Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Mihou sank deep into the shadows, all six of his ears fanned out, scanning for his pursuer. He tried to calm his racing heart, he was so close to getting away this time, he couldn't let anything mess this chance up.

The more he failed, the more likely He was to realize this was more than a simple game.

As he floated in the void of shadows, he tried to make as little noise as possible. Logically he knew no one could hear or sense him, especially when he was this deep in the shadows, he couldn't help but be a tad bit paranoid.

It wouldn't be the first time he did something considered impossible.

He didn't hear anything anywhere near him, and he had become very familiar with his tricks. He double checked a final time before finally, silently exiting the sanctuary of the shadows.

He just needed to get past the barrier, then he could get as far away from him as possible.

That was it, and he was so close.

He was almost free .

They were almost free.

His eggs were safely stowed away in the folds of his scarf, he took them everywhere with him like that so he wouldn't get suspicious.

His time to escape this easily was quickly running out, his eggs were starting to show signs of hatching, which of course he was very excited about.

Escape would be so much harder when they hatched.

He had to get out before then.

If he didn't, who knew when he'd have the opportunity to slip away without his cubs giving them away.

There would only be so much he could do to hide the truth then.

His right eye stung, an ever present reminder of what happened the first time he disobeyed the king.

No matter what, he was going to get his cubs out of here, even if he had to stay behind.

No, I won't let it come to that. He shook his head, refocusing on the ground in front of him.

He could hear the waves crashing on the shore in the near distance. He was almost there!

He just had to make it into the ocean, once he made it to the water, he'd be home free. He never could swim.

Mihou stopped right before he left the protective shadows of the tree line. There weren't any shadows he could use to easily reach the shore. He'd be out in the open, exposed to any eyes nearby until he reached the water.

I got this far, I can't stop now!

He wrapped his arms around his eggs, took a deep breath and made a mad dash for the water.

He hadn't seen the cloud that was passing over this section of the beach at the exact moment he decided to make a run for it.

He was too focused on running to properly make sense of anything he heard, tunnel vision was always his weakness in these ‘games’.

A pair of strong arms suddenly wrapped around his waist.

He stared at the water, so close yet impossibly far away.

Those arms gripped him with a force that made him wince.

He caught me. He slumped in defeat.

He pulled him in close, his back pressed against his chest as he was lifted slightly off the ground, leaving his feet dangling just out of reach of the stabilizing sand.

Mihou didn't let his despair show. He forced himself not to flinch as he nuzzled the side of his neck. He made himself lean into the very unwanted touch. He made himself purr when he heard the deep rumble from his captor.

“Got you, moonlight~” Wukong whispered into his left set of ears.

His breath tickled the delicate appendages, causing a series of reflexive twitches.

I hate this. I hate this. I hate this.

“You did.” He said in a pouty voice, looking up at the face of his former lover.

Wukong chuckled at what he thought was poor sportsmanship. When he laughed like this, Mihou could almost convince himself he was normal, almost .

His once mate shifted him in his arms, transitioning to holding him in a bridal style for the trek back to Wukong's hut.

I hate this. I hate this. I hate this.

“You're such a sour loser, Mango.” Wukong laughed.

Mihou forced a smile up at him as he made his body relax into Wukong's hold.

“It's hard to be a good sport when you always win. I'm allowed to be a little petty.” He joked, playfully flicking Wukong's arm with his tail.

I hate this. I hate this. I hate this.

Wukong smiled down at him, his red and gold eyes glanced at his scarf, his smile turned into a frown. Mihou averted his eyes and held his eggs closer to him.

He knew Wukong would never think of trying to take them again, but he couldn't shake the anxiety that his daughters were mere moments and one slip up away from being ripped from his arms.

“I don't see why you have to bring them with you every time.” Wukong commented.

Mihou refused to look at him, he ran his thumb over the swirl on the cracked egg, he almost lost this cub.

“You could leave them, and I'll have one of my clones watch-”

“I don't trust you or your clones around them unsupervised anymore.” he growled.

Wukong flinched. Mihou almost felt bad for how often he pulled that card. He really did seem to regret it at times, just like his eye.

“You know it was a mistake.” Wukong tried.

“Yeah! A mistake that almost cost us the life of our daughter!” He spat, fur puffing up in anger.

“Moonlight-”

“Don’t ‘moonlight’ me! I didn't spend a century carrying them just for you to break them the second you were left alone with them!” He snarled.

Wukong stared sadly down at him. He couldn't look the king in the eyes when he looked like that, like he actually regretted all the pain he caused him, like he was the one to spend day in and day out stabilizing his daughter and healing her egg.

No. Wukong didn't regret any of the pain he caused, not when it could so easily benefit him.

“I said I was sorry.” Wukong mumbled.

Mihou angled his body away from the king, holding his daughters in the safety of his arms. Wukong sighed heavily and kept walking.

It wasn't like they hadn't had this argument before. These days, Mihou barely let Wukong look at his eggs.

Because they were his , not Wukong’s. He didn't care what Wukong contributed to them, he carried them, he was the one who spent days in agony delivering them, and he was the one who saved his daughter's life after Wukong so recklessly put her in danger.

They were his daughters.

Mihou ignored Wukong's attempts at conversation all the way back to the king's hut. The king knew what to expect after poking at that wound again. At least it gave him an excuse to let his real feelings towards the golden monkey show.

Wukong set him down on the couch in the living room once they finally got back to the hut. He could tell the king was anxious, and trying to find a way to make things better before they went to bed for the night. He was always saying some nonsense about not going to bed angry, well, Mihou went to bed angry at him and the gods that put him in this position every damn night.

“Do you want some peach pudding?” Wukong asked him quietly.

He shot the king a glare. He didn't want anything from him right now. Wukong gave him that disappointed frown again, the one he gave when he was being difficult out of spite. Mihou rolled his eyes, giving in if only to stop Wukong from giving him yet another lecture about all the things he does for him and how ungrateful he can be at times, doesn't he know how privileged he is to be the Monkey King’s beloved mate?

I never asked for any of this!

“I want mango sticky rice.” He sighed.

Wukong's frown vanished immediately, his tail swished excitedly behind him. The sound grated on his senses.

“Right away moonlight!” Wukong kissed his forehead as he rushed off to the kitchen.

“And no more games tonight~!” He added.

I was so close to getting out of this nightmare. Mihou sighed, rubbing his tired eyes.

He would have to wait a bit before he could try again, Wukong kept an annoyingly close eye on him for the first few days after any of their ‘games’.

He felt his eggs thrumming with energy under his hands, he maybe had a few months before the pair hatched. Wukong's fumble delayed their hatching significantly, the only benefit of that horribly traumatizing experience.

He needed to get out and as far away from anywhere Wukong would be as soon as possible.

He couldn't let his cubs live in this environment, he couldn't live with himself if they grew up robbed of their freedom.

He wouldn't be able to go to any of his allies once he got out, they would be the first people Wukong went to in search of him. He definitely could not go to Princess Iron Fan, Wukong knew how close they were. Despite how much he longed for the comforting presence of his sister, he could not in good conscience put her and her son in that sort of danger. She already suffered enough when DBK tried to interfere.

Wukong finished making the sticky rice and made a big show of presenting it to him. Begrudgingly, he took the bowl and allowed the king to sit on the couch next to him. He was annoyingly clingy after ‘games’ too.

It was good, as far as Wukong's cooking went. It was probably the only good thing Wukong could make.

When he finished, he felt a bit less angry, he was just tired and ready to sleep. He could escape Wukong in his sleep.

“Let's go to bed.” He sighed.

“Of course my moonlight, it was a very long game.” Wukong agreed.

Before he could even try to stand, the king had scooped him up into his arms, leaving the empty bowl behind.

“You're cleaning that tomorrow.” He told him.

“That's tomorrow's issue.” Wukong brushed him off.

The king carried him into the nest, he immediately went to his side of the nest. He ignored the small, hurt sound that escaped his captor.

Because that's what Wukong was, he brought him here and kept him here against his will. He couldn't let himself forget that very crucial fact.

He was a prisoner, no matter how nice Wukong played with him.

He was quick to get himself settled, the sooner he acted like he was sleeping, the less likely Wukong was to ask for anything.

Unfortunately, Wukong wasn't deterred tonight.

The golden monkey laid down right next to him, hands on his hips, tail wrapped around his waist as he pulled him slightly closer. The hands moved down to his thighs, he got a teasing tug to his tail.

I'm not in the mood for that shit. He brushed the hands off.

“I'm tired tonight.”

“Maybe tomorrow?” Wukong suggested hopefully.

“If I'm not still pissed at you.” He snarled softly.

Wukong made that hurt sound again, but unlike some other nights, he didn't press any further and retreated to his side of the nest. Mihou relaxed once the oppressive warmth left with him.

He wasn't going to make it that easy for Wukong. Sure he didn't have a lot of power in this situation, but he could still say no. Wukong didn't like forcing himself on him, he preferred if he was a ‘willing’ participant. He thanked Guanyin daily for that small mercy.

Wukong could butter him up all he wanted, but he was never going to let Wukong forget any of his mistakes, and he was never going to forgive Wukong for it either.

He could never forgive Wukong for any of this.

Mihou curled tighter around his eggs, knowing he would probably wake up with Wukong cuddling him in his sleep.

The small pulses of life from his eggs were the only thing that kept him going on the worst days. They were the only bits of light he had in the darkness he was trapped in.

His cubs were truly the only good thing to have ever come from his relationship with Wukong.

He was going to get them out, he was going to make sure they never knew about the horrors he'd gone through. He was going to give his daughters a happy, normal life, far from where Wukong could poison it.

By the gods, he was going to get out of here with them one day.

Chapter Text

Mihou never made it out.

He didn't even have a chance to slip away to even attempt an escape.

Wukong got so clingy over the next three months, it was like he was pregnant all over again. He wasn't allowed to leave Shuilian Cave at all, and some days he wasn't allowed to leave the hut. Wukong barely left him alone for more than a few minutes, it was suffocating .

He spent the majority of the time trapped between Wukong's arms, unable to voice his frustrations because the king didn't think he had any valid reason to be angry, he hadn't brought up his accident in so long.

He had to just sit by and wait for the now dreaded day that his cubs would hatch.

Today, Mihou was stuck laying across Wukong's lap with his eggs resting on his chest.

He had relented to letting the other to groom his mane. He normally did it himself, he didn't like how touchy Wukong got with his ears, but Wukong had insisted on doing it for him today.

He hissed when Wukong pulled out a particularly tangled knot.

“Be careful.” He growled.

“Sorry moonlight.” Wukong kissed his forehead.

It was a pretty normal thing at this point, Wukong forced this weird physical contact time everyday. Over seven hundred years later and he still wasn't comfortable with Wukong touching him.

“Can I braid your mane, Mango?” Wukong asked sweetly once he was done grooming him.

“Are you going to do it anyway?”

He sighed at the faux guilty face Wukong made.

“Fine.” He muttered.

He pushed himself off the couch, barely getting a few seconds to stand before Wukong pulled him to sit in his lap. The golden monkey’s tail wrapped around his waist with a playful squeeze.

“You need to be looking your best when the kids hatch, my moon.” Wukong swooned, fingers already starting to pull his hair back.

“They'll be newborns, they won't remember anything.” he said half to himself.

Wukong yanked his hair back in a sharp jerking movement. The tail around his waist tightened, he glared at the king over his shoulder.

“ I want you looking your best. My lovely moonlight~” Wukong declared, kissing his cheek.

Mihou rolled his eyes and turned back around. Wukong got to work with his hair.

Things were blessedly silent for a few precious moments.

“Mihou, why are you so upset lately?” Wukong asked.

You know why! He wanted to scream.

“You've been in such a sour mood these last few months, you never seem very happy with what I do for you anymore, you're not returning any of my affection,” he paused.

“It almost feels like you hate me , but that can't be right, you don't hate me. So what's troubling your beautiful mind, moonlight?” Wukong cooed.

“Do you want me to be honest?” Mihou prompted, glancing back at the king.

“Of course, Mango, I’d love to know exactly what you're thinking.” Wukong said with a wide grin.

Danger flashed through his red stained eyes, a silent dare to see what would happen if he didn't choose his next words very carefully. The king was fed up with his attitude.

Internally, Mihou sighed. There was no use in taking that dare, he had to pick his battles carefully. Wukong only tolerated his disobedience so much before he got annoyed.

“I'm upset you aren't letting me leave the cave.” He admitted.

“Contrary to what you think, I can take care of myself, it's not like anyone can get onto the mountain anyway. I'm not going to break if you leave me alone for five minutes.” He huffed, trying his hardest to not sound as angry as he was.

“Moonlight, I just want to keep you and the cubs safe . What if something bad happened to you and I couldn't find you in time?” Wukong leaned forward, resting his head against his shoulder.

Mihou ignored the pouty, upset face the king was giving him.

“You're treating me the way you did when I was pregnant.” He said bluntly.

“You were pretty happy with me when you were pregnant.” Wukong reminded him.

“That was the hormones talking.” He said, tucking his face into his scarf to hide his blushing face.

“You're so cute when you're embarrassed, moonlight.” Wukong snickered, nipping at his ears gently.

“Wukong!” He giggled.

“There's my moonlight~” his former mate cooed, wrapping his arms around him in a gentle embrace.

His body betrayed him, naturally relaxing into the hold. Wukong purred happily, rubbing his face against his with a lovestruck dopey grin.

I'm still a prisoner, he's still trying to control me, he doesn't love me, not really. No matter how nice he is, he'll hurt me if I step out of line. He doesn't love me. He doesn't .

His former lover and best, most trusted friend, moved his hands down . He went stiff.

“I want you, moonlight.” Wukong whispered into his ears.

I don't want you! I don't want this !

He wanted to scream, shout, throw Wukong off him, anything but just sit there and take it!

“Do you want me too?”

He forced himself to nod.

Wukong grinned wildly. He pushed him down , practically crawling on top of him. He fought the urge to push the other off him.

Hands grabbed at his scarf, pulling it, and his cubs, away from him.

“Wukong-” he reached out to snag his cubs back.

Wukong pushed his arm back down, smiling warmly.

“Shhh, they're only a few feet away, they'll be fine, moonlight.” He promised.

Mihou glanced around Wukong, his scarf was laying on the coffee table, neither eggs were in danger of falling.

They're safe. Just get through this and you'll have them back. He let his head fall back onto the surface of the couch. He heard Wukong's tail swishing excitedly, his captor grinned eagerly, hungrily , down at him.

He was going to be very bruised after this.

XXX

His eggs were going to hatch soon, tonight , he just knew it.

Their eggs were shaking and flashing every few minutes. He could hear the pair chirping back and forth to each other. Their sweet little sounds were adorable, but the whole hatching situation raised a few, very concerning questions.

Mihou eyed the pair of eggs as they went through another round of shaking.

