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Sun Wukong remembered how most of his reality ended: in a burst of green flame and a laugh of triumph that quickly turned turned into screams that “this wasn’t part of her Destiny”.
Sun Wukong remembered hearing this from far away, like he was trapped in a glass bowl. Not quite able to do anything about it and yet wanting to all the same. And then he was moving. And then everything was in perfect sight and all too clear.
And then he felt the flames.
He still felt the flames.
He would always feel the flames now.
He sort of remembered a time where the flames didn’t burn his skin, when he still had fur on his entire body. It didn’t matter that large chunks of it were gone now, he would still be warm in this world without it. And there was some relief from the burning, thanks to Lao Tzu.
Quite frankly, Sun Wukong was amazed that man didn’t seem to hold a grudge after he ransacked his lab all those centuries ago. But maybe that was him expecting the worst. Or maybe Lao Tzu was able to see the bigger picture and recognize than some old grudges were pointless to keep in the state of the world as it was now.
It was… gone.
Not entirely, of course, but the world as it was… the mortal world, at least, was gone. Destroyed in that burst of green flames of the Samadhi Fire than Mei wielded against her wishes.
It wasn’t Mei’s fault.
If there was only one truth all the survivor’s agreed on it was that it wasn’t Mei’s fault.
No one expected her to control it, not after that.
Macaque blamed the Lady Bone Demon. Why her specifically and not the Great Sage, who stood by and watched it happen in an instant, Sun Wukong did not know.
The celestials (most of them) blamed Sun Wukong.
He couldn’t exactly argue with them. He blamed himself after all.
Not that they wanted to (or could) do anything about it, now that there was almost nothing outside the Celestial Realm to protect now. Even a good portion of that had been lost to the flames, chunks of it far from the Jade Emperor’s palace still burning even decades later.
Sun Wukong wondered if MK would blame him too. But he could no longer ask.
MK hadn’t been awake for a long time, trapped in some kind of… not exactly a coma. A sort of limbo state. Alive while completely unaware and asleep, requiring nothing to sustain him. It was a mystery that no one could quite solve. Was it the power of the fire? Was it something else? No one knew for sure.
No one was even sure this was all the fire’s doing in the first place.
It was so… odd. Yes, the Samadhi Fire was said to have the power to destroy reality. And clearly it destroyed parts of it. But there was something else to this, almost like some element of chaos added to the mix that almost changed things. Maybe it was Mei’s own will and control of the fire, maybe it was something else… but some things survived. Some changed.
Not everything was gone. Just most of it.
Most of the mortals were killed, which was something to be expected, but many somehow survived. The ones important to Mei or farthest away from it all.
And they seemed trapped in time.
Sun Wukong supposed that if the fire could destroy reality, destroying the passage of time wasn’t out of the question.
It did mean that MK, should he ever wake, would be spared waking to learn that his friends and family had passed over the 100 years since the calamity. But it also did mean the mortals were getting… antsy.
Sun Wukong watched on from his position in the Celestial Realm, as Tang and Pigsy went through the motions of gardening on their little outcrop of spared land. Every day it was the same. Wake up, breakfast, garden, check on their friends, have lunch, evening activities, dinner, sleep. Pigsy had taken up attempting to invent new types of food while Tang, no longer able to only keep up his scholarly activities due to boredom, had taken to writing.
Sandy made to sail off every few months, see how the rest of the world fared and bring back what he could. He had become a very accomplished tradesman in the meantime.
The Demon Bull family had taken to housing travelers and refugees from the calamity. It seemed to be an unheeded calling they had missed before. Red Son…
He helped when he could.
But he was almost always with Mei.
No one had the heart to tell him to leave her be.
Sun Wukong sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. When had he last slept? He couldn’t recall. He didn’t exactly NEED to sleep that much given his immortality. Besides, he would rather keep up with his new position.
Oh the irony…
He once rebelled against this realm for giving him a made up title and a low ranking job. Now he had a job that meant nothing, gave him no real duties, and another made up title that gave him one of the highest ranks.
