Scorched

Separation

'Just a little bit longer... Everything is ready... Just have to get that last ring out of Mei.' a male in a bright yellow and black hoodie thought sunglasses covering his eyes while looking out the window of the train car, a dark gold nearly ginger tail swaying behind him in contemplation, his shaded golden eyes looking at each of his companions. Two teens, a boy and a girl, a male pig demon chef, a male river demon that was also a therapist, and the last of their group a male human food critic and their resident historian. 'This is for the best Wukong... Once we get to the mountain it will mark the beginning of the end for Lady Bone Demon and her so-called game.' The immortal being thought while the trail ride continued in silence. Something Wukong was rather thank full for than being interrogated by Pigsy aka the pig demon that did not like him.

The human, Tang, cleared his throat after prying his eyes from the window in worry. "So uh Mr. King Sir. I didn't want to rush you or anything-" Tang began before being cut off by the teenage boy holding three large rings in his arms.

"I don't mind rushing him! We have all three of the rings how do we use them to make LBD go boom?!" the kid asked getting straight to the point before falling over as the train car rocked after hitting a bump.

'The cub sure knows how to get straight to the point with me... By the gods, I've become attached to this kid if I'm already thinking of him as my cub... Guess that goes for Mei too...' Wukong thought glancing at the girl before looking away before they could lock eyes. "The only way to reforge the fire is at the summit of the mountain we are currently heading for. Before that, Mei can I speak with you in the next car?" Wukong asked the young girl.

The dragon heiress blinked at this odd request. "Sure thing Monkey King!" Mei chirped trying to keep a positive attitude.

The dark golden Simion gave a thankful smile to the girl. "We'll be back in a few minutes. I think Mei might have gotten hit with a spell of some sort. Has some energy in her that needs to be taken out." Wukong explained to the group.

Pigsy scowled at him while the kid-Mk- jumped to his feet. "Mei are you feeling alright!?!" Mk asked, zipping around the green-clad girl.

"I'm fine Mk... I have been having some weird discomfort in my chest after our last encounter with Macaque." Mei admitted with a shrug.

"Let's get whatever is causing you pain out while we have the time," Wukong advised, making his way to the end of the train car to cross over into the next car that was empty of people. Something Wukong was internally happy about.

Mei followed Wukong into the car watching as the simian seemed to relax like a weight had been lifted off his shoulders. "You okay there Monkey King? You look pretty tense." Mei asked, it was very unusual to see the King so wound up like a clock ready to break at a moment's notice.

"I'm fine. So have you ever tried meditation before?" Wukong asked with a calming grin on his face.

"A few times, especially after I got my family sword. I can only do it for an hour or two and that's just the tip. I can barely do fifteen minutes of deep sleep like meditation but it kind of leaves me on a sugar high afterward." Mei sheepishly stated rubbing the back of her head.

Wukong nodded at this, digging into his hoodie pocket and pulling out a small glass bottle with a peach-pink liquid inside. "So to get whatever the nasty energy is out of you I need you to be meditating with the help of this potion. It will help separate anything harmful from you while I do the rest to extract it. It's also got the benefit of helping you quickly enter that deep meditation state." Wukong explained.

Mei looked at the bottle with a frown. "That's not hair is it?" she cautiously asked.

"No. Monkey's honor that it's not hair." Wukong replied, holding up a hand like he was swearing an oath.

Mei grinned snatched the bottle and downed the liquid in seconds. She hummed at the taste. "Kind of tastes like sweet peach tea..." She trailed off before swaying as Wukong caught her. She was in a deep deep sleep.

"I did tell you to sit before you drank it." Wukong huffed half-heartedly, laying Mei down on the bench closest to them before hovering his hands over her chest slowly letting out golden pulses. In response dark red nearly black pulses pushed back with hints of gold and neon green flashed out of Mei's chest.

"Alright... Let's get this done quickly." Wukong spoke to himself as he made a complicated and tricky motion with both of his hands that seemed to slowly pull the dark red energy mixed with the bright gold into a swirling mass before it slowly became a ghostly ring with a fire flickering around it. Wukong then grabbed the ghostly ring, shoving it into his body feeling a burning pain as he bit his lip to keep from screaming out while the energy slowly began to bleed a neon green. Wukong swiftly cut the connection huffing and puffing with shaking limbs at the effort it took to transfer the energy into himself combined with the burning pain from the agitated ring.

'Don't scream, don't scream, don't scream,' Wukong thought like a mantra in his mind collapsing down to his knees while holding the nearby pole for support. 'Focus on the pain, embrace the pain, atone for all the pain you've caused.' Wukong continued breathing in and out to settle his burning-hot body. He grimaced as his nose picked up the smell of roasted peaches. He would be lucky if no one else picked up on that.

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