“Wukong, didn’t your stone egg explode when you hatched?” He inquired.

He set the book he was reading down, resting a hand over the vibrating eggs.

“Yeah, why?” The fool asked cluelessly.

He glared at him.

“How big of an explosion was it?” He pinched the bridge of his nose, trying not to be irritated.

“Oh it was big ! It was really big and- why are you looking at me like that?” Wukong shot him a dumbfounded look.

“ Wukong , if they hatch here , they're going to blow up the house .” he hissed.

“Oh! Oh ! That is not good, not good at all!” His captor yelped.

“What do we do?! They're gonna blow!” Wukong darted towards him, he held the monkey back with an outstretched hand.

“Calm down, they aren't hatching yet.” He rolled his eyes.

“We just need to take them somewhere they won't hurt anybody.” He said.

“Oh!” Wukong nodded knowingly.

Mihou dropped his face into his hands with a groan.

“Hey! It's been a few millennia since I hatched!” Wukong objected.

I can't believe I'm stuck with this guy for eternity.

“We should go to the top of the mountain! It's where I hatched!” Wukong said excitedly.

“That works for me.” Mihou shrugged.

“Great! We can have a picnic too!” Wukong exclaimed.

He dashed into the kitchen, Mihou winced at the ensuing clatter. Wukong rushed back in, holding a basket with a blanket folded over the top. He raised an eyebrow.

“Is that what you were doing all day?” He asked.

“Yep! I wanted to surprise you, moonlight!” His captor said proudly.

“Hmm. That was nice of you.” he hummed.

“C'mon, let's go moonlight!” Wukong grabbed his hand, pulling him off the couch and into his arms.

“You're excited .” He observed. Too excited. What are you planning?

“This is the last time I'll have you all to myself until the kids grow up, I want to make it memorable!” Wukong told him.

“Oh trust me, any moment with you is memorable .” He said sarcastically.

Wukong beamed despite that. He summoned his cloud to bring them to the top of the mountain.

It was a moonless night without a cloud in the sky.

Mihou stared up at the sky as they ascended, he hadn't seen the sky clearly in nearly four months. He missed it, missed being out of that damn cave, so much .

His captor set up the picnic once they reached the top, he watched him from one of the trees that grew on the peak.

Flower Fruit Mountain wasn't a small place, but he could still see the whole island from here.

How long would it take for his cubs to explore every nook and cranny of the place? How long would it take for them to get tired of their cage and ask for freedom?

They shook, as if knowing he was thinking about them. He patted the shells, soothing the anxious shaking.

“Moonlight~” Wukong called him.

He leapt down from the tree, right onto his captor's cloud.

“It was four feet Wukong.” He complained as the cloud floated him over to its master.

Wukong didn't say anything, he just helped him down from his cloud, grinning like an idiot the whole time.

“Leave them here, that way they don't get in the way.” Wukong instructed, pointing to a large, flattened rock coming out of the mountain.

“Why?” Mihou challenged.

“I want you all to myself, moonlight, for now at least.” Wukong smiled.

“Fine.” He huffed.

He took his scarf off and set his cubs down on the rock, making sure they were safe and secure before heeding Wukong's insistent tugging on his tail.

“Is this your hair?” Mihou asked, giving the bowl of liangpi his captor placed in front of him a suspicious poke.

“I'm offended you would assume so little of me, moonlight.” Wukong scoffed jokingly.

You don't actually cook anything unless I'm mad at you.

“Noodles seem a little outside your skill level.” He said.

His captor pouted at him.

“Oh grow up.” He rolled his eyes.

They had a surprisingly comfortable conversation as they ate and waited.

If he was an idiot, Mihou could've convinced himself that Wukong was normal, that he wasn't holding him here against his will and that the children about to hatch weren't going to grow up in a cage.

But he wasn't an idiot.

He stayed alert, he didn't let Wukong's sweet nothings get to him, he wasn't going to fall for that again.

Finally, hours after all the food was eaten and they had begun stargazing to pass the time, Mihou heard a small crack. His head shot up, startling Wukong.

The eggs were glowing, hairline cracks spreading all across their surfaces.

“They're hatching?!” Wukong yelped.

The golden monkey tugged him down back onto his back. He hissed, fighting against the other's grip briefly.

“They're going to explode , moonlight!” Wukong reminded him.

Oh. Right.

Mihou let his arms fall to his sides, listening keenly to the cracks as they spread across the shells. Light poured out from inside, illuminating the mountain peak like it was daytime.

He covered his eyes to shield them from the blinding light.

Instead of the explosive boom he expected, it had a sort of softer sound, it didn't sound like an explosion, it sounded more like something popping .

The light went out.

A gush of wind tugged at his fur.

He opened his eyes, rapidly blinking to adjust back to the dimly light darkness.

A faint, shimmery dust was slowly falling all around two small balls of fluff sitting on the rock.

Two pairs of eyes opened, one amber and bright gold, the other, silver and crimson red.

His cubs… they were finally here.

The falling stardust landed on one of his daughter's noses, her nose scrunched up and she let out a very big sneeze for her size.

Six petal shaped ears fanned out from the side of her head with the sneeze, spooking her sister, who squealed at the sudden flash of light on her sensitive new eyes. She made a grumpy face and flashed her own ears in response, her four ears.

The brightly flashing colors caught her sister's attention, the six eared cub cooed happily at the pretty colors. The pair quickly got about investigating each other, completely ignoring their fathers watching them in the most adorable way possible.

Mihou carefully approached the fragile, newborn cubs, he held his breath as he looked them over from a distance.

Which one is from the cracked egg? He didn't see any major differences between the two that would indicate which one came from the cracked egg, other than the six eared cub was a bit smaller than her sister.

The four eared cub suddenly licked her smaller sister's ears, causing her to giggle madly at the ticklish sensation.

A glow came from the small cub's side.

Her sister noticed and excitedly pointed it out.

There was a pale yellow spot on her side in the exact shape of the crack on her egg.

He heard the king take a step back to start doing something, packing up the blanket it sounded like. 

Mihou stared at the spot marking his daughter's near death experience. Wukong had nearly killed this little bundle of light.

His heart started racing, pounding against his ribcage.

I have to get out of here! I have to get them away from him ! He'll only hurt them more , all he'll do is hurt them, that's all he does, all he knows is to hurt. Thoughts rushed through his head at breakneck speeds.

How the fuck am I going to get them out? I couldn't even get them out when they were silent, immobile eggs! Everything is going to be so much more difficult now! How in hell do I keep them quiet?!

They were already making so much noise , little chirps and happy squeaks to each other. Those little sounds warmed his heart while filling it with fear, if he couldn't find a way to get them to be quiet, he could never get far with them.

“They sure are noisy, aren't they?” Wukong prompted.

His- no, their - captor stood next to him, peering down at the cubs with a slowly swishing tail. His anxiety spiked.

Does Wukong know what I'm thinking? He can't, he's not a mind reader, right? He can't, he doesn't know he can't, it's fine, it's fine, don't panic, don't freak out. Mihou steadied himself as best he could, he had to stay calm. He focused on the soft coos and chirps his cubs were making.

For them, do this for them. Stay calm for them.

“Yeah… I don't mind, their little voices are wonderful.” He said softly.

“It'll be a lot harder for you to play our game now, won't it?” Wukong asked almost innocently.

If he were paying more attention to the king's tone, he would have heard the silent danger in that seemingly innocent question.

“I guess?” he shrugged.

“You'll be so much easier to find with them clinging to you .” Wukong said.

He finally looked away from his cubs, there was an unsettling grin on his captor’s face, a glint of eerie glee in his eyes that made his heart plummet into his stomach.

Why is he talking about the game?

“I- yes… I'm sure I'll find ways to pacify them…” he said carefully.

“So you can run away with them?”

…

No.

“W-what are y-you t-talking about?” He stammered out, taking a half step away from the golden monkey.

Wukong's hand shot out to grab his wrist with a bruising grip. He winced and barely managed to keep in a pained yelp. He was pulled towards Wukong, the king's free hand snaked around his waist and squeezed him against his body.

He felt like he was being crushed between the king's arm and body.

“Wukong, let go!” He shouted.

“No.”

“No? Wukong, you-”

“Do you think I'm stupid , Mihou?” He asked dryly.

“N-no! What makes you think that?” Mihou exclaimed, trying to rip his hand from the vice grip it was trapped in.

All he got for his efforts was a tighter grip and five sharp claws digging into his side.

“I knew exactly what you were trying to do with that little ‘game’. I've known since the first time, I just played along.” Wukong hissed into his ears.

Mihou shivered at the king's closeness, he shrank away from him to the best of his ability.

“Wh-why…? Why did you let me…” why did you let me have hope of freedom?

“It reminded me of our little chase back when I first found you again, and that was an unforgettable experience for the both of us.” Wukong murmured fondly.

Mihou wanted to throw up. He did not remember that night fondly at all, he lost his eye and his freedom that terrible night.

“There was something about the way you would pretend to pout once I caught you. You looked like you were trying so hard too! It was so cute to see you think you were tricking me. I wanted to see it more .” Wukong snickered.

He shoved his face into the other's, pressed nose to nose with the shadow monkey, a wicked grin broke across his face.

“And I had a lot of fun chasing you down.” 

Mihou jerked back, Wukong's claws caught in his skin, he heard the sickening sound of flesh ripping.

“Why'd you do that, Mihou?” Wukong sighed.

He took his claws out of his side, at least, then he put his hand back down over the wound.

“Wukong, let go, you're hurting me, please let-”

“No . I'm never letting go. You're mine , Mihou. I will never let you go again .” the king growled.

Mihou stared at the person who he used to love more than his own life in terror.

It had been so long since he truly angered the king that he forgot exactly how terrifying he was.

“Don't try to run from me, Mihou, I will always find you. And if you ever try to take them away” Wukong gestured towards the two newborn cubs no doubt watching their every movement, “there will be consequences .”

“Are… are you going to hurt them ?” Mihou couldn't stop himself from asking.

Wukong's face darkened. He realized too late it was the wrong thing to have said, it showed too much of how he truly thought of the golden monkey holding him.

“Sorry! I'm s-sorry! I didn't mean it! I-i don't th-think you'll… hurt them… I d-didn't mean it Wukong! I sw-swear I didn't!” he panicked, his tongue stumbling over his own words in his rush to get them out.

Wukong glowered down at him, red eyes burning into his very soul .

“You're cute when you're scared .” He purred.

“But don't mistake my love for malice ever again.” He hissed.

Mihou nodded, rapidly blinking the tears out of his eyes.

“Oh, don't cry, moonlight, you're alright, I'll fix it for you.” Wukong cooed, wiping the tears off his face.

Wukong kissed him, he couldn't fight it, he had to let it happen. His flesh started knitting itself back together.

His tormentor released him from his crushing grip once his side was healed, a pleased look on his face.

“See? All better, right?” He tapped his nose lightly.

“Y-yes.” Mihou agreed.

Just keep it together. Keep it together. He'll be mad if you're upset.

His wrist was bruising already.

He turned away from the king once he felt it was safe to do so. He gave his attention back to his cubs.

They were luckily still more interested in each other, having ignored the violence that happened right in front of them. A small seed of anger flared up at that thought, he quickly shoved it down to be addressed at a later time.

The pair of cubs looked up at him with big, curious eyes.

With shaking hands, he scooped his daughters up into his arms, holding them protectively close. The little cubs purred happily, nuzzling him affectionately.

Wukong reached for them, he flinched away, he didn't want Wukong to take them from him yet. He frowned at him.

“Mihou, you have to share . They aren't just your cubs.” He told him.

He couldn't do anything but let Wukong take his cubs from him. The curious cubs sniffed their captor and chirped just as happily as they had with him, they had no idea the monster that held them.

“Look at you little cuties, you've both got your Baba's ears.” Wukong cooed.

They chirped eagerly at the brand new person.

“What are we gonna call you two?” Wukong asked.

He saw the king eyeing the six eared cub, the daughter he nearly killed.

No . He's not naming her. His resolve hardened, he snatched the smaller cub back from his captor.

“ I'm naming the six eared one.” Mihou insisted, holding her protectively against his chest.

Wukong's face twitched irritably before he covered his irritation with a smile.

“Of course, moonlight, there's two after all, we each get to name one.” He said.

Mihou looked down at the cub in his arms, she was small enough to fit into his hand. He let her grab onto his finger, letting her eagerly investigate the new object with curious sniffs. Her eyes were bright and full of wonder.

“What are you naming her?” Wukong asked.

He had a name picked since the moment he found out he was expecting.

“Chao-Xing.” He murmured, smiling when she gave him a little chirp of approval for her new name.

“Hmm. Interesting choice.” Wukong observed.

“What are you naming the other?” He asked, ignoring the jab.

Wukong's grin widened.

“Yingyue, isn't that a sweet name?” Wukong said.

Mihou swallowed the lump in his throat. Of course Wukong would name their cub after him .

“Yes. I-it fits with hers.” He lifted up little Chao-Xing in his hands.

“Is there any specific reason why you gave her that name?” Wukong asked, giving him a pointed stare.

“The morning star was the first thing I saw after her egg finally healed. I think it's fitting.” he said.

“Is that really all?”

“ Yes .”

“Fine.”

Wukong held Yingyue out to him, he readily took his cub from the king, holding both of them tight.

The king summoned his cloud, scooped him up and started the descent.

Mihou watched the sky, taking in as much as he could from this brief time outside of the cave. Who knew when Wukong would let him leave again.

Wukong let him get off outside of the house instead of carrying him in like usual.

“I'm going to set up the nest, why don't you clean the cubs off?” Wukong suggested.

The cubs were covered in a mix of the stardust and the fluid from their eggs, the need to groom his newborns’ fur suddenly made itself very known.

“Y-yeah, that's a good idea.” He nodded, making a beeline for the bathroom.

He turned on the water in the tub to let it warm up, it was a little slow in that regard. Wukong had completely redone the bathroom and plumbing about thirty years ago once he saw what the humans were doing.

He filled the tub with a few inches of warm water before carefully setting Yingyue and Chao-Xing into the water. They squeaked at the strange new substance, lightly splashing around in it as they tried to understand why they were suddenly wet and heavier.

As Mihou gently washed the dried fluid and stardust off their fur, he took the time to get a good look at his cubs.

They looked similar enough for being twins, not enough to be identical of course. They both had brown fur, Yingyue's was darker, and similar tan skin tones that were more like his than Wukong's.

Their face masks were both shaped more like his, coming to a point at the top. Yingyue had a little spike flaring out at about her eye level, Chao-Xing’s flared out near the bottom, like his, but it curled down instead. Curiously, Yingyue had three spots on each cheek under her mask, like adorable little freckles.

The markings colors were more like his too, it was muted red orange for Yingyue, and a more pinkish orange for Chao-Xing.