Perhaps it was Erlang Shen trying to avoid a second Havoc event. Or, perhaps, he felt pity for Sun Wukong and wanted to make him feel special.
Either way, Sun Wukong’s job was to observe and document the mortal and celestial realms. That was it. He was given the title of Observer of the Calamity, a title that meant nothing at all. Erlang Shen claimed it would give him a ranking just below himself, the new Jade Emperor, and would put him as a sort of advisor role to him. One of the highest ranks in the entire Celestial court.
It meant nothing.
A lot meant nothing now.
Outside the fire that still burned under his skin.
“You should go to them,” a voice suddenly called out behind him. Sun Wukong would have jumped, had he not expected this voice like clockwork. Nezha continued, laying a gentle hand on the sage’s shoulder, careful to avoid a burnt patch of skin. “You know you’re not obligated to trap yourself here.”
“I know,” Sun Wukong said, barely looking away from the realm. He did reach out, patting the Lotus’s Prince’s wrist with his tail to acknowledge the touch on his shoulder. His hands were busy writing everything down. They ached horribly. “But-”
“Please,” Nezha asked softly. Too softly. Sun Wukong missed the days when he would grow mad at the elder, when he would snark and scream and berate him. Now he just looked at him with pity. It was worse than hate. “Visit them. You deserve SOME freedom from your duties. It would be good for you all.”
“Wow,” Sun Wukong said with a heavy laugh. “Never thought I would hear the Lotus Prince himself ordering his superior to take a break.”
“Asking,” Nezha corrected. “As a friend.”
Well… how could he say no to that?
Sun Wukong sighed, standing with a stretch.
“Only because a friend asked me,” he said. “I… have been meaning to visit Mei this year anyway.”
“I feel like…” Nezha trailed off. “I feel like today is the day to go. I don’t know why. I just do.”
“Even if it’s just her talking to me? That would be enough,” Sun Wukong said with a nod. Mei had not talked to him for multiple yearly visits, too busy in her focus to even recognize his presence. It was apparently like that for most of the year, according to Red Son. “Maybe we’ll be lucky and SOMETHING will change this time!”
“Let’s hope,” Nezha said with a smile.
Sun Wukong did not expect the hug he was assaulted with as he made to leave his observatory… but he would be lying if he regretted letting go of his friend to leave.
Even the pain of contact on his burns meant nothing against the first contact he had in the last month locked away of his own will, mental chains in a new mountain of his own making.
~
He tried not to think of the screams.
Not to think of the fire.
Not to think of Mei weeping over MK’s body.
Not to think of the shard of ice or crystal or whatever it was that the Lady used that jutted from his chest, tinged in a red that shouldn’t be there.
Not to think of how badly he wanted to destroy the Lady Bone Demon before Mei took that honor for herself.
Not to think of the look of fear and then the smile on MK’s face as he assured them he would be ok.
Not to think of everyone screaming as Mei screamed, the fire burning harder and brighter and then everything… burning.
Not to think how, out of everyone there, only himself was burnt by the flames as he made to grab Mei to stop her, and how his hands ached and burned and how she looked at him in anger and sadness and then regret when she registered what she did.
He tried not to think of any of this as he neared the site of the world’s demise, only three figures in sight among the still burning flames. Two sitting and one laying down.
Perhaps one day things will change.
Perhaps one day MK would wake from his limbo slumber.
Perhaps one day Mei could finally, properly, rest for more than a couple hours at a time.
Perhaps one day they could all be together again, Sun Wukong finally counted in their group as a friend properly.
Perhaps one day he would be able to visit Mei without the fear of her disappointment in her lack of progress rebuilding the world (though he could see how she had improved so much little by little and would tell her every visit).
Perhaps one day they could both smile at each other and mean it.
As the three talked amongst each other, the first time all three had been able to in years, unbeknownst to them all a fourth’s hand twitched.