkie that rested safely and peacefully in the Six-Eared Macaque's arms.
Pretty eyes slipped open and moved sleepily up to Erlang, and he found all thought and breath leave him. The expression upon the celestial monkie's face was one of love. A pure, soft, all encompassing love. An unfamiliar expression he had never had focused on himself.
"Peaches," Macaque murmured. "You came back. Like you promised."
The monkie reached out to him and Erlang reciprocated, something heavier than guilt sinking his heart down low. But as he was tugged gently closer the infant awoke and began to fuss, and the Six-Eared Macaque's tired attention turned to his babe.
Erlang almost hesitated on what to say before finally a name rose to mind. The one Sun Wukong had used to refer to his mate, during one of their conversations while Erlang visited him while he was beneath the mountain.
"Rest, now, Plum," Erlang said. "I will tend to the baby. You have been left alone in this for far too long."
A grateful smile crossed the monkie's face and the weight sunk lower within Erlang. The infant was handed over gently, nothing but trust in the exhausted eyes of its parent, the infant still swaddled in red ribbon.
Erlang held the infant close to his chest and felt only dread.
"Don't be long, my love," Macaque whispered.
"It won't take long at all."
He left, holding the infant close, rocking the babe gently in his arms. The movement seemed to soothe it, irritated cries turning to quiet contentment as the baby snuggled against him and wrapped an oh so tiny tail around his forearm.
He moved away, leaving the home behind and tucking himself away behind one of the many rock walls of the cave. Erlang weaved a spell to hide himself from even the Six-Eared Macaque's ears.
Erlang looked down to the infant as his form slipped away into his own.
The baby sniffled, little nose scrunching up at seeing its parent change into a stranger. Once more, small cries began to sound.
As Erlang reached down to brush a finger against its face, the infant grabbed hold with a surprisingly strong grip. The tiny hand did not even wrap all the way around Erlang's finger. Their tiny tail, wrapped so carefully around his arm, was as soft as silk. The entirety of the small red ribbon that swaddled them would barely be big enough to be a headband.
He couldn't do it.
He couldn't.
He leaned back against the rock against his back and sank to the ground, holding the baby close.
"Xiaotian," he whispered.
The baby opened its little eyes and cooed up at him even as Xiaotian materialized by his side at his call and instantly began to wag as she rested her head on his lap trying to see the baby.
Erlang could hide the infant. Could pretend. Could keep them safe and never let his uncle know. Never let anyone know. Give them the life that heaven would see denied.
Lifting his hand, he began on the strongest glamor he had ever done. Slowly, fur turned to skin. Four ears turned to two. Every bit of the celestial monkie changed until what appeared as nothing more than a small human babe lay in his arms. If the infant sensed how much had changed they showed no sign, content and at peace in his arms.
He was already a monster. But he could not be as monstrous as the Jade Emporer demanded he be.
Erlang Shen had defied his uncle before. Today, and for whatever the future may bring, he will do so again. And, if needed, again and again and again.
"I know not the name you were given," Erlang said. "But you cannot be who you once were. From this moment, you shall be named Yang Jiao."
Speaking that name for the first time in so long pulled at the soreness of a centuries long ache that time had dulled but never healed. He bit it down as best he could, pushing it away and steeling himself once more.
Holding the swaddled babe close to his chest, he and Xiaotian left the mountain and the quickly erupting cries and frantic wails of despair growing across the mountain.
As Erlang left Flower Fruit Mountain behind him, the Six-Eared Macaque raged his fury and promises of vengeance against Sun Wukong long after he had gone.