"This is utter nonsense—! Nothing is making any kind of sense around here! First the earthquakes, Pigsy smiling, Sandy's weird romance boat thing. And worst of all Mei—!"MK shouted in panic, "What's next?? Red Son popping out of nowhere saying we're besties!?" He ran threw the leering crowds of stretched smiles and pushed through with slight anxiety, "There's only one place left to get help!" He rounded a corner and jumped over a fallen trash can, "Jinhua's Tea Shop should be open at this hour..." He breathed out.
Rushing down the streets, MK felt his chest start beating in erratic patterns as he searched for the familiar tea shop. But when he got to the address, all that was there was a in construction site.
He felt his heart drop at the sight, "H-Huh..?" He muttered out in disbelief, "This doesn't make sense... Jinhua's shop should be right here!" He quickly dug into his pocket to pull out the golden petal. But all he found was just some pocket lint.
He felt a shudder for down his back. His eyes looking up and down the street as he felt like something was ripped out of his chest at the mere thought of Jinhua disappearing.
"Jinhua—! JINHUA!! Where are you—!?" He cupped his mouth as he started to feel slightly dizzy. A cold sweat falling down his face as he couldn't find the blonde demoness in sight. With that he sprinted away from the construction site and made his way out of the city.
"Please be there... please be there... please be there..." He repeated it like a chant in his head as he trudged up the hill to where her cabin was located.
His breathe hitched at the sight of a ruined town destroyed and pummeled to the ground as if a battle occurred.
"Wha—? Jinhua!!" He ran forward and scoured the area looking for even an ounce of the demoness, "Please—! If you can hear me!" He fell to his knees, trying to control his breathing, "Just answer me.... I'm scared..." He curled into himself, gripping the red headband on his head as his tail curled around himself as if it were to protect him from anything else.
Before he could let out another sob, the ground around him made him jump as another earthquake erupted around him.
"How you doin down there?"
MK looked up through puffy red eyes, "Monkey king—!" Though his bright smile faded off into a confused look, "Wait a minute.. What are you doing here?"
The sage simian levitated down on his cloud with his arms crossed casually, "Oh you know... Hangin, chillin, Monkey kinging around. Uh—! Anyway, enough about me. What's new to you?" He leaned down his his hands on his hips, "You seem upset."
"Well yeah... Everyone's gone dumb brain.. Pigsy gave me the day off and Mei said she—!" He covered his mouth to muffle the gagging sound that almost slipped out, "Loves me..." He squinted his eyes in slight disgust.
"And worst of all—!! Jinhua is nowhere in sight! It's like she disappeared off the face of the earth—! I think I'm going crazy!" MK whimpered out in despair.
"Oh your defiantly not going crazy! Everything's perfect, like it should be." Monkey king then pointed a bamboo stick at MK's forehead, "I think it's just that my powers are sooooo great that they messed up your brain a bit."
"Then how do you explain about Jinhua! She was there to save me and the gang many times! She was there when I got the staff!" MK pulled at his hair in frustration.
The Monkey King stared at him for a moment, "What are you talking about?"
"Huh?"
"The celestial warrior, Jinhua was sealed away."
The world grew quiet around MK as he ignored the rest of the words that Monkey King had to say as that one statement kept going on repeat. His skin grew pale and his hands trembled as he kept a hard grip on his head band. His breathing going into erratic takes, "What?"
"Yeah the great and powerful celestial demon Jinhua went to war against a friend of her's and was sealed away for a thousand years."
"S-she was..."
"And do you wanna know who she was sealed away by...?" The Monkey king leaned in with a devious look, his face twisting into one of taunting.
MK looked up in horror as he could feel his throat constrict of any air, his tail flexing in skittish movements.
"Me."
The world around the boy froze in a cold spread as he looked on in disbelief, "Your j-joking, right...? There's no way you and Jinhua would've fought... You were friends...!" He stuttered out, taking a couple of steps back.
"Not all endings are a happy one." The Monkey king stated with a stern tone, "And that goes for Jinhua as well. Ever heard of the Six Eared Macaque's death?"
MK felt his mouth go dry. His eyes stretching past their limit as he felt his hands start getting clammy, "But he was killed by a menacing demon—!" He froze at a sudden thought that could be missed but looking on at the intimidating figure of the Monkey King in front of him, he couldn't help but keep the thought on repeat.
"I-I.." MK quickly ran back down the hill, his feet tripping over each other as he could feel his eyes prick with tears, "MOOMM—!!!"
—
Jinhua felt her ear twitch. Her eyes scanning the counter in her shop as she saw Jin and Yin not coming to work.
With a sigh, she started to wipe the counters of any spilled tea.
"JINHUA—!!!"
Her ears perked up at the ice chilling scream. Jinhua threw the rag to the side and busted the door opened before MK could even open it himself.
Jinhua looked down worriedly, her eyes flickering over his tired form. It looked like he had ran the whole way here. His hand was holding onto his head band and golden petal, like it was the only thing grounding him.
His amber eyes glazed over at the sight of her, "Your here...?"
Jinhua's immediate reaction to this was to give him a big hug, "That's right honey... I'm here. And I'm not leaving...." She brushed a few strands of hair out of his sweaty face.
He instantly latched on, his hand gripping the back of her robes like if he let go, she would just fade away.
"I'm here..." She whispered softly, which in turn, made the poor tired boy break down. His quiet sobs soon turning into a grief stricken wail.
"I thought you disappeared—! Your Tea Shop wasn't there! Your Cabin wasn't there! And your golden petal thing was gone too!" His voice cracked as he shoved his face into her crook, "It was so bad—! I was told by a fake that you were sealed away by Monkey King and it scared me—! Like how was I supposed to know..."