Overall, it looked like Yingyue took after him more, her fur texture being the most Wukong trait she inherited, and Chao-Xing was a split right down the middle, though with his fluffier, longer fur.

He was glad neither of them looked more like Wukong than him. A mini Wukong cub was too much for him to deal with at the moment.

His cubs were adorable, Chao-Xing was holding onto her sister's tail like it was a sleeping toy, while her own tail was floating on the surface of the water, Yingyue didn't mind sharing her tail, she didn't seem to have noticed yet.

Iron Fan would adore them. They're too cute, even for her. He envisioned his harsh sister melting under the happy purrs and chirps of his children, she would put in a front of indifference then spoil them the moment she was behind closed doors.

And Mingxia would love them to bits. He could almost see the mischievous dragon demon teaching his cubs how to get away with their own mischief.

She would never get to, she was dead, killed by Wukong's hand. It didn't matter if she was dead, not really, he failed to get out.

Even if Mingxia was alive, neither of his sworn sisters would have seen them anyway.

He failed his cubs before they were even born .

He let his head drop into his hands, despair and guilt rising in his chest.

What am I going to do? How do I protect them? Tears stung his eyes, he fought back the tears, if Wukong heard him crying, he'd barge in and insist to know what was wrong.

A curious chirp drew his attention from his own storm of emotions.

Yingyue and Chao-Xing were looking up at him with matching worried faces, letting out concerned little squeaks.

“Did I frighten you? I'm sorry.” He said softly.

He reached out to them, letting the pair nuzzle affectionately against his hand.

Yingyue's tail slapped the water as it wagged happily.

Wait.

Chao-Xing was still holding what he thought was Yingyue's tail, on a second glance, it wasn't the right color, it looked like it belonged to Chao-Xing but her tail was still floating on the water.

“Chao-Xing, what are you holding?” He asked.

The cub stared cluelessly up at him.

“You don't understand me.” He sighed.

Chao-Xing chirped happily at him. She yawned, stretching her little arms and tail out, Mihou was too distracted by the second tail stretching out to properly appreciate the cuteness of Yingyue copying her sister.

He immediately scooped the cub out of the water, turning her around in his hands to see what was going on. She made her displeasure with the sudden movement very known.

Instead of the normal one tail, there were two fully developed independently moving tails.

She has two tails. Why does she have two tails? He set the cub back down in the water.

Was it the accident? Is that why? Is that why she's small? Is she going to be okay? What… what's wrong with her?

Mihou stared at his odd little cub, she had been acting normal so far, she didn't seem to have much trouble, she was acting like a normal monkey cub… but with a strange mark in the shape of a near fatal blow and two tails, she was far from normal.

It could come with a whole host of complications, she could be sick her whole life. Why did this happen?

He drained the tub and grabbed the fluffiest towels he could find. Chao-Xing whined at the disappearance of the water.

“You need to go to sleep.” He said.

He took her out first and thoroughly dried her fluffy body off before diapering and swaddling her in the oversized towel. Then he dried off Yingyue, he was glad that she was normal after a closer inspection.

Good, I don't think I could handle two possibly challenged cubs. He sighed.

His cubs were adorable all wrapped up in fluffy towels.

There was a knock on the door.

“Moonlight~ are you done?” Wukong asked.

“Yes, I'm coming out now.” He took one cub in each arm, opening the door with his tail.

Wukong was standing just outside waiting for him. The king’s eyes practically doubled in size at the sight of the twins.

“That is the most adorable thing I've ever seen in my life !” he gushed, tapping each of their noses.

“Oh we make the cutest cubs together, moonlight.” Wukong grinned at him.

“They are very cute.” He agreed.

“Geez, you look tired, moonlight.” Wukong commented.

“It's been a big day.” He shrugged.

He was so tired in so many ways he didn't even register it anymore.

“Let's get to bed then, it'll be a big day tomorrow too.”

Wukong carried him to the room. Mihou was set down with the cubs in the very middle, he wouldn't be able to get away with trying to sleep on his own tonight.

He unbundled the cubs from their towels and tossed them aside, he'd deal with those tomorrow . He would tell Wukong about Chao-Xing’s second tail tomorrow too.

Wukong was quick to cuddle him, and by extension the cubs, in his arms, holding him incredibly close. He could feel the king's breath on his neck.

He tried his best to ignore the overly warm, crushing presence of the monkey holding him. He tried to ignore the crushing feelings of guilt and failure. He tried to ignore everything that was wrong and just focus on his cubs, already adorably asleep in his arms.

His cubs, who he failed so badly already.

My little stars, I'm so sorry. Please forgive me.

Chapter Text

Blood covered the ground.

Horrific, pained screams filled his ears.

A face that was normally so bright and happy was filled with horror. Blood flowed from once bright eyes like tears.

How could he ?!

How could he do this?!

He thought he loved him!

He fought.

He fought the monster he once loved.

A slashing claw came down, tearing through the skin of his eyelid, slicing his eye, and thrusting down his cheek.

He screamed.

He clawed out his eye!

He was going to kill him!

He was going to die-

Mihou woke with a start to the sound of his cubs crying for food.

There was no king in sight.

He rolled over to his cubs, the pair noticed he was awake and immediately began crying louder. His ears flattened against his head at the onslaught of sound so early in the morning.

“Hush, I'll get you food, don't cry.” He comforted them.

The promise of food was enough to calm them for the moment. He got dressed as quickly as he could with them still being at such a clingy life phase.

He tucked them into their favorite spot, nestled snugly in his scarf, then left the room. From the smell in the air, Wukong was cooking something.

“Do you two think I should be worried?” He asked his cubs.

They chirped hungrily at him, not even humoring his question.

“Ah, you're right, I'll feed you first.” He sighed.

He bravely entered the kitchen, Wukong was cooking something on the stove. He took a quick look around, nothing seemed to be burned so far .

There was a fancy serving plate on the table with two piles of diced peaches sitting on it.

Hmm, weird.

“Moonlight! You're awake!” The king chirped upon noticing his presence.

“Yep. Sure am.” Mihou said dryly.

“Sit at the table, I have a surprise for you and the cubs~” Wukong told him with a wink.

Alright, I already don't like that. What's going on… he narrowed his eyes at the king's back. He sat at the table and had a very entertaining five minutes of keeping his hungry cubs under control.

Thank Buddha they don't have powers yet. He sighed at Yingyue's fifth attempt to sneak a bite of the diced peaches.

Wukong finally finished making breakfast, he set a plate of jianbing down and a bowl of chopped fruit on the table and sat down across from him. Mihou glared at the food, he poked it with one of his chopsticks suspiciously.

“It's not hair, moonlight, don't be such a worrier.” Wukong chastised him.

He placed his chopsticks over his bowl and folded his hands.

“Alright, what are you up to? You're being weird.” He said.

Wukong grinned, wide and toothy.

“It's their one hundredth day!” He claimed proudly.

Mihou blinked. Has it really been that long already? Feels like they were born just yesterday. He looked down at his two cubs, happily eating the cut up fruit Wukong had prepared for them. They didn't look much bigger, they couldn't be three months old yet.

“No, it can't be.” He shook his head, the king was just messing with him again.

“Yes, it is, it definitely is.” Wukong insisted.

“To celebrate it, I got these from the celestial realm.” He gestured to the plate of diced peaches his cubs were eating from.

“What?!” He shouted, slamming his hands on the table as he rose.

His cubs hissed at the sudden volume.

“Wukong, they're babies! Is that even safe for them?!” He exclaimed.

“Oh relax, moonlight, I checked with the orchard maidens and they said it was fine.” Wukong said cheerfully.

His shoulders sagged, his cubs had already consumed the immortality granting fruit, they couldn't even escape him through death. Not that he wanted his cubs to die, but they could never escape him now, Wukong would make them as immortal as possible.

I should've known this was coming. He forced me to eat one. To this day, he could still barely stand the taste of peaches. It sickened him.

“Moonlight, are you upset?” Wukong asked, looking concerned.

“You didn't even talk to me. You made this decision without me.” Mihou said.

Wukong blinked in surprise, a brief look of discomfort flashed across his face.

“You didn't think I'd care?” He guessed.

“No. I thought you'd object .” Wukong corrected.

“I do object to not being informed about this decision you made.” he hissed.

The king glared at him.

“Would you rather I leave them mortal? Do you want them to die?” He spat.

“Of course not! It-”

“Then I don't see what the problem is!” Wukong threw his hands up.

“The problem is you didn't tell me what you were doing!” He shouted.

Wukong opened his big dumb mouth to say something else when Yingyue let out a small cry. Both cubs were glaring at them as they held their hands over their ears.

“Shit.” He muttered.

His cubs’ ears were so much more sensitive than his own, they didn't know how to manage it yet. He sat back down, defeated.

“Hey, it's okay, I'm sorry we got so loud.” He told them softly.

His cubs squawked irritably at him.

“We won't shout again, I promise.” He said.

The two chirped at each other while giving them both a little glare, talking the situation over with each other. Their little chirps were adorable.

They made their decision to forgive him and Wukong for upsetting them, happily cuddling up to him since he was closer. He patted his daughters’ little heads.

“Moonlight, let them finish eating~” Wukong said after a moment.

Reluctantly, he returned his cubs to their previous spot by the peach plate. He did his best to ignore the satisfied smirk on Wukong's face once they finished.

“I'm going to get more food for them.” He said, standing up from the table.

Wukong moved to follow him, he glared over his shoulder at the king.

“Watch the cubs, Wukong.” He told him.

“Moonlight-”

Chao-Xing’s chirp broke whatever retort he had off. The king rolled his eyes and went back to the cubs with a bored expression on his face.

Mihou grabbed a handful of cherries and lychees from the kitchen, his daughters had shown their preference for the two small stone fruits very early on. Chao-Xing picked lychees over peaches every time, a fact which irritated Wukong to no end. It wasn't like she hated peaches. Yingyue liked cherries more than peaches, and liked peaches a lot more than her sister did.

He grabbed a banana from Wukong's fruit bowl, filled with almost exclusively peaches, bananas and mangoes, just to see if the cubs wanted to try something new.

He quickly chopped the fruit up into baby sized chunks and plated them up. He put the banana slices on a separate plate, some cubs were so picky that they wouldn't eat perfectly good fruit if something they hated was on the same plate.

He set the two fruit plates down at the table, then sat to eat the plum he grabbed for himself.

“Ooh! Banana!” Wukong chirped.

Mihou swatted his grabbing hand away.

“‘s for the kids, get your own.” He scolded.

Wukong glared at him as Yingyue and Chao-Xing sniffed the new fruit curiously, the smaller of the two cubs wrinkled her nose in disgust and hissed at the pale fruit. 

“Huh, guess she doesn't like them.” he mused as Yingyue gave the new fruit a curious nibble.

“That's crazy, bananas are great.” Wukong objected.

“She doesn't have to like them.” He commented.

Wukong ignored him as he pushed a banana slice closer to the uninterested cub. She hissed at it again, both her tails puffed up.

“Wukong, she's a baby, don't fight her on this.” Mihou pleaded.

The king sat back down with a huff, glowering at the cub who was now happily eating the fruit she did like.

“Thanks for leaving her alone about it.” Mihou muttered.

XXX

“Eat all your fruit young lady.” Wukong scolded the cub.

Chao-Xing wrinkled her nose, hissing at the sliced bananas on her plate. Mihou glared at the king, who tried this every fucking day.

“Wukong, she clearly doesn't like bananas, just leave it.” He urged.

“She's never even tried them, bananas are great!” Wukong complained.

“She must not like the smell then! For heaven's sake, you've been fighting her on this for almost a year.” he insisted.

“Bà.” Yingyue chirped.

He turned to his other daughter, her plate was clear. Yingyue held her hands up in his face. There were a bunch of irritated reddish pink welts on her hands and up her arms.

“Itch.” She chirped.

“Fuck, Yingyue's rash is back.” He groaned.

He picked his cub up off the table, he was careful to avoid her more reactive spots. She had been having these reactions to… something for the last six months, he still couldn't nail down where it was coming from.

“Watch Chao-Xing, I'm going to take care of her.” He told Wukong.

The king gave him a thumbs up, preoccupied with trying to get Chao-Xing to eat her banana slices. He rolled his eyes.

He took Yingyue to the spare room; he had converted it to a medicine room over the years. He set his daughter down on the cool table then went looking through the cupboards for medicine.

Ginseng root always calms her rashes down. He thought as he applied the medicine to his daughter's rashes. She grimaced at the feeling of it on her fur.

“Thanks for not fighting me.” He sighed.

Chao-Xing fought him on any medicine she didn't like the feeling or taste of.

A loud cry came from the kitchen. Mihou rolled his eyes, he left the medicine room with Yingyue in his arms to check what was going on.

Wukong was standing over Chao-Xing looking pleased as punch, his daughter did not share the king’s enthusiasm. His cub was very slowly chewing something while sending a death glare at Wukong.

“Now swallow it.” Wukong told her sternly.

She glared harder at him, then swallowed whatever she had in her mouth.

“See? It wasn't that bad.” The king cooed.

Chao-Xing gagged, spitting a large glob of saliva out onto the king’s hand. He glared at the spittal.

“No need to be so dramatic.” He muttered.

“Wukong, what did you do?” Mihou stormed across the kitchen.

“Whoa, calm down my moonlight, I just got the little lychee muncher to try some banana.” Wukong said.

“And it was good , right?” He gave the cub a pointed look.

She wrinkled her nose in disgust and gagged again. Mihou never wanted to slap someone more than he wanted to slap Sun fucking Wukong right now.

“Fuck, Wukong! Why couldn't you just leave it alone?!”

“She can't make a decision on something she's never tried.”

“Well, guess what? She didn't fucking like it!” Mihou growled.

He snatched his smaller cub away from the king, she happily nuzzled into his fur. He caught the look Wukong tried to hide, the damn bastard was jealous of his own cub.

“Moonlight-”

“Don't talk to me right now.” He hissed, turning his back on the golden monkey.

He felt the king’s crimson red gaze burning into him. His cubs climbed around each other in his arms, eagerly chirping about what games they would play now that breakfast was done.

He set his cubs down on the porch, the pair eagerly wandered off to go play in the cave.

Mihou grabbed one of his books from inside, he caught a glimpse of the king sulking at the table on his way out. He sat on the porch seat to have a peaceful morning read.

XXX

Something’s wrong.

Mihou looked up from his book, scanning the cave for the strange sound he had been hearing. His eyes landed on Chao-Xing, she was sitting on a rock by the porch steps instead of playing with her sister. He could hear Yingyue playing with some of the other monkeys somewhere else in the cave.

His smaller daughter's heart was pounding . He normally only heard that fast of a heart beat when his cubs were playing but she was just sitting there.

“Chao-Xing?” He asked softly as he approached her.

