Magnolia

Even the best intentions

Macaque didn’t know what hit him. The last thing that he could remember clearly was his encounter with Wukong at the campsite. The moon shining overhead, the sadness in his eyes, his voice. After that, it was all a giant blur.

He sat up slowly, only to notice he wasn’t in the forests anymore. Instead, he was somewhere entirely different, yet it was a place that felt strangely familiar. Like some long-forgotten memory he couldn’t quite reach.

The shadow demon attempted to stand up, which is how he discovered the shackle on his leg. He was chained up somewhere. But where was the question? From a nearby window, he could see an abundance of flowering trees and a plethora of tall mountains that seemed to go on forever. It wasn’t possible, though. Of all the places Sun Wukong could have taken him, why here?

The rays of the setting sun poured in from the window, illuminating the room with a familiar golden glow. It was too narrow to escape out of. The shackle made it hard to move around, but he got a better look around him with a bit of twisting. There wasn’t anything else in the room other than the futon-styled mattress he had been resting on and a rather ancient-looking mirror across the room.

Macaque lay on his back on the room’s floor. He looked around for any way of escaping this “prison.” Finally, he growled, standing up and struggling with the shackles. The prince cursed under his breath the name of the Sage as he finally was able to move a few inches while looking at the ground. He looked up. Facing the mirror, he let a small gasp; he never realized the change in his clothes until he examined his reflection. He now wore a purple hanfu instead of his usual robes.

“Oh. You have to be kidding.”

What was his game? Was this supposed to be some kind of weird punishment? For what even? Macaque couldn’t understand why this was happening until Wukong’s voice drifted in again, echoing from last night. “It will be nothing but a bad dream..”

The Great Sage was unwell; his demeanor had changed drastically from their usual encounters. Clearly entering the stages of grief, the Denial stage most likely with how he seemed to deny his own role in events.

Maybe he could wait this out and hope for the best?

Macaque shuffled around on the shackles trying to use his magic to break free, even attempted to use his shadow teleportation, all to get away to no avail. He growled loudly, hitting his head against the mirror in frustration, watching it shatter into pieces. The monkey grabbed a shattered glass looking around before shouting in the empty space.

“If you don’t show your damn face, buddha help me, I will rip off my hands!”

All he could hear was his own voice echo against the four walls. Macaque’s breath was heavy as he waited for an answer making poor attempts to break free from the chains.

A figure approached the doorway. Standing just out of Macaque’s reach, but just enough that he was in view. At first, he didn’t believe it; that couldn’t be Sun Wukong. He was no longer adorned in his bright robes and golden armor. Instead, he was dressed in a black Yuanling Pao hanfu with arrow sleeves, thin, barely noticeable golden accents that seemed dull in comparison. The only exception being the glowing pendant around his neck. The pattern of a circlet stamped in the center. Wukong didn’t seem happy, but he didn’t seem angry anymore. Rather there was a cool steeliness to his golden eyes.

He looked at the shattered glass lying about on the floor and clicked his tongue in disappointment. “You better not make a habit of breaking things. You’ll only hurt yourself.”

“Where the fuck am I? What do you want from me, Sun Wukong?! Tell me, are you going to kill me? For something I didn’t do, huh?!”

He was mad, hurt, and also frightened. As soon as Wukong showed up, Macaque immediately backed away to a nearby corner, glass still in hand. Letting out a small grunt as his paw started to bleed from the sharp object in his hands. The prince decided to ignore it, focusing his attention on the Sage.