Jinhua's eyes widened at the last statement. Her lip straightened into a thin line as she placed her chin on top of his head. Closing her eyes she let out a hum as she rubbed circles on his back.
Sitting in a planning room full of Nekomata elders, Jinhua could only hold a scowl on her face.
"Your duties are to the throne of our kingdom and be the head of the clan!"
"You cannot hide under that Goddess' wing for long."
"You must finish what your Mother could not do!"
"What was she thinking...! Running off with a filthy mortal...!"
"Leaving us with a halfbreed of the great royal linage, oh how the Nekomata clan have fallen...!"
A fist slammed into the table.
Everyone turned to Wukong who held a snarl and baring his canines, "I thought you old geezers came here to talk about important matters! How is dissing the guest anything important." He glared down at the passive elders who spared him no attention as they kept up they're jabbering.
Jinhua stood up from her seat and struck her sword down in the middle of the table, quieting the whole room.
"I ask for silence and reason." Jinhua stated in an even tone.
One or the elders with purple flames on their tails spoke up first, "I'm sorry, Lady Jinhua, but some of us have clearly gotten ahead of ourselves when leading our kingdom with the absence of your mother..."
A few of the elders scoffed at the remark and put in their own rebuttal.
Jinhua held a hand up to silence them again, "Thank you, Elder Hingli. But I thought my answer was clear that I wanted nothing to do with my clan ever since I left. Especially in the persistent letters you people seem to keep sending me."
Hingli nodded solemnly, "Indeed, but your people are growing weary by the day and are afraid for the future."
Jinhua raised a brow.
"We are growing old... Lady Jinhua... And we are growing weak as the leaves grow bare."
Jinhua folded her hands together and leaned into them in thought, "What reason would I have to return to them... What will I ever gain for taking that wretched throne...!"
"Your people's trust. A future. Your mother's royal linage. There the people won't look down on you, but look at you as if you are a god."
Eyeing the elder with an uneasy look, Jinhua tapped a finger on the paper, "And you ask me to sign a contract??"
"To go through the proper procedures, of course."
Macaque stood behind her seat with his nose scrunched up in an irritated scowl, "Proper my ass....! Look at they're senile grins...." His shadow began to grow menacingly as Wukong stood beside the arm rest with his staff out, a frown present on his face.
Jinhua held the paper contract in her fist and ignited it on fire. A ripple of shock tan across the elders' faces as they watched the paper turn crisp.
"You pompous, decrepit, lowly creatures of hell, you DARE try to bind me into a slave contract—!?"
Her sword was already drawn and beheading the closest elder to her. As soon as the head hit the floor, all Nekomata lit up in flames of their own, they're chairs fallen and forgotten. Each holding onto a series of weapons.
Wukong and Macaque both holding their staffs at ready, not hesitating to attack if told to. Both holding a look of utter abhorrence, their canines bared.
Hingli who was the first the speak up in the contentious air, he sent his cup down and cleared his throat, "If I may, we cannot condone a fight here of all places. This place was chosen in order to protect ourselves from further violence. Clearly the Goddess GuanYin is picking favorites in this sacred room of peace and mercy." Hingli eyed a statue that stood nearby with dubious look.
Jinhua glanced at the same statue of her foster mother.
It stood above them in height at about four Jinhua's stacked on another. It's stone and rock drained in color and shine as years have granted it. Vines and shrubbery reach upon it in greed as it started wrapping it secure.
Narrowing her eyes at the statue, Jinhua slowly took her sword from offense back into its resting position. She slowly sheathed her sword, rousing confusion with her associates.
"Psst—! In case you haven't noticed, the ungrateful bastards are still in front of you..!" Wukong stated with confusion.
Macaque watched Jinhua for a moment before letting out a weary sigh, "Of course... Gotta grant them mercy before we pulverize them, huh?"
"I cannot authorize the murder of the heads of the Nekomata Clan... No matter what I do it will not change the fact they are part of the great Royal Demon Clans...." She stated with a sigh, "The Huli Jings... Foxes of lies and deceive. Fuzhu... Deer of wisdom and weaponized strength. Yoa... Snakes of speed and poison. Zhizhu... Spiders of number and bartering. And Nekomata. Cats of flexibility and fire power. Jinhua then held up five fingers, "Those are the main five Royal demon clans in the mortal realm."
"Seems boring." Wukong picked his ear uninterestedly.
"Eh. Not really that fascinating when you meet them all in actuality." Macaque waved his staff gingerly.
Jinhua gave the two simian a firm look before turn a scolding glare the elder's way, "Leave. Before GuanYin's mercy dwindles."
At that, all Elders snapped their fingers and disappeared in a flare of colorful blazes.
Wukong and Macaque looked on at the spot with disgruntled gazes. But they stopped when Jinhua placed a hand on they're shoulders.
"Come now. Baije and Wujing are not that far, are they not?" She questioned with a grimace. Her effort to change the subject was heard as Macaque held out a hand in roguery.
"Why of course, Lady Jinhua. They await you return." He winked her way.
Jinhua muffled a slight chuckle of mirth, before placing her hand gingerly in his, "Why of course. What else would I expect from such staunchly fellows?"
With that Macaque led her out of the room with a besotted gaze that laid only for her.
Wukong stayed for a moment to stare at the spots where the former Nekomata Elders sat.
A sullen frown made its way up his face as a thought crossed his mind. With a shake of his head, he followed after the reticent couple.
Little did the three know that this was just the beginning of the Great Fall of Shinokuta.