The cub blinked at him slowly, her eyes were glazed with pain. She made a small, weak chirp, pointing to her throat, then fell over.

His daughter passed out .

He caught her before she hit the ground, her lips were blue, her face was pale, she wasn't breathing .

She's not breathing! She's not breathing! Why isn't she breathing?! He held his daughter close to him, running his thumb over her face, her skin was cold and clammy to the touch. Her heart was still beating, it was fast and weak, a faint rapid pittering in her chest. This wasn't anything he knew how to fix.

Did something sting her? Is Yingyue- his head shot up in a panic.

“Yingyue!” He yelped.

Yingyue quickly scrambled over to him, she was unharmed and completely normal, aside from her rash. His cub’s face fell upon seeing her sister unconscious in his arms, she wailed and tried to shake her sister awake.

Mihou forced the tears out of his eyes, he needed to find Wukong. Wukong could fix this. He wrapped his tail around his conscious, breathing daughter and ran into the house.

“Wukong! Wukong!” He shouted.

He stopped in the living room, he was certain Wukong was still sulking in the house. Where was the fool when he needed him?!

“Wukong!” He shouted again.

“Wu-”

He slammed into the king behind him. Wukong put a hand on his shoulder, turning him around with an amused grin.

“What's the matter moon-” his amusement morphed into confusion at the sight in front of him.

Mihou glanced down at his daughter, unbreathing in his trembling arms.

“I-i don't know what happened! She just passed out! A-and she's not breathing! She's not breathing , Wukong!” He held his deathly still cub out to the king.

Wukong blinked in surprise, he never just handed his cubs over to him, especially not Chao-Xing . Gentle, so gentle he could hardly believe it was Wukong , hands took his cub's limp body from his arms.

Mihou quickly took Yingyue into his arms, running his hands through the cub's fur to soothe her. Wukong examined Chao-Xing carefully under his golden vision.

“Her throat is swollen, it's blocking her airway, that's why she passed out. I can fix it.” Wukong said, almost softly.

“Do it, please .” Don't let my daughter die. He begged.

The king had one hand under his daughter's back, the other one rested on her chest, his burnt eyes filled with a golden glow. Light came from the golden monkey's hands, flowing up through the cub's body to her throat.

Chao-Xing’s limp body jerked violently, he heard her heart pound faster . A small, weak sound escaped his cub as she sucked in a trembling, shaky breath.

The glow faded from the king's eyes, he looked down at the cub in his arms almost warmly. Wukong wordlessly held Chao-Xing out to him, he grabbed his daughter back.

The king quietly took Yingyue from her spot hanging on him, he patted her back softly when she cried.

“Shush sunshine, baba needs to take care of your sister, she'll be okay.” Wukong told her calmly.

Mihou gave him a grateful nod and hurried off to the medicine room. He set Chao-Xing on a mattress and sat anxiously next to her, all six of his ears were focused on her little heart.

He listened to his daughter's heart slowly return to normal throughout the day and late into the night.

A light tap on his nose snapped his tired eyes open. He quickly blinked his tiredness away at the sight of dull golden eyes looking at him. Chao-Xing, his little girl, gave him a weak smile.

“Bà…” she chirped weakly.

“Starlight.” he whispered.

His tail swayed happily behind him.

She was okay, his little star was okay.

He nuzzled his daughter's head, she leaned into the touch, purring weakly.

He stayed that way until she slipped back into a much easier sleep.

Warm light spilled into the room, he glanced over his shoulder, the king was standing in the doorway. Wukong stood there silently, glancing between him and his daughter.

“are… you okay?” He had the balls to ask.

“No Wukong, my daughter stopped breathing! I'm not okay!” Mihou shouted.

The king glowered at him, the fake concern that was on his face a few seconds ago melted into irritation.

“Don't shout at me , it's not like it's my fault.” Wukong growled.

“ You are the one who asked! Read a room for once in your fucking life!” He spat.

He heard Yingyue’s small whimper and glanced down just in time to see the cub tucking behind Wukong's leg. The king glared at him for worrying their daughter. Guilt immediately replaced his rage at the sight of his daughter's scared red and silver eyes staring up at him.

“I'm sorry, I just… I thought she was going to die… ” again. He wrapped his arms around himself, shaking off the painful memories of her other near death experience.

Wukong enveloped him in a much too warm embrace, he let himself bury his face in the king's fur but he didn't hug back. His captor didn't seem to care, this time, he simply ran a hand through his hair. He supposed he could be a bit nicer, he did have Wukong to thank for his daughter breathing again, he had gotten the sudden swelling to go down.

I don't know what caused the swelling! How can I stop it from happening again if I don't know what caused it?! His head shot up, startling the king holding him.

“Get a doctor.” He demanded.

“Excuse me?” Wukong asked, raising an eyebrow in genuine confusion.

“I don't know what happened to her, I need a doctor to check on her. She needs a doctor so this doesn't happen again.” He said.

“Moonlight, you know how I feel about strangers on the island.” Wukong gently cupped his face.

“Do you love me?” he growled.

“Of course -”

“Then get our daughter a doctor.” He snarled, smacking Wukong's hands away.

He turned away from the king, scooping Yingyue up with his tail and holding the little cub close.

“Bà.” She mumbled, tucking her face into his chest.

He swayed on his feet, humming the melody that worked wonders for soothing his cub's nerves.

“It's okay moonlet, she'll be okay.” He whispered.

He kissed her head gently. Wukong's footsteps faded, the king was leaving. He left a clone to watch them. It was standing in the doorframe, a warden to make sure the king’s prisoners stayed put.

XXX

Of all the gods, immortals or other such beings Mihou had expected Wukong to return with, Nuwa was not one of them. Behind the pair stood Chén Jìnggū and a younger celestial physician, both of whom he recognized from delivering his cubs.

Neither goddess looked pleased to be there. He could relate.

“I got a doctor, moonlight.” Wukong said.

“I see that.” He nodded.

He stepped aside, Chén Jìnggū and the physician entered the house.

“Would you mind taking us to the little one?” Chén Jìnggū requested.

He glanced at Wukong, who was too busy with a one-sided glaring contest with Nuwa to notice.

“Yes, this way.” He said.

He led the goddess and physician to the medicine room where both his cubs were resting. Yingyue had refused to leave her sister's side since she woke up. He opened the door to his daughter curled protectively around her smaller sister.

“I'm… pleased they arrived safely…” Chén Jìnggū said stiffly.

Mihou forced a smile. There were a few in the celestial realm who strongly disapproved of what Wukong was doing. None of them had permission or the power to do anything about it though.

“Are there any other concerns you have?” The physician, who's name he couldn't remember and honestly he felt too awkward to ask for again, questioned.

“Yes, Yingyue keeps getting a rash, I don't know what's causing it. And the spot on Chao-Xing’s side.” He told her.

“We'll see what's bothering them.” Chén Jìnggū told him.

“How are they with strangers?” The physician asked.

Chén Jìnggū shot the younger celestial a glare, she winced apologetically.

“Apologies.” She said.

“I think they should be fine?” Mihou told her.

The physician and Chén Jìnggū began their work, neither cub put up much fuss, Chao-Xing was still too tired, and he persuaded Yingyue to let her sister get her check up by offering her favorite monkey plushie. Of course, Chao-Xing had seen this and immediately started asking for her favorite plushie, and that's how she ended up getting a check up while holding her fox plushie.

At some point, Wukong pushed him out of the room so he could watch the celestial guests to make sure they didn't try anything. The eye roll Chén Jìnggū gave Wukong made the sting of having to leave his cubs hurt a bit less.

It didn't help with the situation he found himself in now.

Stuck in the living room with Nuwa.

The goddess kept giving him that look full of pity and guilt. It was the same look she had given him when he was struggling through the difficult birthing process, but worse , more regretful, sadder .

He turned away from the goddess’s gaze. Her pained looks were just a reminder of how the celestial realm wasn't willing to do anything at all to help him; he was just a once rebel turned prisoner of Wukong, who would be foolish enough to risk the Monkey King’s wrath for him ?

DBK.

And look what happened to him.

Not even beings such as Nuwa or Guanyin were willing to intervene, well, he's pretty sure Guanyin was trying to do something. The bodhisattva had only visited once after learning what Wukong had done. Seeing Wukong get slapped with a thousand hands was one of the best moments of his life.

But Nuwa ? She hadn't done anything to help the situation, she didn't even try verbally reprimanding her creation for his shitty behavior.

What could she even say? Nothing fixes this . He thought bitterly.

Fine silk brushed against the rougher fabric of the couch, he felt the lightest touch of her hand on his shoulder before she thought better of whatever she was going to say and pulled away.

“Those little toys they have are cute.” She said after a moment.

“Thanks.” He huffed.

“Did you make them?” she asked.

“Yeah.” Do you see anyone else on this island? He held his tongue. It would only get him more pitying looks.

“They are expertly crafted.” She told him.

“I made them to last.” he said.

The silence settled over them again. Mihou was fine with that, he wasn't the one suffering from it. He turned his ears to his cubs, it sounded like the two celestials were wrapping up their check ups.

Good. I'll get answers now. He sighed.

Wukong came into the living room, holding his cubs, he handed both of them over before plopping down right next to him. The king wrapped an arm around his waist, holding him possessively close as if to tell their guests who he belonged to. Mihou rolled his eyes, choosing to focus on the pair of celestials that entered after the monkey sitting much too close to him.

“Do you know what happened to her?” He asked.

“Yes, she had an anaphylactic shock due to her allergies being triggered.” The physician said.

Mihou glanced at Wukong in worry, what if she was allergic to something on the island? Wukong would never let them leave, no matter how much suffering his daughter went through.

“What's she allergic to?”

Chén Jìnggū cracked a wry smile.

“Bananas.”

. . .

Bananas.

His daughter was allergic to bananas .

The same exact fruit she had refused to eat even once until yesterday when Wukong made her.

He glared at the king, who at least had the decency to look guilty.

“She's also allergic to related species. And Yingyue has a mild allergy to kiwis, that's where her rash is coming from.” the physician added nervously.

“Looks like someone should have just left it alone .” He spat.

Wukong glared back at him.

“Well at least we found out about it sooner rather than later.” the king growled

“That's the second time you've nearly killed her. Do you have something against her?” He snarled.

“It's not like she can die anymore, it's no big deal.”

“No big deal? No big deal? If she wasn't immortal you would have killed her!”

“Well it's a good thing she is then, huh?”

“That's not the problem you absolutely stone brained-”

“Mihou.” Nuwa’s calm voice cut through their argument.

He glared at the snakey goddess.

“The cubs are upset.” She gestured towards the pair in his arms.

His cubs were crying with their ears flattened against their skulls, a weak attempt to shut their shouting out. He sighed, he had to get better at not fighting around the cubs, it was too much for them.

Wukong cooed softly, reaching out to take his cubs from him.

“Oh, don't be so upset-” 

“No!” Chao-Xing screeched at Wukong.

The little cub's fur puffed all the way up, she had her claws hooked in his shirt as she stared up at the king. Mihou held his daughters protectively close to his chest, taking a few necessary steps away from the dangerous golden monkey.

The whole room was silent.

Wukong glared darkly down at the cub rejecting him. The one thing Wukong hated more than anything else was being rejected. He was seething , he could see how much it pissed him off that the cub he nearly killed didn't want him near her.

“She doesn't want you, she's scared of you right now,” Wukong's glare hardened, his heart leaped into his throat, “but! If you leave her alone now she'll get over it faster, if you push you'll only scare both of them more!” He hurried to finish.

Wukong fixed his burning red glare on him. He couldn't meet the king's gaze, those eyes unsettled him down to his soul. He averted his eyes, instead focusing on the ground near Wukong.

Chén Jìnggū cleared her throat, cutting through the tension between them, even if it was only temporary. Wukong blinked, likely having forgotten about the visitors in his anger.

“We will be taking our leave now. I will arrange for medical textbooks to be delivered to you, Liu'er Mihou, though in case of an emergency like today, do not hesitate to call upon me again.” She told him

“Th-thank you…” he bowed his head to her.

“It's the least I can do.” She said, a hint of bitterness in her voice.

Wukong's arm snaked around his waist, he was pulled into the king's too tight embrace, letting out a startled squeak at the sudden movement. The king rested his head on his shoulder, though he couldn't clearly see his face, he assumed it was smugly challenging the celestials to do something.

Chén Jìnggū glared at Wukong, she spun around and stormed out of the house, her physician followed close behind, leaving Nuwa alone with them. The snakey goddess fidgeted with her long sleeves.

“I would like to meet the children under better circumstances, could that be arranged?” She asked cautiously.

“Hmm… I'll think about it.” Wukong all but hissed.

The goddess got the message and swiftly left them, she gave him one last pitying look over her shoulder as the door shut behind her.

Wukong’s vice grip finally loosened ever so slightly, he let himself breath again. He registered the weight in his arms again and quickly looked down to check on his cubs, Chao-Xing was trembling in fear, hiding from Wukong in her sister's arms.

“Wukong, you're scaring the cubs.” He whispered.

Wukong yanked his hair roughly, he bit back a hiss of pain. The vice grip returned tenfold, applying just enough pressure to be painful. He knew where this was going.

“Are you trying to upset me, moonlight? You're doing a wonderful job at it.” The king hissed in his ears.

Mihou couldn't let the cubs witness another fight today, or let them see Wukong when he was truly angry.

“Just let me put them down for the night, then you can do whatever you see fit to me, please!” he begged.

To his surprise, Wukong let him go, he stumbled, nearly falling until Wukong caught him with his tail. He looked up at the king standing over him.

“Give them the medicine .” he ordered.

Mihou flinched, he hated, hated doing that to his cubs, but nodded.

He scrambled to the bedroom once Wukong moved out of the way. He shut the door behind him, leaning his full body against it like that would somehow stop Wukong if he really wanted to get in there.

He got the “medicinal tea” brewing as he got his cubs ready for bed. Now that the adrenaline of the day was gone, the pair were exhausted, they probably didn't even need their “medicine” to sleep through the night. He had to do it, Wukong would know if he didn't. There must have been something about that “medicine” that allowed Wukong to know whether the cubs had taken it or not.

The little timer went off, the “tea” was done.

He glanced over his shoulder at the kettle sitting oh so innocently in the counter.

Wukong had added a bathroom to this room a couple centuries ago, so he could have access to the necessary facilities on those days when he was confined to this room. He kept the cubs’ “medicine” in the bathroom along with the kettle for it, the kettle had some kind of enchantment on it, Mihou didn't know what it did.

Nor did he know what was in the “medicine” the king made him give his cubs, all he knew is that they would sleep through pretty much anything once they took it, and that it had a flavor both of them really liked since they downed the stuff every time. They liked it so much that Chao-Xing would take it from Wukong, she usually only took food from him.

