Chapter Text
As cheesy as it sounds, he did remember that day as if it was yesterday. He arrived at Flower-Fruit Mountain alongside some other powerful demon he barely knew to ambush Monkey King and steal some of his fruits purely out of spite. They didn't know Monkey King has left the island to visit his temple near Megapolis City, but it didn't matter to them as long as they left the mountain destroyed and fruitless. However, as their troops were attacking defenseless and, apparently, leaderless monkeys, a blinding pillar of light has struck the top of FFM, causing an explosion seen only once before on this land. Both demonic kings have looked at each other, fear slowly taking over their hearts, as they knew what, or who, was responsible for the explosion many, many years ago. Luck has probably turned its back on them, if this event reoccurred as they were attacking the island, but either way they had decided to investigate. Perhaps they could reach the newly born celestial monkey before any of Monkey King's loyal companions does and convince it to join their cause. To this day, Six-Eared Macaque thought of this decision as one of the best he ever made.
Macaque and the other demon king, who was so insignificant to the shadow monkey he didn't bother remembering his name, arrived at the top of Flower-Fruit Mountain just as the newly born creature started to crawl around. It was a small monkey infant of dark brown fur, with yellowish face, hands and feet. Its mask was irregular, as if someone tried to paint a heart with shaky hands, and on top of that accidentally spattered a few drops of paint on a cheek and above an eye. Upon seeing a strange, black monkey, the cub started crawling towards him, reaching his tiny paws to be picked up. The demon king drew his sword.
“We should kill it before it becomes a problem, like Monkey King.”
“But... It's just a child,” Macaque reasoned, looking at the clumsy infant that could barely walk. Its steps were shaky, and it kept falling on its face as it tried to move forward. Wukong wasn't half as helpless when he emerged, at least from what Liu’er knew. “How is it supposed to be a threat?”
“That's what the Jade Emperor said as well when Monkey King was born, and now he's one of the most dangerous creatures to walk on Earth! I say we kill it, this world doesn't need another celestial monkey.”
The demon king raised his sword and was ready to cut the infant's head off, when the blade was stopped by a purple staff made of shadows. Six-Eared Macaque stood between the demon and the new-born, his eyes sharp, his teeth bared, preparing for a fight in which at least one of them would lose a life.
“I know you barely know anything about kids, but trust me, they are the easiest creatures to manipulate. I can take it home and raise it so it would never know it's related to Sun Wukong.” Liu’er wasn't even struggling to keep the bigger demon at bay. It was safe to assume the demon king didn't expect something half his size to be this strong, judging by the terrified look on his face. “Let's make a deal, shall we? You keep all the fruits from Flower-Fruit Mountain, and I keep the kid. We go our separate ways and we never see each other again. How does that sound, huh?”
The demon king didn't say anything. Instead he turned around and quite literally jumped off the top of the mountain to escape Macaque's wrath. Probably the smartest choice he could make. Shadow monkey faced the infant that, by some unknown miracle, has almost managed to reach the adult's feet. Macaque smiled warmly and picked the little one in his arms, cooing to it.
“You know, kiddo, you remind me of my boys back home, Savage and Rumble. I'm pretty sure they're about your age, if not a little younger.” Black monkey chuckled. “Oh, they'll love having another sibling. I can't just leave you here, can I? Someone has to take care of you, and as far as I know Wukong,” some distant memories run through monkey's mind, making him flinch, “he'd just leave you at somebody's doorstep, so they would take you in instead of him. And maybe he'd come back years later to ruin your life, who knows...” Brown-furred infant was too focused on grabbing the bigger monkey's hair to pay any attention to his words. Not that it would understand anything anyway. “Let's take you home, alright? How does that sound, buddy?”
The infant chuckled as Liu’er purred into its belly. That day, Six-Eared Macaque brought home a new addition to the family, a son he loved dearly and raised with utmost care, while making sure the traitor and murderer Sun Wukong had no access into their lives. It was a day that brought warmth and hope into black monkey's reincarnated heart, that he thought had stopped beating a long time ago.
The sun has already set and now only the moon illuminated dark walls of Castle of Shadows. Honestly, it wasn't much of a castle, despite what the name suggested. It definitely wasn't big and majestic, as one would expect a castle to be, it more resembled an oversized tree-house set in the middle of the darkest forest anyone has ever entered. Shadows here were thick, sunlight has never visited the forest's floor, yet somehow plants had no difficulty growing and blooming, in accordance to passing seasons. The mentioned earlier Castle of Shadows was built between the thickest branches and if someone didn't know there was a building here, they would never notice it. Castle's rooms were separated from each other, each one built on a different tree and smartly camouflaged so that it blended perfectly with its surroundings. While there were more obvious bridges between the rooms, most of them were hidden in plain sight as seemingly unconnected branches. Perhaps a human would have troubles navigating through this dark and dangerous maze, but it was no challenge for shadow monkeys that lived there their entire lives.
