The Day The World Eclipsed || Lego Monkie Kid

Return to Flower Fruit Mountain

Hugging his knees, Macaque grits his teeth. He was afraid. No, he was terrified. But he had to get up at some point to find out. All this debate would mean nothing if he never discovered the truth. Finding his strength, he stepped onto the stone steps, eyeing the path downward. It was tranquil within the domain, leaving his fur feeling on edge and tingly. It was never this quiet. He expected the rug to be pulled out from below him at a moment's notice. He expected Wukong to appear in a flash of gold and catch him off guard. He expected the tribe to give away his presence.

None of this happened.

He kept himself alert, ready to flee when he needed to. If he saw Wukong face to face, he wasn't sure what he would do. He hated how his hands shook. He prepared for the last two years, gathering his strength to even hope to go against him if he needed to. He felt he would be no match for the King.

Still, he had to at least try.

Taking to the stone steps, he prepared himself. He had to stay focused. Inching up the last few stones, he came to their nursery. It was almost exactly as he remembered and surprisingly well-kept. It didn't take long to notice what he already predicted.

The stone was gone.

Macaque swallowed, moving closer to inspect the area more closely. Gingerly he placed his hand on the boulder that once housed his young. This must mean the baby was born and was a grown adult, perhaps...?

He lifted his gaze, a gust of wind shaking the peach tree above his head. It was fully grown and beautiful. A soft, single petal fell from its branches, landing against his open palm. He stared at it for a long time, the voices of the past whispering behind his eyes. 

"They'll be right there, enjoying peaches." Wukong's voice was a haunting memory in Macaque's ears, "The sun in their hair and the wind at their back."

The darker monkey felt himself shudder, emotions swelling in the back of his throat. "Don't.." he clutched his head. "Don't think about that." Don't think about him and how excited you were, he thought bitterly.  Don't think about how all you ever wanted was a family- wanted Wukong's family, together with your Sun and Star.

He hunched his back, choking back a wrenching sob that hurt his throat. The serene beauty of their nursery was bittersweet in contrast to the broken man that stood within it. He thought he had prepared himself these last two years. He thought he wouldn't break under the sight of what once was. He thought he wouldn't still mourn the man that held his heart. The man who promised him the world in sweet whispers and stolen kisses.

Turning sharply, he retreated back to the steps. The sight of their handbuilt nursery, the embodiment of their love, was far too heavy a weight. "Focus.." he instructed himself, biting his lower lip harshly to swallow the regret. He made a choice that day. In his desperation to have Wukong returned to him, to not leave him alone, he attacked that Monk and those demons. He knew what he was doing.

He had always been weak, and loneliness had always poisoned his mind too easily. Perhaps he was at fault for what led to Wukong and his confrontation. He could accept that, as tough as it was. He could painfully understand that Wukong had always sought out bigger and better things. That Wukong often found something new and forgot about the old and forgot about him.

What he couldn't accept... was that Wukong could lose control against him. The Monkey King strove to perfect his fighting style for years and trained harder than anyone else. If he had struck Macaque down, he must have meant to do so, right? At first, his tortured mind believed it was an accident. As he floated, lost in the sea of the dead, he was positive Wukong just lost his temper and struck with more force than he intended. The finishing blow was just meant to hurt, not kill. His Peaches would never mean to...