He could only assume that Wukong was drugging their cubs because he got annoyed at their sensitive ears constantly waking them up in the middle of the night. 

Please don't let this have any negative effects on them. Please don't let this be something terrible, I can't handle doing something like that to them, I just can't. He sighed and served the drinks to his much to eager cubs.

He set the empty cups aside once they were done, then tucked his cubs into the nest with the heating pad underneath them, his cubs didn't like to be cold. He kissed each of his sleeping cubs on the forehead, then walked out to face his tormentor.

Wukong was waiting for him in the living room, sprawled lazily across the couch, he knew what to do. He sat on his knees in front of the king, a hand on his cheek coaxed his head upward.

“I'm upset with you, moonlight, getting into a fight like that with guests here is hardly good manners, it makes me look bad.” he hissed.

“People will whisper that you're actually scared of me. How ridiculous! Could you imagine being scared of your loving mate?” Claws dug into his cheek, the right side of his face burned at the reminder of just what Wukong would do if he stepped out of line.

“I'm sorry… I didn't mean to get so… worked up… I was just upset, and scared for the cubs… I can't stand the thought of anything happening to them…” he said, looking away from the crimson eyes burning him.

“Oh I know , you love those little cubs so much , don't you?” Wukong cooed adoringly.

“What are you saying?” He asked, narrowing his eyes at the king.

“Nothing, moonlight, nothing at all…” he trailed off.

“It's been quite some time since I had you to myself however.” He grinned wickedly.

The king dragged him onto the couch, pinning him underneath him.

“Why not take the opportunity now ?” He snickered.

“I-” the claws against his throat killed his protest before it even came out. 

“Yes… o-of course… I'm… all yours…” he said softly.

“That's right, you're mine .” Wukong cooed down at him.

Wukong was going to get what he wanted either way. It didn't do him any good to fight.

His only solace was that the cubs wouldn't hear.

Chapter Text

Something felt different about Flower Fruit Mountain than the last time he had been there.

DBK couldn't identify what was different, only that something had changed.

Perhaps that is why Wukong has been visiting more lately. He thought.

His little brother had retreated himself on his mountain two hundred years ago, around the same time his beloved stopped receiving letters from Mihou.

Wukong's retreat and Mihou's sudden disappearance had him and his wife thinking the worst had happened to Mihou.

Wukong could have been caring for Mihou all these years, and only now feels comfortable enough to leave him alone. Though why did he not tell us? He mused.

It was a curious situation.

It was also curious that his little brother did not greet him as soon as he arrived, he was very protective of his mountain.

DBK dismissed the oddness and began heading up the path to his brother's dwelling. The little mortal monkeys watched him curiously from the safety of the trees. They reminded him of the little monkey demon cubs that used to live on the island.

Flower Fruit Mountain’s demon monkey population had almost entirely moved out after the brotherhood’s failed rebellion and the burning of their home. Mihou led them to safer lands to lay low from the world who hated their king. The few who remained soon left after their king went on his journey.

One of the braver monkeys approached him and offered him a banana.

“Thank you little simian.” He carefully patted the monkey's small head.

The monkey climbed onto his shoulder and tugged his fur, urgently pointing to a narrow path in the jungle. DBK allowed the small simian to lead him to whatever it deemed so important.

The monkey stopped screeching when they reached a small opening in the forest. The little monkey chittered something, pointing to a particularly dark part near an old hunting trap. The darkness seemed alive, it reacted to his presence.

A face he hadn't seen in two centuries peeked out of it.

“Little brother!” DBK reached into the darkness and pulled his little brother out.

He looked healthy, aside from a nasty scar over his right eye, a bit thin, he needed some good food in him.

His little brother was stiff as stone in his arms, curled into a tight ball. He seemed to have been caught in a trap.

I thought Wukong got rid of all those.

Mihou blinked slowly, the wildness in his eyes slowly faded. He set the shadow monkey down.

“Brother, what happened to you? Where have you been? Who hurt you?” He asked, placing his hands on the smaller creature’s shoulders.

Mihou flinched at his touch, he had never been the most keen on unwanted physical contact.

“I… Wukong-!” Mihou broke off with a scream at the sound of something landing near them.

The black monkey practically leapt onto him, burying his face in his fur while shaking with fear. He patted Mihou's back softly as he looked around for what could have caused the warrior such distress.

Wukong burst through the foliage, staff in hand and a crazed look in his eyes.

DBK took a cautious step away from the golden monkey, his red eyes immediately locked onto Mihou, he glared, gaze snapping upward. The anger dissipated upon locking eyes with him.

“Oh, DBK. You've found Mihou for me.” Wukong said.

The macaque whimpered, clinging tighter to his fur. Never in his life did he hear Mihou make a sound that… scared . 

What in the heavens happened here? DBK glanced between the terrified black monkey and the king.

“Did you get stuck in a trap again Mihou?” Wukong asked casually.

The monkey stepped closer to them.

“They bring back bad memories of when Havoc would kidnap him, he's always like this whenever he gets stuck in one.” Wukong told him directly.

“I did not think of Mihou as the type to fall for traps so easily.” DBK said, narrowing his eyes at the monkey king.

“Those hunters sure were crafty.” Wukong just shrugged.

“I'll take him off your hands.” Wukong offered, reaching for the darker monkey.

Mihou gripped his fur tighter, refusing to look at the other.

“C'mon Mihou, you know it's just me~” Wukong cooed.

The monkey king reached under his arms and pulled Mihou away from him, the warrior stiffened at his touch and allowed the king to pull him into his arms. Wukong gave the other a smug grin.

Something was off between the pair.

Mihou almost seemed afraid of Wukong. Not to mention the fact Wukong hadn't said a word about Mihou being on Flower Fruit Mountain.

“So, DBK you heading out?” Wukong prompted him.

“No, I would like to visit with my brothers before I make the long journey back to my kingdom.” He answered.

Wukong's tail twitched.

“Of course, of course! Why don't you stay for dinner? It'll be good to catch up.” Wukong suggested cheerfully.

“That would be appreciated.” He said.

“Great! great… Well, I'll see you at our house!” With that, the golden monkey hopped onto his cloud and took off.

He's done something. DBK thought.

XXX

“Papa, why can't Baba come to the beach?” Chao-Xing asked.

Her little twin always wanted Baba instead of Papa, she didn't get it, Papa was just as fun as Baba. He was even more fun, Papa let her do things Baba never would.

Yingyue jumped off of Papa’s shoulder, he caught her with his tail and gently set her down on the warm sands.

“Baba isn't allowed on the beach, starlight.” Papa told her, setting her sister down next to her.

Chao-Xing didn't look very convinced with Papa’s answer, she nudged her sister with her tail, drawing her attention away from Papa.

“C'mon let's go play!” She squealed.

She and her sister took off across the sandy beach.

“Don't go in the water! You'll sink! I'll be right here if you need me!” Papa called after them.

“Yes Papa!” Yingyue shouted over her shoulder.

Once they were out of Papa's sight, Chao-Xing immediately jumped into the shallow water, sending up a splash of salty drops. Yingyue bristled and shook out her now wet fur.

“Xīng-Xīng!” She hissed.

Her twin gave her a cheeky grin and splashed her on purpose this time. Yingyue lunged for her, her sister jumped back, further into the water they weren't supposed to be in. She splashed into the water with a loud wet slap.

Yingyue checked that Papa wasn't coming before trying to grab her sister’s tail to drag her back to the dry land. Papa would be mad if he found them wet. Her sister kept moving her tail just out of reach.

“We don't sink.” Chao-Xing said.

“Huh?”

Yingyue glanced up, her sister was floating on her back in the shallow water.

“That's odd.” She tilted her head in confusion.

“It's fun, you try!” her sister chirped.

“No, Papa said not to be in water.” She said.

“ Papa was wrong, we don't sink.” Chao-Xing pointed out.

“Still, we should listen to Papa.” Yingyue reminded her.

Her smaller sister pouted, but stopped moving her tail and let her bring her back onto dry, well wet sand, land. Chao-Xing stuck her tongue out at her.

“C'mon, you gotta dry off.” She nudged her grumpy wet sister.

Chao-Xing slapped her face with her wet tail. Yingyue grimaced, wiping the salty water off her face.

“Rude.” She growled.

Her sister just ignored her, climbing onto one of the nearby rocks. Yingyue jumped onto the rocks with ease, above where her sister was climbing. Something on the other side caught her eye.

Shimmery purple blobs were spread across the sand ahead of them.

“Xīng-Xīng! Look at those!” She pointed them out.

“Whoa, what are they?” Chao-Xing cooed.

“I don't know.” She said.

They were very pretty.

“I'm gonna touch one.” Yingyue decided.

“Baba says to be careful around colorful things, they're dangerous.” Chao-Xing reminded her.

She frowned at her sister. So it was okay to break Papa's rules but not Baba's ? Her little sister's way of thinking was weird.

“ Papa said we'd sink.” She pointed out.

“Baba knows more than Papa.” Chao-Xing said.

Yingyue gasped. How dare she!

“Papa knows just as much as Baba does! He knows more! I'll prove it right now!” Without another thought, she jumped towards one of the purple blobs.

It was slick and slippery, kinda like jelly. She giggled and poked it again.

“See, it's fine!” she told her scaredy cat sister.

“I dunno…” Chao-Xing mumbled.

Yingyue rolled her eyes and picked the jelly-like blob up. A sharp, burning pain stung her hands where she was holding it, she dropped the blob with a yelp, leaping away from it.

Her sister cried out in alarm.

The pain didn't stop with the blob out of her hands.. It kept hurting and burning and wouldn't stop. Thin lines of angry red welts were showing up on her hands. Her hands felt like they were burning .

She plopped down into the wet sand, frantically trying to get the burning to stop with the cool sand. It didn't work, it only made it hurt worse !

“Don’t worry! I'll get Papa!” Chao-Xing told her.

She looked up to see her sister racing off in the direction Papa was.

XXX

Chao-Xing ran as fast as she could back across the beach to where she last saw Papa. He said he'd stay put, she just had to hope he meant it this time.

She rounded a large rock and finally spotted Papa doing something by a tree, his hand was all glowy.

“Papa! Papa!” She shouted, running across the final stretch of sand to get to him.

He didn't even look at her, too focused on whatever he was so busy doing, she frowned. If she shouted like that for Baba , he would stop what he was doing for at least a second to see what she needed.

She tugged the fur on his leg sharply.

“Papa! Yingyue’s hurt! She needs help!” She chirped.

Papa glanced at her, then back to whatever was so important, then his eyes widened and his head snapped around to her. Uneasy churned in her tummy.

Papa scooped her up by the back of her shirt. She didn't like it when Papa grabbed her like this, it hurt her throat.

“You're wet .” He stated.

O-oh… he said don't go in the water… she remembered. She was still very wet, but that wasn't important now , her sister was hurt!

“Y-yeah… b-but Yingyue-!” she tried

“Don't blame this on your sister.” He growled.

“I'm not! She's-”

“You went in the water, didn't you?” Papa growled.

She shrank away from him.

“Y-yes-”

“I told you not to go in the water.” Papa hissed.

“You said we'd sink , we floated .” she felt the need to point out.

“I told you not to go in the water.” He repeated.

“But we didn't sink! We floated!” She repeated.

“That has nothing to do with it!” He shouted.

She whimpered at the unrestrained volume so close to her ears.

“I told you not to go in the water and you disobeyed me.” he snarled.

“But I didn't sink…” she mumbled.

Isn't that why he told them not to go in the water, because they'd sink?

Papa shook her with a snarl.

“Do you want to have Xiá tonight?” He threatened.

She flinched, she didn't like it when Papa took Xiá, she never knew when he would give her back.

“Then be a good girl and stop arguing .” He snarled.

“Yes Papa.” She nodded.

Papa smiled and finally held her normally, the way Baba did. It was a lot tighter than Baba though.

“Now what did you and your sister get into while doing what I said not too?” He asked.

She frowned up at him with her arms crossed.

“Don't give me that attitude.” He chuckled, tapping her nose playfully.

“Yingyue’s hurt, she picked up a purple slimy thing on the beach .” she told him.

“And you didn't stop her?” Papa asked.

“I told her not to touch cause Baba says colorful things are dangerous.” She said.

It wasn't her fault her sister didn't listen.

“Hmm… your baba is right about that.” Papa said.

“Yingyue was trying to prove Baba wrong.” She added.

“Well your baba isn't always right. He makes lots of mistakes.” Papa told her.

“No way! Baba would not ever!” She objected.

Papa glanced down at her, then looked back out, adjusting his grip on her. She huffed, Papa was weird sometimes.

“That way, past the rocks.” She pointed out, she could hear her sister's quiet cries.

Papa stopped on top of the rocks, the evil purple blobs were still on the beach and her sister was still crying in the sand. She tried to wiggle out of Papa's grip to check on her bigger sister, he wouldn't let her down.

“Oh. Jellyfish sting.” Papa said.

He unexpectedly dropped her, wrapping her up in his tail before she hit the ground. He scooped Yingyue off the ground and dunked her red hands into the sea water. Her sister screamed in pain.

“Stop it! Papa, stop! You're hurting her!” she shouted, tugging on his tail fur.

“If you don't want to get stung too, you'll stop that, this instant .” Papa growled, shooting her a glare over his shoulder.

She flinched, immediately latching onto his tail in case he decided to drop her. Papa turned back to “helping” Yingyue, it looked like he was trying to drown her.

After a few minutes, Papa lifted Yingyue out of the water with a frustrated huff.

“I’m done. Your baba can handle this.” He growled.

XXX 

DBK eyed the pair across from him.

Wukong had pulled Mihou onto his lap and was making a show of being cuddly with his mate. Mihou seemed less scared than he had been before and more irritated. He was irritated too, Wukong kept talking over Mihou whenever he tried to ask him anything.

It only cemented the idea in his mind that Wukong was up to no good.

He wasn't a fool, he had seen Wukong's “protective” behavior towards the other for what it was when they were younger. Wukong was possessive, though he didn't think either monkey was fully aware of it at that time.

Given that Mihou had been on Flower Fruit Mountain since his disappearance and no one heard a word of it, Wukong's possessive tendencies must have gotten worse .

He eyed the scar on Mihou's face. It was a nasty, jagged cut, and the eye itself was discolored. He was beginning to think his brother might be blind in that eye.

“Mihou, what happened to your eye? Has the perpetrator been dealt with, my wife and I would gladly take care of them for you.” He said.

“Ha! As if I'd let anyone hurt my moonlight and live!” Wukong barked out a laugh.

Mihou glanced between him and the king nervously.

“Who was it?” He pressed.

“Some no name demon who thought they were tough shit got the jump on him with cheap tricks, luckily I was in the area.” Wukong said.

Mihou glared at the king for a half second, then, a brief glint of pain flashed through his eyes, his brother quickly averted his gaze.

