Randal watched as the monkeys all screeched, banged their chests, even used props as they spoke the to beast. Sun WuKong, monarch of the sun, and the monkey King. The entire palace was now overrun with the beasts…
The Mage sat on a boulder as he watched. The Ranger standing to his side as they watched the monkey king. Very far from his homeland.
"Is he… actually speaken ta Ru? The Sun god… or he jus be talken aloud?" The Ranger asked as the Monkey King continued to taunt the god.
"Aye think he be talken ta Ru. Would no be such ah stretch if he a Sun Monarch… who else would he be prayen ta?" The Mage asked in just above a whisper. The next thing he knew he was on the ground, four of his wards shattered. His head aching.
The Ranger had tried to catch the projectile but it seemed to have a mind of its own, sliding under his hand to hit the Mage in the head. Thankfully, the Mage didn't appear seriously hurt.
The Mage glanced up to see he was now being glared at by every monkey, and the monkey king himself.
"I don't pray to any god. I'm the one you call when you need a god knocked down to size." WuKong sneered. "I talk to Ru, because want to. Wouldn't even be bother if I hadn't run across this crybaby." WuKong snorted as a smile crept onto his face. "I still think they bird napped him." When Nix started to stir WuKong quickly started soothing him.
Randal felt sweat trickle along his back, the monkey king had deliberately broken the wards but left the Mage unharmed. Anything getting through those wards should have killed a lesser dragon.
The Mage shakily pulled himself up, "My mistake, aye didna ken ye could jus speak ta gods."
WuKong rolled his eyes, "At your age, you'd think you know better." After ensuring the crybaby wouldn't wake up WuKong settled back in. "Speaking of gods and monarchs, have any of you visited their home tree?"
The Mage flinched, so… the beast could also see through illusions. Two hundred years without anyone seeing through his illusions now everyone they met seemed to notice. "Aye kenna say I've ever had the opportunity."
WuKong bounced his foot, "It's not a place I'd recommend either. Can't say I've ever been to hell, but that place? I'd believe it was one of the lower realms. Biggest tree I've ever seen. And I've seen trees that you could fit this whole country on. All them birds taking up a branch with their giant nests." WuKong paused as he recalled his first sight.
"Bones along the ground, no corpses, no… even newly hatched they ate everything. But the blood… so much blood dripping from the branches, down the trunk… saturating the earth. Just stepping on the ground and it would bubble up like a spring."
Sebastian felt his veins freeze just imagining such a place.
"Even when I approaching the tree was being besieged by snakes." WuKong glanced over the small child with a snake hiding in his pouch. "Naga's, lamia, beasts, animals alike. All of them blindly charging the tree in suicidal attacks. And they were suicidal, all of them ripped to pieces then eaten." WuKong glanced over the terrified humans.
"You see, I'd come across this strange crybaby, following a demon, or a beast if you prefer the term. He wanted a flower demon to share some fruit. Had to be one of the strangest sights I ever saw. So strange I stopped to watch. I thought for sure this demon would just eat the wailing crybaby trailing after her. But she just ignored him, kept walking away." WuKong snorted shaking his head.
"I didn't know it at the time, but the flower demon had tried to eat the crybaby repeatedly. But he'd burst into flame, then keep following her. After three days, she tried to eat him again, that pleading, wailing, crybaby asking for just one flower, just a seed, or a petal… well I figured I'd save him. That demon only had one trick and was barely stronger than a human." WuKong snickered as he remembered the alarmed cries coming from the flower demons mouth as the crybaby was swallowed up in his sleep.
"Before I could even tell that flower demon to say it's sutras… that crybaby burst into flames, not hurting the flower, as escaped. Standing beside this enraged flower demon as he started… crying again." WuKong burst into laughter, he'd been so shocked he'd almost fallen on his face.
"Well, he didn't want to kill the flower demon for not sharing, but I killed it because it lured unsuspecting men in with illusions, then turned them into fertilizer. Then I found myself stuck with a wailing, crybaby following me around asking where he could find a flower. Someone told him that if he gained a specific flower seed, was able to make it bloom, it would then seek out his soul mate." WuKong's smile fell away.
"I can hear your thoughts galloping a thousand li (half a mile) a minute heart bearer. You're wondering why the moment I showed up Nix became so childish." WuKong glanced over all the humans, settling his gaze on the heart bearer.
Neolani clenched her fist, glaring as yet another beast condemn her.
WuKong snorted, "He's always been a crybaby. A crybaby who doesn't hear your words, he hears hearts. You don't want a crybaby." When Nix started to stir WuKong patted him. He was used to taking care of little ones. Nix was like any neglected baby. Desperate for even the slightest affection.
"You want a mature, all powerful, selfless, leader. Someone who will kill your enemies, protect your weak… fight through his own pain, stand tall no matter how injured or broken. You don't care if he's hurt, not unless that means he can't do what you want." WuKong announced rocking Nix gently.