Shadow monkeys looked like black-furred versions of regular ones, except the slightly glowing eyes that allowed them to see perfectly in the darkness. However, among them were three specimen that definitely stood out. Not only two of them had red markings across their bodies and red masks on their faces that looked like skulls, while the third one was visibly taller and dressed in clothing... or dressed in general, but also all three of them were vigorously jumping from branches to branches, chasing each other and screaming loudly. Quiet and laid back regular shadow monkeys paid them no mind, focused on searching for food and grooming each other, as they were used to the shenanigans of the Trouble Trio. On most days, they were actually no trouble other than the amount of noise they created. This time, however, they had angered their father and were currently being hunt down by him, which made all shadow monkeys tense and ready to run if needed. No one wanted to see King Macaque angry.
The oldest of Trouble Trio, Xiaotian, or MK for short, ordered his younger brothers to run ahead and avoid any thick branches and tree trunks where the king could emerge from his shadow portals. He himself slowed down ever so slightly to let his father catch up to him. Unfortunately, King Macaque saw this plan through and instead picked up the pace to follow the twins.
That was exactly what MK was hoping for to happen.
The brown monkey leaped from a tree trunk, using so much force it shattered a portion of the tree. He aimed for his own king to push him onto the ground. Liu’er Mihou noticed the ambush, but it was already too late.
Perhaps if he used all of his six ears, he would stand a chance. Right now, however, he was laying face down on the ground, pinned by his very own son he raised. He could use a shadow portal to escape the painful grasp, but instead he felt anger leave his body, being replaced by pride and admiration. Pride, because he knew he trained his son well. Admiration, because his successor just showed signs of a great leader, not only coming up with a smart plan, but also focusing on his subjects' well-being rather than his own. Something a certain other king could never do.
“Well done, Xiaotian. You have bested me,” admitted Macaque, patiently waiting for his son to let go of him.
“You still angry?” asked cautiously the younger demon. He knew better than to trust someone who just chased him around the forest. Another good trait of his. Liu’er couldn't have chosen a better successor.
“Nope. You're all good.” King felt weight from his back removed. “But you're still grounded.” He swiftly jumped onto his feet. “No apples for a week and all of you get extra training. Maybe if your bodies are hurting, you won't sneak out of the house this late.”
“But you always tell us to stick to the shadows anyway, and what better time to find shadows than night?”
“Xiaotian…”
Brown monkey's mouth shut instantly upon hearing his full name.
A quiet rustle, followed by a muffled chattering sounded from nearby bushes. The twins appeared from the shadows and jumped onto MK's shoulders. They were bigger than regular monkeys, but Xiaotian never seemed to mind their weight. Savage and Rumble started complaining to their father, defending their older brother, but got shut down just as quickly with one move of Macaque's hand. The king didn't want to hear any excuses for the disobedience.
“We're going home. There, we shall continue our talk.”
Murmuring something under their breath, the Trouble Trio followed their father to the castle. They definitely didn’t want extra training — who would? — and were heartbroken about not eating apples for a week, but in all honestly, not one of them could say they didn’t do it to themselves. Xiaotian was thinking of a way to possibly make the king’s punishment lighter, if there was one, but nothing was coming to his brain hidden under messy brown hair. Too bad, they’ll have to sit this one out.
As they entered the shared bedroom, a group of monkeys in the distance sounded an alarm. Macaque removed glamour from his ears, revealing all six of them, and listened, while MK and his brothers went dead silent. Their father had an amazing sense of hearing, but only if no one was chattering next to him.
Liu’er hissed.
“Trouble’s on the way.”
Little monkeys’ faces went pale as they heard the statement. What could possibly make its way into their forest and threaten its peace? King probably already knew, but refused to tell them anything. Instead he faced them, his eyes filled with worry, and gave them instructions.
“Listen, kids, this is… something I might not be able to protect you from.” Their faces went even paler. “I’ll send you somewhere safe, you’ll meet a nice lady there, she’ll take you in when you say you’re my children.” Something similar to thunder shook the forest, the little monkeys yelped, hugging each other. “It’s okay, it’s okay,” Macaque calmed them. “I know it’s all scary, but I need you to stay strong, alright?” He hugged his three children, holding them close to his heart. “You’ll be safe with Princess Iron Fan, and when all of this is over, I’ll come for you, ‘kay?” Savage, Rumble and Xiaotian nodded shyly, while something rumbled again. “Xiaotian, take care of your brothers for me. I’ll be back.”
With that sentence, King Macaque pushed his children into a shadow portal, while he himself stayed behind. Last thing MK saw was a flash of yellow light hitting his dad, and then everything went dark, cold and silent.