He had seen enough of this. Whatever Wukong was doing, it wasn't good.

DBK rose from the table.

“It was good to see you again Mihou, I'm glad you are safe, but I must take my leave.” He said.

Wukong let him get to the door before speaking up.

“Are you going to tell Iron Fan about this?”

“Why would I not tell my wife that her little brother is alive?” He asked over his shoulder.

“hmm, because I said no .” Wukong chirped.

He glared at the golden monkey, he glared back. Both of them waiting to see who would make the first move.

Mihou did.

He kicked the table hard, tipping himself and the monkey holding him off their seat. In his surprise, Wukong's grip on him loosened, Mihou wriggled free, kicking the king in the face for good measure.

“Run!” he shouted.

Thinking quickly, DBK grabbed his brother's arm and dragged him out of the house. His brother jumped onto his back and clung to his fur with a death grip.

“What in the three realms is going on?!” He bellowed.

“Wukong is keeping me here! He caught me two hundred years ago and I've been trying to escape ever since. He put a barrier around the island to confine me, I can't use my shadows to get out.” Mihou quickly informed him.

“He did that to your eye.” DBK guessed.

Mihou was dead silent.

He snorted, he'd make sure his brother saw vengeance.

Behind them, the air crackled with rage.

“MIHOU!”

Mihou stiffened.

“He's going to kill you! He's going to kill you for trying to take me from him, he's going to kill you!” The monkey panicked.

“I will get you away from him.” DBK swore to the monkey on his back.

“OH WILL YOU?” Wukong's voice shook the mountain.

He barely dodged a strike from the now massive monkey's staff.

“HOW DARE YOU COME TO MY HOME AND TAKE WHAT IS MINE!!!” Wukong bellowed, his war form shaking the very ground beneath his feet.

“You have to tell jiě jie and get whatever help you can, you can't let him strike first, he'll slaughter you all.” Mihou said urgently.

“Mihou, why-”

“Come back for me, please. I don't know how much longer I'll be able to make it.” His brother pleaded.

Before he knew it, Mihou kicked himself off his back, a shadow opened beneath him. He saw Wukong catching the shadow warrior in his massive hands, one of the other pairs clasped tightly around the pair holding Mihou before he fell through the shadow.

He came out at the edge of the barrier around Flower Fruit Mountain, as far as Mihou's power could go.

He fled the area quickly, he needed to stay alive long enough to tell his wife her brother was alive, and he needed to save him.

XXX 

Mihou adjusted the heating pad wrapped around his sore thigh, repositioning himself slightly on the couch. It was damn comfortable after rough nights with the king.

Wukong only cared for his own pleasure and comfort when it came to sex. His captor was extra selfish last night, considering it had been the anniversary of DBK trying to free him.

He was extra possessive of him on that day, and in a few days when the anniversary of him defeating DBK came around, he would be overly celebratory and promptly get drunk, the king was exceptionally horny when he was drunk. Suffice it to say, he had another painful day in his near future.

He was just glad the cubs weren't here to see him. Wukong had decided he would take them out to play today, leaving him behind under the guise of not feeling well.

Mihou suspected it was so they couldn't ask why he had been so unhappy lately.

As much as he hated leaving his cubs alone with Wukong, today he was glad for it. He could stop pretending everything was fine for once.

He let out a heavy sigh.

The front door was thrown open, he nearly fell off the couch in surprise.

“Mihou! We're back!” Wukong announced.

The king was holding a sobbing Yingyue in his arms, while Chao-Xing was clinging to his shoulder looking green in the face.

“Yingyue got stung by a jellyfish.” Wukong said like it was the most casual thing in the world.

“What?” Mihou asked.

“She got stung by a jellyfish, keep up moonlight.” Wukong snickered, casually dropping the still crying cub onto his lap.

His daughter curled into him, wiping her wet face on his shirt.

“a-are you mad?” Yingyue whimpered.

“No, no, no! Of course not, why would I be mad, moonlet?” Mihou brought his cub closer to him.

“I was calling for you… you didn't come…” she cried.

He hadn't heard anything. He would have come running if he heard anything wrong.

“You did?” He asked.

“Y-yeah! A lot !” She sniffled.

“Oh I'm so sorry sunshine, I didn't hear you.” He apologized.

“But you hear everything .” Yingyue pointed out.

There was only one person who could have stopped him from hearing his cubs. Mihou shot a glare at Wukong, the bastard had wisely stepped out of punching range.

“ You .” He rose to his feet.

“Yes moonlight?” Wukong grinned.

“You blocked my hearing.” he snarled

“So what if I did?” he shrugged.

Mihou barely stopped himself from slapping the golden monkey. Chao-Xing was still sitting on his shoulder, he couldn't do it even if he wanted too.

“ Why would you do that? Something could have happened- fuck! Something did happen!” He gestured to Yingyue in his arms.

“You needed to be away from them for a bit, you're always so focused on them . It's like you don't have a life outside of them, moonlight.” Wukong rolled his eyes.

“I don't!” He snapped.

I don't have anything outside of them! He wanted to scream.

Wukong glared at him, a soft, warning growl rumbling from his throat. 

“You can't just do that-”

“I can do whatever I want, Mihou .” Wukong growled.

He glared at the golden monkey.

“Moonlight, I bet Yingyue would like to have her sting fixed.” Wukong told him.

“We are talking about this later.” he insisted.

“Uh huh, moonlight.” Wukong waved him off.

He turned his back to the king with a huff, heading to the medicine room. Wukong stopped Chao-Xing from following him, saying some nonsense about some father-daughter bonding time. Mihou rolled his eyes, Wukong had been trying to regain his more cautious daughter's trust since the banana incident, it hadn't been working for over a year and he was still trying.

“Don't worry moonlet, I'll have you feeling better in no time.” He promised his cub.

He started cleaning the wounds, Yingyue shifted and fidgeted in place, but she was being a real trooper in handling the pain.

“Mihou! Chao-Xing threw up!” Wukong yelled from the living room.

“Did you come from the beach on the cloud?” He shouted back.

“Yeah …”

“ That's why. Clean it up please!” he requested.

Wukong muttered about having to clean up a mess he didn't make. If the cubs weren't present, Mihou would've slapped the idiot, damn the consequences.

Chao-Xing scampered into the medicine room and launched herself onto his shoulder, burying herself in the folds of his scarf. He patted her back gently with his tail.

“Did you get scared?” He asked.

“Papa got mad at me for no reason.” She mumbled, her tails twitching back and forth.

Mihou paused applying medicine to Yingyue’s hands, she chirped insistently for him to continue.

“What was he mad about?” He wondered, continuing to apply the medicine.

“He was mad I went in the water, he said I'd sink but I didn't.” She said.

The ocean. Figures Wukong would try to scare them out of ever investigating the water. The only way past the barrier keeping them here was to swim past it, then his powers would no longer be bound within it and he could go anywhere.

Not that the cubs knew.

“He doesn't like the water, starlight.” He told her.

“I don't understand. I don't understand.” She mumbled, nuzzling the side of his neck.

He suppressed a flinch as she rubbed against a sore spot from last night. His ever perceptive daughter noticed.

“Baba, are you hurt?” She asked.

“I'm fine.” He assured her, bandaging up Yingyue’s hands.

“You got a bandage on your neck.” Said cub pointed out.

Chao-Xing leapt off his shoulder onto the table next to her sister, she paced back and forth across the table top, eyeing him with scrutiny. Her tails lashed around stiffly behind her.

“You are hurt!” She gasped.

“How? Who hurt you? Was it Papa ?” She growled.

“Papa would never hurt Baba!” Yingyue objected.

“He was just hurting you !” Chao-Xing shouted.

“He was trying to help!” Yingyue argued.

“He was hurting you!” Chao-Xing repeated, much louder.

“It’s really fine, starlight.” Mihou said, trying to break up the budding fight.

Chao-Xing looked up at him with tears in her eyes and a quivering lip.

“Did you get scared today?” He asked gently.

Chao-Xing nodded, rubbing at her eyes while trying not to cry.

“Oh babies, come here.” He gently scooped his cubs into his arms.

Chao-Xing buried her face between himself and her sister.

“You done in there, moonlight?” Wukong called out.

“Give me a second!” he called back.

To his annoyance, Wukong started heading towards the room. Great, he was bound to just wind Chao-Xing up again.

“There a problem here?” Wukong asked, leaning against the doorframe.

“Baba’s hurt and Chao-Xing thinks it was you.” Yingyue unhelpfully said.

Chao-Xing huffed and kept her head buried between them. Wukong glanced at him expectantly.

“They saw the bandage and got worried.” He sighed.

Wukong's eyes lit up with a purr.

“Oh that's nothing for either of you to worry about.” He said, coming up to hug him, hug them , from behind.

He forced his body to be relaxed, it wouldn't do either of the cubs any good to see him uncomfortable.

“What is it?” Yingyue wondered.

“It's just a love bite, it leaves a silly mark that your baba gets so embarrassed about.” Wukong cooed, nuzzling the bite he left last night affectionately.

He flinched in pain. Wukong tugged him possessively closer, Chao-Xing growled softly.

“Keep that attitude up little lady and you won't get Xiá back tomorrow.” Wukong threatened.

“Wukong, you can't just take away their toys when you don't like how they behave.” he scolded.

“She disobeyed me.” Wukong growled.

He sighed, shooting his cubs a sympathetic look. He had to choose his battles carefully.

“Do you want to read with me?” He prompted.

“Of course moonl-”

“I wasn't talking to you.” He cut the king off.

“Yes Baba.” Chao-Xing nodded.

“I can play with you Papa! If you still want to!” Yingyue offered happily.

“Moonlet, you're hurt, you can't be playing for a couple of days.” He told his daughter.

She and Wukong both pouted.

“Maybe don't touch the colorful things.” Chao-Xing muttered to her sister.

Yingyue turned her pouty face to her smaller sister, who promptly bapped her nose.

Wukong let him go, he went to the living room and settled in with a few books for the rest of the day.

XXX

His cubs purred softly from their place curled up next to them, their excitement from earlier had them tuckered out after dinner. Wukong was currently doing all the dishes he had been avoiding, allowing him some time to himself with his cubs. He patted their little heads, cooing when they let out adorable little yawns.

Yingyue's eyes opened slightly, she snuggled closer.

“Baba…?” She yawned.

“Yes moonlet?” He said, glancing up from his book.

“Why were you sad today?” She asked.

… Shit!

“Xīng-Xīng says she thinks you're sad.” Yingyue explained.

He glanced at his other cub.

“Chao-Xing, what makes you think I'm sad?” He asked.

“You smell sad.” She said simply.

“Oh… well something bad happened to a good friend of mine, I'm sad cause I can't see him anymore.” He said.

“What happened to your friend?” Yingyue wondered.

He wanted to tell his cubs what really happened to his brother, but he doubted they would believe him. Even with Chao-Xing being as distrusting of Wukong as she was, she wouldn't believe he'd do that. Not to mention what Wukong would do to him if he told the truth.

The only reason DBK was still alive was because he had begged for Wukong not to kill him. He couldn't bear to be the reason his sister lost her husband forever.

Wukong had locked him in his bedroom when the battle happened. He hadn't known the outcome until after the king returned covered in blood, without his staff.

Wukong had spared DBK, but he let him think his brother was dead for five whole days of abusing his body while he celebrated his “victory”.

“Baba?” Yingyue chirped.

“I… how about I tell you about him instead?” He suggested.

“Story?” Chao-Xing cooed, lifting her head off his side.

His little cub loved hearing stories, it was a shame the only ones he was allowed to tell her were about Wukong.

“Yes, I've got lots of stories about him, we were sworn brothers.” He said quickly.

“What's a brother?” Yingyue asked.

“It's like a sister but a boy, like me and your papa.” He explained.

“So your friend was also your boy-sister?” Chao-Xing inquired.

“He was, but not the way you two are siblings, we don't have the same parents. Sworn brothers are like really good friends who decide they'll be family.” He said.

“That's strange.” Yingyue commented.

“DBK, that's my friend, he was my first friend.” My first who didn't mysteriously die after I told Wukong about them.

“What about Papa?” Yingyue chirped.

“That's different, your papa and I aren't friends like me and DBK were.” He told her.

“Cause you're in love~” she cooed.

“What's DBK mean?” Chao-Xing asked.

Oh merciful Guanyin, thank you!

“Demon Bull King, we shortened it, he was a bull demon from the underworld.” He explained.

“What’s a bull?” The pair asked together.

He cursed Wukong, he didn't let the twins learn anything about the world off the island.

“Oh… uh… I'll show you.” he said!

He drew on the shadows, forming a small image of a bull. The figure was wobbly, he hadn't practiced his shadow puppets in centuries, there wasn't much of a point.

“Whoa!” The cubs awed.

“This is a bull, it's a big plant eater, DBK was a bull demon .” He shaped the figure into the image of his brother.

“He was very big .” He added a little figure of himself next to DBK.

“It's a little Baba!” Chao-Xing squeaked.

“He was a very good friend, he would help me when I was having trouble with my ears, and he treated me like an equal.” It was more than the rest of them did. The rest of his so-called brothers just treated him like Wukong's loyal little pet rather than a valued member of their group. Maybe that's why they never listened to him.

“He taught me how to make the spicy noodles you like, starlight.” He said, Chao-Xing perked up eagerly.

“Really!?!” She gasped.

“Yep, he's a really good cook.” He nodded.

“And he introduced me to your auntie, my big sister, she and I took care of each other when your papa and DBK got into some big trouble.” He added a shade in the shape of his jiě jie.

“She's got horns too!” His cubs squealed.

“Yes, she did that to match with DBK when they got married.” He told them.

Chao-Xing cooed happily.

“So what happened to him?” Yingyue asked

His daughter's red and silver eyes pierced into his soul. They looked too close to Wukong's sometimes.

“I…” the shadow figures dissipated.

“Yeah Mihou, what happened to good ole DBK?” He, and the cubs, all jumped at Wukong's sudden appearance.

“Papa! How'd you sneak up on us?!” Yingyue squealed gleefully.

“I have my ways~” Wukong chuckled, patting her head.

The king swung himself over the couch, pulling  him to his side in a too tight hug.

“You know what? How about I tell them, you know how emotional you get about this.” Wukong suggested.

The claws subtly digging into his side told him not to object. He didn't think the king would hurt him in front of the cubs, but he could never tell with Wukong.

“What happened Papa?!” Yingyue asked eagerly.

“Yeah, what happened to Baba’s brother!” Chao-Xing agreed.

“You two know about the celestial realm, right?” Wukong prompted.

The pair nodded. He had a bad feeling about where this was going.

“Well, the gods up there don't like demons like us very much. They're very mean to us.” Wukong said.

“What? Why not?” Yingyue squawked.

“No reason, they're just big mean bullies.” Wukong shrugged.

“Did they do something to Baba's brother?” Chao-Xing wondered softly.