"I hate to admit it, but I have to give Ru props. God of the Sun. After seeing what their home was like I doubt anyone who was gentle survived long. From their own beaks I learned Nix's egg was so damaged it took three monarchs to keep him from dying in the egg. They only bothered because even in the egg Nix was as strong as Ru." WuKong swallowed his own bitter feelings.
"Ru incubated Nix for an entire year, and even ten thousand years after Ru had become the last Sun God, they still lamented Ru wasting his time on a useless egg." The silence was deafening. "Nix, stronger than all of them combined, defeater of five of the nine apostles of the previous Sun god… was a waste. Because instead of going out and hunting snakes for sport, he would rather sit on a branch and sing."
WuKong stared the heart bearer in the eye, "Like so many before, you don't want a protector. You want a killer. So, this crybaby who wouldn't kill a flower demon for trying to eat him… kills for you. He gave you complete access to his mana, his source. What did you do heart bearer?"
Alexei stared at Nix, even smaller than just a few minutes ago. His jaw locked as he listened.
"This crybaby is so desperate for warmth… he's using an ember to warm himself. Not a fire, not a torch, not even a candle. You're just an ember, have you ever held an ember in your hands while you're surrounded by snow? Try it some time. See how warm it keeps you."
"That, by his own admission, is his burden WuKong." A calm, almost benevolent voice stated.
WuKong snarled as he pointed his staff at the approaching God. A blue skinned figure in robes was stepping down from the clouds.
Thousands of roots sprung from the ground, arching over WuKong protectively. Plum appeared beside the floating cloud without warning.
"You are not welcome here Akshobhya." Plum stated as he extended a wing over the sleeping Nix.
"Don't talk like were friends. What are you doing out of the Eastern Paradise?" WuKong hissed through his teeth.
Akshobhya gave a slight bow of his head. "Peace Sun WuKong, Peace Plum King. This One is not here for Phoenix. This One is here to ensure others do not tread unwelcome." Waving his right hand a small patch of earth revealed itself. Akshobhya sat, resting his fingers on the earth as he spread his domain throughout the land. Raising his left hand he gave the duo another slight bow.
WuKong sneered, "That's rich, you who let thousands die because you are unwilling to nip problems in the bud? Here to prevent others?"
Akshobhya smiled, "Sun WuKong, taking another's life before they have sinned is not saving, it is still sacrificing. Eventually the wheel of Dharma may be slow, but eventually all must answer the call."
WuKong already felt his brain hurting. This wretched conversation again. "Why are you here. You must be breaking all sorts of laws and dharma stepping out of paradise."
Akshobhya continued to smile, "This One was asked to observe. This One overheard the conversation. This One hoped to share some wisdom from a different perspective."
Plum curled his lip in a mocking smile, "The Observer? Offering wisdom? The Gods must be meeting for the first time since Nix left Ru's side."
Akshobhya closed his eyes for a moment, when he opened them, he looked past the mortal realm. "Yes, a conference of Gods has begun. This One… has no place in such talks. That does not mean, This One's sincerity is any less Plum King."
Plum looking into the glowing lotus pattern in the god's eyes. Plum was not particularly familiar with the different Eastern gods, though he was aware this was one of the Buddha's… deferring to WuKong's knowledge he remained silent.
WuKong snorted, "Sincerity, you will always sincerely mourn over every life you could have saved."
Akshobhya's smile did not faulter, "That is, and will always be This One's burden. Just as This One is sworn to feel no anger, nor disgust to any being. The young Phoenix is to fall so others may rise."
"Falling is not the same as being dragged down." WuKong denied.
"This One agrees. Yet not once since This One started walking the earth has This One seen someone drag this youth down. This One knows not a single being who has the power to do so." Akshobhya reminded even as his gaze rested on the beast's heart bearer.
"So you will not interfere if someone simply kills the beasts that dare trespass?" WuKong pressed.
"This One will only observe. This One only hoped to share wisdom." Akshobhya confirmed as his sight returned to the mortal realm. Resting his left hand in his lap.
Plum was aware WuKong had defied the heavens on more than one occasion. To have sealed WuKong away in a mountain for 500 years was no easy feat. "What wisdom are you hoping to share."
Akshobhya gave the fairy king a slight nod. "This One wished to ask why Sun WuKong sought the young Phoenix out. Why now, after nearly seven hundred years apart?"
"Perhaps I was just going to snuff out the problem. If the choice is between watching a few countries fall to ruins, or them sacrificing a child, I could just remove the deciding factor." WuKong challenged.
Akshobhya nodded in contemplation, "This One has noticed two, perhaps three options."
"Kill them all, all three would be dragons. I'm not a big fan of dragons anyway." WuKong pressed.
Akshobhya took a moment to gather his thoughts, resting his gaze on the sleeping babe. The Phoenix was a babe, innocent in ways most lost to time. Turning his attention back to WuKong he spoke slowly. "This One is to understand, you, Sun WuKong, would take the choices this babe has fought so hard to give? You would deny his will… take all three lifelines he is protecting?"