Seeing Through the Trauma

The Size of Bravery (48)

When they got closer to Erlang it became apparent very quickly why Macaque had felt the need to use his Kaiju against the celestial. 

The crackling of fire was strong, and MK stopped near the edge of the destruction, staring at tall flames consuming the trees and sending smoke high into the air while Macaque's Kajiu hovered high above it all. 

Something was wrong with it though, and MK could hear a noise that sounded like wailing coming from it. 

It struck down blindly, hitting and shaking the ground and his legs shook with it, hands flailing out to not fall while Wukong darted right into the flames like they weren't there. MK gasped, instinctively reaching forward but then curling back at the heat.

The flames died down a little at Macaque's blow and then rose higher, the wind providing oxygen to help them grow rather than smothering them out and MK frowned, raising a hand and opening another portal to the ocean on the floor. 

Water pooled out of it quickly, and MK waited until it had drowned the flames before closing it again, accepting that the ground was going to be squishy with mud as he rushed after Wukong and a rampaging Macaque, the Kaiju still hitting wildly. 

"Macaque! Moonlight please, calm down!" Over the sound of things breaking and the wild thrashing of the creature, MK could hear Wukong's voice, panicked and loud. 

He glanced up, eyes blinking gold to see clearly, and saw Wukong high in the air with his cloud beneath his feet, standing near the heart of the Kaiju where Macaque's actual body was, hands reaching through the ribbons of the creature's body to cup his cheeks. 

From here MK could see how terrified his dad looked, eyes glassy and horrified. He could hear his breathing too, desperate pants of dread and fear.

The creature roared in response, hands hitting wildly as it thrashed and Wukong held on tighter.

"Mihou please, whatever you're seeing it's not real, you're okay!" MK wondered what it was that set him off. The fire? MK wanted to help but his ears could hear Nezha grunt in pain further into the charred forest where the fire had been brightest and MK knew he'd be better off helping there. 

So, dodging under the next wild swing from the giant looming above them, MK zipped through the forest as a shadow, using his ears to guide him as he came across the newly made clearing where Nezha and Erlang were fighting. 

Newly made because the trees and plants and bushes that had once been here were now destroyed, eviscerated by the shiny thick spear in his hands. MK frowned at the sight of it, watching with careful eyes as Nezha dove out of the way of another wave of light and fire, sweat dripping down his face and neck and dirt on his clothes. 

Dodging was almost exclusively what Nezha was doing actually, grunting as he threw himself out of the way out of another immediate blow. MK glanced at Erlang, still grinning like a man with a glint of power in his eyes that seemed even brighter and more intense than the last time MK had seen him. 

Nezha couldn't dodge the third strike, bringing up his weapon to block it instead the moment he realized and MK moved, intervening with his own shadow weapon a few feet in front of Nezha. It met the swing of light head-on, but even though he was braced for the force he felt surprised when he felt the blow break his weapon in half cleanly.

He didn't have a chance to even gasp when it continued to his stomach and threw him back like a punch to the gut, slamming into another body like a rock and then skidding across the floor like a pebble, rolling on the ground and blinking in shock to find himself staring up at the sky on his back. 

He gasped, air swelling back into his deflated lungs and groaned, rolling onto his knees and twisting his head to look at the twinned groan and the sound of someone else getting up.