“Did they hurt him?” She whimpered.

“Unfortunately yes, DBK tried to fight them for being so mean, and sent vicious war god Erlang Shen to seal him away so no other demons got the same idea.” Wukong said.

“And they hurt your Baba when he was saving your aunt from suffering the same fate.” He added, gesturing to the right side of his face.

The cubs gasped in horror, tucking themselves against his side. Mihou elbowed Wukong’s gut, the king snarled at him.

“You're scaring them, cut it out.” He hissed.

Wukong cooed to the pair, taking one hand off him to pat their heads.

“They need to know Mihou, you can't shelter them forever.” Wukong said.

I'm not the one lying out my ass. He growled softly.

“You're so protective, moonlight.” their captor cooed, nuzzling the side of his neck.

“W-will they come for u-us?” Yingyue whimpered, lifting her head from his side.

“Not as long as you stay within the border, they won't dare to touch you in my territory.” Wukong said confidently.

“Wha-what if we leave…? W-will they s-seal us?” Chao-Xing asked, her small body trembling with fear.

“Oh they'll do much worse things, they'll hurt you forever and trap you up in the celestial realm where me and your Baba can't get you, unless Erlang finds you, he'll feed you to his blood thirsty hound-”

“Wukong!” He snapped.

Wukong glared at him, he gestured to his terrified cubs. The king's expression softened.

“Oh little ones, I didn't mean to frighten you.” Wukong said softly.

“But it's important you know this, the celestial realm won't ever let you leave the mountain.” He cooed.

You won't let them leave. Mihou glared at the king.

“I think it's time for bed.” he said, rising from the couch.

He scooped the cubs up into his arms.

“I'll take one.” Wukong offered.

Chao-Xing immediately growled, clinging tighter to his shirt to dissuade their captor from getting any funny ideas. Mihou quickly passed Yingyue to him, Wukong glowered at the smaller cub as Yingyue snuggled against him.

What do you expect? You traumatize her daily. He wanted to snarl.

Frankly, he didn't understand why Yingyue acted the way she did with Wukong, the poor cub seemed desperate for his attention.

“Let's get your medicine so you don't have nightmares.” Wukong said to both of them.

Mihou scowled at him. He hated how often Wukong insisted on giving them the “medicine” instead of letting him put a simple dampening seal on their ears. It was getting to the point where they were starting to struggle with naptime without it.

He followed Wukong into the room, got the cubs situated in bed and gave their fur a quick run through with his fingers while Wukong made the “medicine”.

They eagerly took the “medicine” from Wukong when he offered it, he sat by their side until they were fast asleep.

Then he turned on the king.

“What the actual fuck is wrong with you?” He snarled.

“What are you talking about, moonlight?” Wukong had the audacity to say.

“You just terrified them! They're two! They're fucking toddlers ! They won't want to leave the house for days now!” He shouted.

He paced the room in front of Wukong, he didn't care about the consequences, he couldn't let Wukong get away with shit like this!

“Now, they'll think there's nothing but danger and pain outside of the mountain!” He spat.

Wukong glanced at the cubs curled up together, then gave him a wicked smile.

“But moonlight, there is nothing but danger and pain outside of the mountain.” he said.

“ Bastard , you're a fucking bastard.” He hissed.

Wukong grabbed his wrist and spun him around, pinning him to the wall.

“It's a terribly cruel world out there, the only place they will ever be safe is here .” He said.

“That's a lie and you know it! You can't lie to them forever!” He growled.

“How will they ever know otherwise?” Wukong prompted smugly.

“They'll be able to know whenever you're lying eventually.” He reminded his captor, flicking his ears up in example.

Wukong eyed his ears contemplatively.

“Your ears don't tell what the lie is, just that there is a lie. Seems pretty easy to get around.” He said smoothly.

“I'll tell them what it means, they'll know when you're lying.” Mihou snarled.

“And I'll tell them the truth myself !” he added.

Wukong's gaze darkened. Out of nowhere, his hand wrapped around his throat tight enough to constrict his breathing. He snarled weakly, scratching at the hand choking him to little use, Wukong kept his claws short .

“How will you tell them anything without a voice ?” the king asked, claws digging into his throat.

“I could arrange an accident for you, rip out that beautiful throat of yours, and let the cubs see what disobedience gets them. I'd make it look like the celestials came to finish their work.” Wukong said darkly.

“Or, I could lock you away from them, and only let them visit when I'm present so you can't fill their heads with lies. I could even make a nice tower for you. Just you.” the king whispered into his ears, nipping lightly at the lowest one.

A shudder went down his spine, he stared wide eyed at the king. His anger vanished, swiftly replaced by nearly maddening panic at the thought of being separated from his cubs.

“N-no… plea … no” Mihou choked out.

He couldn't be separated from his cubs, they were everything he had, they were the only thing he had.

“Then don't misuse that wonderful voice of yours, moonlight.” Wukong grinned.

His grip loosened, Mihou took in a sharp gasp of air, filling his lungs with as much air as he could.

“Oh don't be so dramatic, moonlight, you don't need to breathe.” Wukong snickered.

“It still hurts and you know it.” He muttered.

“Excuse me?” Wukong narrowed his eyes.

Mihou flinched and cleared his throat.

“N-nothing. It was nothing.” He mumbled.

Wukong kissed him.

“That's right .” he purred.

“Now, it's been a big day, and you need your rest if we're to have any fun in a few days.” Wukong snickered, running his hands suggestively over his hips.

He shuddered at the thought of having another night of “celebratory” sex. At least tonight, he was safe from the king's onslaught.

His captor pulled him into the nest.

Mihou fell asleep with his cubs curled up against his back and his head held against Wukong's chest.

The roar of the king's heart followed him into sleep.

XXX

He knew something was wrong when he couldn't hear Wukong's heart pounding in his ears.

He knew he was sleeping, but this didn't feel like a normal dream.

It was dark, a cold blue fog covered the ground, he scanned the fog for any threats.

“Liu'er Mihou, the Six Eared Macaque.” A feminine voice came from behind him.

He spun around, a demon with ivory pale skin that looked stretched over her bones floated in the fog.

“Who are you? What do you want?” He snarled.

“Oh this isn't about what I want, this is about what I can offer you , Liu'er Mihou.” The demon said.

“Who are you?” He repeated.

“The Lady Bone Demon. Though I would appreciate it if you kept that information to yourself, I can't have your little cubs tattling on me to their father.” She said.

“How do you know about my cubs?” He hissed.

“Oh dear Mihou, I know all about your unfortunate circumstances.” The demoness cooed.

In the blink of an eye, she disappeared.

“I come to offer you my assistance, all I ask for in exchange is your service as my Champion.” She said, her voice came from every direction.

“What could you help me with?” He asked, searching for any trace of the demon.

“Gaining your freedom from the Monkey King of course.” Her voice came from right behind him.

He felt a chill deep into his bones. He whirled around to face the demon, her cold red eyes stared into his soul.

“What…?”

He hadn’t tried escaping Wukong since before the twins were born, he had given up once they were born because of Wukong's threats, he hadn't even entertained the thought since. It was too dangerous.

“I can hide you and your children from his detection.” The Bone Demon said.

He could be free . His cubs could be free. After seven hundred years, he could finally get away from Wukong!

What if it fails? Wukong will never let you see them again. He jumped away from the demon, he couldn't risk it, not after what Wukong did tonight, he couldn't risk loosing his cubs.

And he had no insurance that this demon would be able to hide him or his cubs from Wukong. He couldn't take that bet.

“N-no! No! I can't. I can't trust you. There's too much at risk.” He shook his head.

To his surprise, the demoness looked sympathetic. She reached out her boney hand, he suppressed a flinch as she ran her thin fingers through his fur. It felt strange to have someone other than Wukong or his cubs touching him.

“I understand, it's difficult for you to have hope after so long.” she said.

She sounded completely genuine , and a little sad for him. His ears gave him no indication she felt otherwise.

“If you ever change your mind, I'll be here.” She tapped his forehead.

“Just call~”

Mihou startled awake in Wukong's arms.

The spot on his forehead the Lady Bone Demon touched had no trace of her presence, but he sensed the faint, nearly invisible bond between him and the other demon.

He really hoped she was being serious about being able to hide him, otherwise he'd be in for a world of hurt when Wukong found out he let another demon leave their mark on him.

Speaking of the bastard, Wukong stirred awake next to him, red and gold eyes cracking open sleepily.

“You… nightmare…?” He drawled.

He blinked a few times before getting what the king was saying.

“Yes … sorry for waking you.” He whispered.

Wukong purred and pulled him closer to him, he reluctantly snuggled up to the king. It was moments like these that reminded him of the better times, when he was too young and inexperienced to know what was wrong with their relationship and was just happy that someone finally cared about him.

Those simple times were so long ago.

He used to be so naive.

He buried his face against Wukong's neck and closed his eyes.

He was trapped here for eternity, he needed to make the best of it.

Chapter Text

Mihou needed to get out.

He needed to get his cubs out. Now .

He cupped his cubs sleeping faces gently.

He should have known better, he should have known this would have a terrible effect on them.

It all started when Nuwa had visited to bring gifts for the cubs upcoming third birthday. They were turning three in a few days.

The visit had been good right up until Nuwa commented about Chao-Xing’s ears.

He was a fool, he should have seen it sooner.

He spent every day with them and hadn't even noticed!

Now that it had been pointed out, he couldn't see anything but the marks this life was leaving on his little stars.

Nuwa had asked about Chao-Xing's ears being duller than when they first met, and if that was normal.

It wasn't. Their ears shouldn't change like that unless something very bad was happening to them.

His own ears had steadily grown duller and less vibrant in their colors since Wukong had taken him. He glamored them to appear normal, it pissed Wukong off to see visible proof of his unhappiness.

Now his daughter's ears were losing their vibrance.

And it was even happening to Yingyue! His little ball of sunshine was losing her light! It had to be due to Wukong, he was constantly rejecting the cub who wanted him in favor of the cub who didn't. It was taking a toll on her.

His cubs were the last straw 

This was unsustainable.

He couldn't let Wukong drain the life out of his children.

He needed to do something, he had to get them out of here.

He needed the Lady Bone Demon.

It had been six months since the Lady Bone Demon visited him.

If Wukong was able to sense her presence on him, he hadn't let on yet, and he was desperate enough to take the chance now.

It was win or lose.

He had to take the bet.

He held his world close to his chest, for them he'd do anything.

Merciful Guanyin, please don't let this be a mistake, please hear me and help me. I can't let my cubs suffer. He prayed desperately.

Mihou closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and pulled on the connection between him and the bone demon.

XXX

The twins were winding down after a very exciting third birthday, he could see them struggling to stay awake with all the excitement of the day. They got to see a new part of the mountain.

After their fight, Wukong had decided that they were going to be confined to a small section of the island that he would slowly allow them to explore more as they aged. It was all a ploy to keep them more curious about the mountain than the world outside of it.

Wukong being out with the twins all day wasn't ideal, but it gave him time to set up for tonight.

This was it, the night they would get away from the monster trapping them here.

Luck, for once, seemed to be on his side.

Guanyin had sent them a gift as a congratulations on getting their children to three years old, he didn't think the bodhisattva knew they were immortal, and gifts for the children. Wukong was all too happy to accept it when he learned it was his favorite wine, and saw it as Guanyin finally giving her approval.

And the Lady Bone Demon had provided him with a potent, untraceable poison disguised as a rare spice, and a spell to escape Wukong forever.

Everything was going according to his plan, Wukong was drinking like there was no tomorrow, he'd mixed most of the poison into his drink and was just waiting until it took its toll. Wukong was starting to slow down.

It was time to move onto the next phase of his plan, the worst but most necessary part. He had spent the whole day getting the spare bed in the medicine room ready, he just needed to not lose his cool, and he'd be free.

By tomorrow night this would all just be a terrible nightmare.

“Wukong, can you get the twins medicine brewing? They need a little extra tonight.” he asked his tormentor.

Wukong turned to him with a smug, cocky grin.

“Finally coming around… eh moonlight?” Wukong prompted.

“Or are you plotting somethin?” he narrowed his eyes.

Mihou forced himself to give the king a coy smile. Wukong was even more dangerous and unpredictable when he was drunk.

“You'll never know~” he giggled.

“Mihou, were you drinking?” Wukong gasped.

“Maybe~” he laughed again.

Hunger glinted in Wukong's eyes. Yingyue yawned loudly.

“Aww, they're sleepy.” He cooed.

“Right! I'll get their medicine!” Wukong suddenly shouted.

He ran off to the bedroom, the cubs stared after him in confusion.

“Papa's acting funny.” Chao-Xing observed.

“He's just drunk, starlight, he'll be better by morning.” We won't be here to see it. He told her.

“Did you two have a good birthday?” He asked, pulling his cubs closer to him for a quick grooming before bed.

“Mhm, it was fun to explore.” Yingyue nodded.

“I missed you Baba.” Chao-Xing whispered.

“I know starlight. I'll be with you next time.” he promised.

He cuddled his cubs close to him, tonight he was getting them out, tonight they were free. Wukong might have thought he was defeated, but his cubs gave him a reason to fight and live again.

Just a few more hours and we'll be free. He silently promised his cubs.

“Medicine's almost done!” Wukong called from the bedroom.

Mihou brought his cubs in for bed, he snuggly tucked the pair in to the nest with their respective stuffed animals. He'd have to leave those behind. He couldn't let anything trace back to him.

They'll be so sad. He thought.

Wukong gave them the “medicine” and stepped back beside him. He hated giving it to them, but he needed them to sleep through everything he did tonight if they were going to get out of this.

“Did you give them extra?” He whispered to Wukong.

“Yes, moonlight, of course.” Wukong cooed, wrapping his arms around his waist.

“Wait, they need to be asleep.” he laughed lightly.

“What are you up to, moonlight?” Wukong chuckled.

“Just wait and see~”

“Baba, stop talking!” Yingyue whined.

“Okay moonlet, we'll be quiet.” he told his cub, patting her head.

He waited anxiously for his cubs to both be asleep. This was the most difficult part of his plan, he had to play this part perfectly or Wukong would find him out and he'd be done for.

“They're asleep, moonlight.” Wukong said eagerly.

“Follow me, my king~” he flicked his tail under Wukong's chin as he walked past him to the medicine room.

“I was wondering what you were up to in there.” Wukong chuckled.

He opened the door to the medicine room and walked in, the “romantic” scene he set up was more than Wukong had ever done.

“This sure is something.” Wukong mused.

“Don't you like it? I set it up just for you.” Mihou pouted, faking hurt at his words.

“It's just very old fashioned.” Wukong said.

Yeah I wouldn't know what it's like in the modern world, shit head. A small voice growled. He pushed it down, he had to ignore everything he hated about Wukong and what he did, he needed to pull on his old, dead feelings for the golden monkey.

