Magnolia

And we all fall down...

The moonlight reflected off the shroud of mist as the valley fell silent. It was finally over. He’d won. Sun Wukong had finally won.

So why didn’t it make him feel any better? Why was there still a gaping hole in his heart, staring at the charred earth where the bone demon’s barely breathing form lay sprawled out? Or why didn’t he enjoy listening to her final raspy breaths, signaling her permanent defeat? Why didn’t he feel the satisfaction of bringing down his staff over her head, ending this nightmare once and for all?

Maybe it was all because of the bitter fact that MK wasn’t by his side. Wukong had grown to cherish his successor as if he were his own son. He was so full of promise and goodness.

And now he was gone.

There was nothing left of his body. Now, there was nothing left of Lady Bone Demon.

So didn’t Wukong feel any better?! Why wasn’t his sacrifice worth anything!?

The Great Sage beat his fist into the ground as he tried to find an answer. Desperately trying to find reason for these feelings.

No matter how many times he asked himself, there was nothing anyone could say to fix what had been broken.

It had taken something inside him breaking in order to deal with LBD once and for all. In the aftermath of it all, the world could only tremble at what had been left behind.

He felt numb now. The pain in his chest still lingered, but it was less noticeable. Wukong had circled the corpse a few times before breaking open her skull for good measure. The lingering remnants of her power took the form of blue wisps of smoke. They curled and twisted in the air like a snake in the throes of death.

Against his better judgment, he drew in the smoke with a single long breath. Feeling the coolness wash over him in a brief wave. But it still didn’t feel right.

None of it felt right without MK’s adoring eyes. His excitement and triumph. The kid always made even the smallest victories feel like something worth celebrating. Without the kid, what was the point of winning anything?

As he stalked about the scorched remains of the earth. Something shiny caught his eyes in the smoke. Gold? All the way out here? That didn’t make any sense. But then again, nothing made any sense anymore.

As his feet walked across the charred chalky earth, it crunched and crumbled like dust. There were still parts of the earth burning from the black and red flames. Smoldering. It would be a miracle if this part of the valley would ever grow anything again with the damage dealt in their fight.

Yet there was something else here. Something that didn’t quite belong. As he got closer, he felt the strange pull of a familiar aura, something that shouldn’t have been possible. How? MK’s body was gone. It was dust in the wind. Unless…

He abandoned patience or caution to dig out the golden object from beneath a black mound of dirt.

The rest of MK’s body was gone, but the golden band that had manifested when MK used his powers at their full strength had remained. Manifesting in his final act against LBD and remained. More than just that, the familiar warmth and radiance that once surrounded the young man were still there. His essence was still here. Trapped inside the golden band.

The world no longer trembled…

It froze with fear.

hope to be. And all he got for his selflessness was this!”

Macaque looked at the golden band, and his face crumbled. It slowly dawned on him what Wukong meant. The thought alone made him feel sick. But what was he supposed to do about any of it?

“I’m sorry, Wukong. Truly I am. But I had nothing to do with that! I wasn’t there. I didn’t help her end the kid’s life.”

“You helped her in other ways! You pushed him to it! If anything, you are the one who should be held responsible!” Wukong’s angry tears were brief, then a strange, chilling expression spread across his face. “It’s okay, though. I can be willing to forgive you.”

Macaque scooted back as far as he could. His back eventually pressed into a stone wall, blocking his exit behind him. The darker demon dared not use his power in fear of what Sun Wukong might do next.

The Great Sage knelt to him, the flames from the fire flickering behind him, casting a king and dark shadow as a smile stretched across his face accompanied by his streaming tears. “It will be nothing but a bad dream.”