Chapter Text
"He never loved you. You had to know that." The voice was like creaking floors of an abandoned home, chilling winds flowing down his spine.
He stayed quiet. Before, he knew not how long ago at this point, he would have defended the person who glowed like the Sun. So long ago, he would have yelled and hissed, would have focused on anything he could to ignore her. He was so certain that it was a mistake. It had to have been a mistake.
Now, he was unsure.
"You keep whispering useless things." He decided to say. A hiss of pain left his lips as something within the shadows struck him. He was uncertain what it was, but he knew why.
"Are my whisperings useless?" She teased, her chill flowing between his ears before something ripped the extra pairings off.
He howled in agony digging his claws into the chains hold him up. He gagged as he felt them regrow, numb with pain. He squeezed his eyes shut as he was momentarily struck with future echoes of screams and past reminders of laughter.
"I have never left you." She edged, her voice making him flinch.
"Not since I was sealed." He begrudgingly agreed. "But you're wrong."
A creepy laugh echoed from her as unimaginable pain slithered across his body in ways only he had imagined. He tried to grit his teeth, but he could only hold back for so long.
"Tell me how am I wrong?" It felt like her voice was wrapping around him. Coiling and freezing. "He was the one to have helped weaken you, to help that monk seal you away." The unnatural coldness of the Diyu spread from his body to the chains, ice forming on them. "He even stole your eye for simply trying to free him." A chill ran down his wounded eye.
He couldn't really see through it anymore, a sin that had already been paid as stated the Kings. To continue the punishment, they refused to let it heal. He had heard them muttering about forcing his reincarnation to be partially blind as a continuous punishment.
Once he would have screamed that it was an accident, that his King hadn't meant to rob him of an eye. But his King was so powerful and disciplined in his skills. If he had meant to kill him, he would have and if he meant to humiliate him by stealing an eye...
She laughed again, the cold underneath his skin growing worse. It felt like ice was flowing within his veins.
"You're beginning to see, aren't you?" Her coldness dug into his back and heart, making him gag. "When had he protected you? When had he shown he cared for you and not your power?"
There were so many times, he was sure of it, but... Why couldn't he think of a single moment? Just one moment where he had protected Liu'er Mihou and not Macaque, the Great Sage of the Informing Winds.
"Quiet." He hissed.
He could feel her magic encircle him, trapping him.
"You want to get revenge on him. Prove to him that you never needed him." She spoke those familiar words, making him close his eyes and shake his head. "Don't worry, my Champion, if you help free me-"
"No." He snapped open his eyes, willing his magic to shield him. To push her away. "I won't fall for you needless words and lies, witch. Don't think he hasn't told me of you."
She laughed again, the Diyu breaking his magic so easily and causing him a thousand more lifetimes of agony that only continued to heal only to be reopened over and over again.
"We have time, Champion. Destiny is patient, after all."
She retreated after, but he couldn't brush away her touch. It felt like he was being encased in ice, his bones creaking and bending in ways that he knew would kill him had he been alive. He only closed his eyes, mentally pulling away from the screams, the cold, the betrayal. He tried to imagine he was home, lazing beneath the rare mango tree with the one person he loved most right by his side.
Then he felt a pull on his body, rough hands grabbing at him. He tried to open his eyes and fight, but all he saw was darkness and his limbs were stiff like iron. Pain bloomed from his wounded eye and his emaciated stomach, spreading and stretching to the tips of his fingers and toes. Vaguely, he could hear someone say his name, but the wind never blew within the Diyu, so whatever was said vanished long before it could reach his ears. Then he felt and heard nothing for the briefest of moment.
The sun was blistering, driving away the chill that the Diyu and the witch surrounded him in. The screams of sinners and her whispered taunts were no longer echoing in his ears, making his body relax into dew grass.
"He's breathing! He's breathing!" An excited voice bounced along stone walls, causing more excited chitters and cheers. They grew more distant, as if they were running away, but they were still so loud.
He groaned, their excitement making his headache worse. Then his breathing paused. He was warm, hearing the heartbeats of the living, feeling dewy grass. He could breathe.
Snapping his eyes open, he jolted forward despite the protest of his stiff bones. He groaned in pain, but it wasn't the pain of torture or the cold. His eyes scanned his surrounding, recognizing it instantly.
"I-I'm home..." He whispered, tears falling down his face. He was no longer dead!
He moved to run a hand through his hair but stopped when he touched something furry. Turning his head, his breath caught in his throat, and he scrambled back a little. Except the golden simian didn't move. In fact, he couldn't hear that familiar drum like heartbeat.
Swallowing thickly, he crawled back next to him. A shaking hand pressed against those plump cheeks, flinching back when it came in contact with the cold skin. Skin that should never be cold.
Eyes glanced down and he winced as he saw a menacing dagger piercing the other's heart. Dried blood caked the casual hanfu, staining the grass below him. Trembling hands pulled the dagger out, blood squirting onto his purple pants. Then the wind swirled around his six glowing ears, teasingly whispering all he had lost.
A weak sob escaped his lips, his body shaking as the wind continued to whisper the truth. The dagger fell from his grip, hands grasping onto the still chest of the person he wanted to hate.
"No, no! You don't! You don't get to do this! Not after, after you killed me!" He sobbed, his head soon pressing into the other's.
He heard people approaching quickly, making him pick the dagger up and whip to them with a threatening hiss. He would be damned if someone touched his Sun Monkey! But his threat was short lived. They were demon monkeys wearing Sun Wukong's colors, a sad look on their faces.
They said nothing but kowtowed toward revived primordial Moon monkey, one revealing the carefully woven leaf crown that once belonged to Sun Wukong.
Macaque's grip on the dagger loosened till it fell to the ground once more, his tears falling faster. He snatched the crown, examining it. It was just as he remembered it, the peach and mango flowers and leaves he had carefully picked still haven been expertly woven together. It was so beautiful, perfect for the Monkey of the Sun. Tenderly, the Moon Monkey placed it upon his Sun Monkey's head. It would always be his, even in death it would be his.
His hands lingered on those cold, pale cheeks that were once flushed with warmth and a smile. He waited, and waited, and waited for him to open his eyes. For the warmth to return. But it didn't.
"My King..." One of the demon monkeys shuffled forward, keeping low.
Glowing eyes filled with more tears and anger snapped to them, a menacing smile gracing his lips.
"Why is Sun Wukong dead?"