“And it's very unlike you to be so forward about this, you like to play hard to get.” Wukong pointed out, red eyes scanning him skeptically.

“Well maybe I want to chase this time, is that allowed?” He wondered, stepping towards the king with a smirk.

“I've got no idea what's gotten into you mango, but I like it.” Wukong said, shutting the door behind him.

“You wanna know what I'd like?” Mihou asked, tail swaying slowly behind him as the monster watched him with hungry eyes.

“Oh? What?” Wukong prompted.

“I’d like to get a piece of you in m-” he broke off as Wukong pounced for him, the king’s mouth covering his own.

He leaned into every touch, the hands gripping his hips, the tail strangling his leg, the tongue invading his mouth, all of it. The king purred into him, happily going deeper, Mihou wrapped his arms around his neck and let it happen.

His tormentor lifted him off the ground, holding him close against his body, his skin burned with every touch. He wrapped his legs around him and let the monster take him to the bed.

Wukong pushed him down onto the mattress, never once letting up on making his “affection” known. He tugged on his tail, despite himself, he let out a soft moan.

The king laughed, slowly pulling away, Mihou chased him, he needed to sell that he wanted this. Wukong gently pushed him back against the mattress, he whined, looking up at the golden furred monkey with a pout.

“You have no idea how happy you made me, moonlight.” Wukong started.

“But, seeing as it's our twins' third birthday, let's have a little more fun with it, hmm?” He prompted, shoving his face into his.

Mihou kept the stupid, love sick grin on his face.

“What do you have in mind?” he asked.

“I have some celestial rope in my closet.” Wukong said, giving him a sly grin.

Oh. That certainly makes things harder.

“That's not quite what I imagined.” He said, wrapping his arms around the king's neck and trying to pull him back in again.

Wukong detangled himself with a chuckle, kiss the back of each hand gently. He was going to cleanse his hands in molten lava.

“I'll be back soon, stay ready for me.” Wukong cooed.

The king slipped out of the room, leaving him to make adjustments to his plans before he returned with the celestial rope.

I wonder how many new bruises I'll have after this. Mihou wondered as Wukong started tying.

XXX 

Something was wrong.

Wukong was too resistant to the poison.

Was I supposed to give it to him all at once?

The Lady Bone Demon hadn't given him any instructions on how, he figured it would be better to start small and slowly up the dosage. That was turning out to be a mistake.

Wukong was just drunk, he showed no signs of blacking out or the paralysis the Lady Bone Demon promised her poison would provide. He needed to give him more. Which meant he somehow needed to get untied and detangled from the king on top of him.

“Wukong, untie me, I have to use the bathroom.” He whispered to the drunk monkey.

“Aww but Mihou, I tied you up so nicely.” Wukong whined.

“I'll bring drinks. Then we can go again.” He promised.

Wukong pouted but did untie him, he helped him out of bed, his legs felt like jelly. He pulled on his zhongyi laying abandoned on the ground to cover himself.

“Be back soon moonlight~” Wukong called after him as he limped to the bathroom.

He finished his business quickly and went to the kitchen. He poured two cups of wine, took the poison out of its hiding place and dumped it into Wukong's.

He left the now empty vial on the counter and searched for a stronger wine to add in, he needed Wukong to black out. He found another wine and poured it into the cups.

Don't forget the vial! He turned back to grab it, only to find it missing.

“Looking for this, moonlight?” he jumped at Wukong's voice behind him.

The king held the vial between his fingers. Blood red eyes fixed him in place as the king approached.

“What sort of game are you playing here?” Wukong growled.

Mihou stepped back, raising his hands in surrender, he couldn't let all this go to waste! Not when he was so close to freedom.

“Wukong… let me explain.” He said.

Wukong struck him across the face, he caught himself on the counter. Before he could recover, Wukong grabbed his jaw with a bruising grip.

“Alright then, explain. Tell me what this is and what you were doing with it.” Wukong growled.

“You weren't mixing something dangerous into the wine, were you?” he asked darkly.

Mihou shook his head frantically, Wukong leaned in closer.

“Then what is it?” He hissed.

He swallowed the lump in his throat and said the first thing that came to mind.

“An aphrodisiac!” He cried out.

Wukong released him, he stayed low before him. Wukong could very easily get mad at the implications that he wasn't doing enough.

“Please don't be mad, I didn't want to offend you, I just thought it would be more fun with it…” he added.

“You put it in yours too?” Wukong wondered.

He looked… excited .

Oh no, what have I gotten myself into.

Wukong wasn't a stranger to using… enhancements in bed, he was often forced to take whatever Wukong wanted him to and deal with it.

“Yes… I know how much you like it…” he admitted.

“Oh moonlight, you're so sweet on them.” Wukong swooned.

The king handed him his cup, he glanced between them for a second.

“C'mon moonbeam, drink up!” Wukong chirped.

Mihou took the cup, sipping slowly as Wukong guzzled his glass down like it was nothing. He wasn't even halfway through when Wukong decided it was time to get back at it.

The king scooped him into his arms, completely disregarding the wine that splashed all over the both of them.

“Wukong!”

“I'll clean it off you later.” Wukong promised.

He's definitely excited. Did mixing the poison and wine actually create an aphrodisiac effect? He briefly wondered.

He was practically thrown onto the bed, Wukong slammed the door shut, he didn't even have the time to reprimand him for being so loud, the king was already climbing on top of him.

Wukong ripped off his zhongyi, his tail wagging madly behind him. He hadn't seen him this excited in a long time, and Wukong was always excited to have him.

What sort of hell have I just gotten myself into?

“Are you ready for more, moonlight?” Wukong purred.

No!

“I'm all yours , my king.” he said, smiling up at the monster about to destroy him.

At least Wukong didn't tie him up this time.

XXX

Wukong kissed him softly and slowly, Mihou forced himself to lean into it.

He was so tired, his face hurt from where Wukong struck him, his body was aching with pain. The king was a violent lover, even when he tried to be gentle, he wasn't trying to do that here.

His tormentor smiled hazily down at him, his tail flicking happily behind him.

When was that damn poison going to affect him?

The king laid across his body, effectively pinning him underneath the other, one of Wukong's favorite tactics to keep him in bed longer. His head rested on his chest, the king watched him with a twisted adoration in his eyes.

“I love you so much moonlight.” he murmured.

He felt the arms tighten around him.

“I couldn't stand being away from you for long, I think I'd actually go insane if something happened to you.” he said.

Like you aren't already?

“I'm so glad we get to have our little family together.” Wukong giggled.

He forced himself to purr louder, he didn't trust himself enough to speak.

“Our cubs are so wonderful, aren't they? Don't you just want to have more?” Wukong asked, gazing at him “lovingly”.

Mihou's stomach flipped at the idea of more cubs. He couldn't allow himself to fail another child like he did with the twins, he couldn't bear to raise another child in this cage.

Maybe he once dreamed of having a happy family full of cubs with Wukong, but those dreams died the day Wukong slashed out his eye.

And maybe some small part of him wanted to have cubs without Wukong involved but he couldn't imagine a relationship with anyone else. Who would want him after this?

“Something on your mind moonlight?” Wukong prompted.

“I-i sorry… just thinking…” he cleared his throat.

“About?”

“I don't want more cubs,” the king's eyes narrowed, “yet! I don't want more cubs yet!” He corrected.

“It was just really difficult being pregnant so long and I don't want to do that again when Yingyue and Chao-Xing still need me so much.” He explained.

“Oh of course moonlight, there's no rush.” Wukong cooed, scouting up to kiss his neck.

The gentle kissing turned into bites, he bit back a yelp, Wukong chuckled and kept biting.

Please let that poison work already! He pleaded to no one in particular.

Just then, as if some god had finally heard his cries for help, Wukong went stiff as a stone. He peeked an eye open, the king had a look of confusion on his face.

Right before his eyes, his tormentor’s face went slack and he blacked out.

Mihou waited for the king to wake up and reveal he knew what he was doing all along, but… nothing happened.

He didn't wake up.

He was able to wriggle his way out from underneath with the king so much as stirring.

He couldn't believe it, he nearly shouted for joy.

It worked! It worked! It actually worked! He wiped the budding tears from his eyes.

No time to celebrate, there's still work to do.

He grabbed the celestial rope off the ground and got about tying Wukong to the bed. It would give him a little more time to run before Wukong came after them. The king would break out, either by breaking the unbreakable rope or the much more breakable bed posts. He locked the door as an extra precaution, anything that gave him more time.

He grabbed one of the bags Wukong kept in his modern things closet that neither he nor the cubs were allowed to look into. He threw as much fruit as he could into it, he would have to stretch it as long as he could, he didn’t know when he'd be able to get more.

He quickly threw on new clothes, he could only hope the older style didn't stick out too much, grabbed some spare clothes for the cubs, a blanket, and his scarf.

He wrapped the cloth around himself in the way that he'd seen monkey demons do. It was remarkably good at keeping cubs secure while climbing.

He put everything into the bag and tied it shut. It was kind of like a rice basket, so it wasn't completely foreign to him. He got it on without much trouble.

He slipped down the hall into the bedroom, the twins were still out cold. He gently picked them up and tucked them into the folds of his scarf turned baby carrier.

They both shifted slightly to get themselves comfortable, but they didn't wake. He sighed with relief when they stayed asleep, he didn't want them to somehow wake Wukong up.

He glanced down at the pair of well loved plushies left in the bed. He couldn't take them, they were too recognizable to be safe. Even with the Bone Demon’s spell, he wanted to minimize anything that could expose him.

Speaking of the spell, the Lady Bone Demon promised her spell would make him and his cubs completely untraceable to Wukong and, well, anyone really. It would make him and the cubs into new people, on an energy signature level.

It would be like he just disappeared.

He cast the spell on himself and the cubs without difficulty, then he melted into the shadows and raced to the beach.

His feet touched the cool, wet sand near the water's edge for the first time in centuries .

The barrier was within reach. He just had a little further to go then he would be free to go anywhere .

The Bone Demon had given him a spell to cross the water, he whispered it and a bridge of what he hoped was ice formed over the water.

He took off across it, he had to get out now! There was no going back if Wukong caught him now.

His whole body felt a tingling sensation when he crossed the barrier. His magic roared to life within him, no longer restrained by the seal Wukong had on the barrier. The air was slammed out of his chest.

The impact had him falling to his knees in shock, luckily a well timed chunk of ice formed beneath him. He pressed his head against the cold ice, slowly sucking air back into his body.

He was outside the barrier, he was out . For the first time in over seven hundred years , he was free!

His cubs were free for the first time in their lives!

He almost cried for joy.

He hugged his cubs close to his chest. They were free!

Slowly, he rose back up onto shaky feet. A glowing white sphere appeared out of the ice, he felt the Lady Bone Demon's presence far more strongly than he had on the island. It was so cold .

“Do not forget the terms of our deal, Liu'er Mihou.” the Bone Demon whispered.

The cold sphere solidified into a key with a skull on the bow. It floated in front of him humming with energy.

Right… I made a deal with a devil to do this. He reminded himself. He took the key.

“I trust you will fulfill your end of the deal, my champion.” The Bone Demon snickered, her eerie voice faded from his ears.

He glanced between the key and his cubs. He only did all this so he could have a life with his cubs, he wasn't going to jeopardize their future.

The Lady Bone Demon could wait a couple more decades.

He would just hide the key until he was ready to deal with her. She never told him when he was supposed to set her free, he could just lie and say he was awaiting her instruction.

Shoving the cold key into his pocket, he reached for his shadows. He relished in the feeling of being able to have full control of his magic once again.

He opened a shadow portal and dropped into it.

Finally free.

XXX

Wukong stared at the destroyed ruins of the living room.

He had woken up two days ago to find himself tied to the bed in the medicine room. After escaping his bonds by breaking the bed posts, he found the house empty, ransacked with food and other supplies scattered everywhere.

Worst of all, his mate and cubs were missing .

At first, he thought maybe someone had foolishly stolen his moon from him, but no one could get onto his island without his permission.

It didn't work that way for getting out however.

An oversight on his part.

All Mihou would have to do was get past the barrier and he'd be free to leave him again.

And he did .

His moonlight left him again and took their cubs with him!

It had reasonably angered him.

He took his hung over rage out on their living room and kitchen.

Now? Now he was sober, calmer, and remembered that night better.

Mihou had been serving him wine all evening, a very strong wine gifted to them from Guanyin. Mihou had been very insistent on giving the cubs extra sleep medicine. And Mihou had been mixing something into his drink after he let him get up.

And it was only his wine, the wine he licked off his mate's fur tasted slightly different from the one he had drunk, it was poisoned.

His clever moonlight disguised the poison with the alcohol. He couldn't even be mad at that , it was just smart . Combined with abusing Guanyin's ‘gift’ had caused quite the nasty effect. He sure had quite the hangover afterwards. 

He was, however, very mad with his moonlight.

His moon ran away from him and took his children!

After everything he did for him!

He wasn't mad with his cubs, of course.

They were only little babies, they wouldn't know what was going on, not to mention Mihou likely took them while they were still sleeping. He couldn't put any blame on those sweet little faces.

His silver tongued love would likely turn them against him, he’d have to watch out for that once he found them. He could correct their thinking with enough time.

Maybe I should've been more aggressive with him in bed. Or I should have tied him up the second time.

It certainly would have slowed him down.

He didn't feel nearly as bad about hitting Mihou now, he had been right to be suspicious of his mate's actions.

Things had been going so well too. Mihou hadn't tried to run away for three years. He thought he finally got past that annoying phase and accepted his wonderful place as his beloved mate.

He should have been more suspicious of his moon's sudden behavior shift. He was too sweet and eager that night, yet there was a tension in him. Perhaps he sensed his true intentions on their second round.

Oh how he hoped his moonlight carried that little parting gift, it should make him so much easier to find.

But there was really nothing to worry about. He'd find his moonlight sooner or later, and once he got him back again , he wouldn't let himself be fooled by his sweet little lies again.

He would do whatever he needed to to keep his moonlight where he belonged .

If he had to chain him by his side until he stopped fighting, then so be it.

Such extreme measures would not be necessary for their cubs.

Little Chao-Xing followed her baba everywhere , she never wanted to be far from him. It annoyed the hell out of him, but it could serve him well here.

And Yingyue, his little moon, she was such a good daughter, so eager to please him . She would do whatever he asked without hesitation.

Really, he only needed to have one of them and the other two would come running .

His moonlight may have scattered any trace of himself to the wind, but he would find him again.

It was all just another round of their game.

“Mihou, my love , I'm very, very mad at you. I thought you were doing better , I guess not.” He hissed.

His mate would hear him no matter how far he ran, his mate would always hear him, always be listening for him . The thought delighted him.

“Your little plot was very clever, truly impressive how you tricked me.” He laughed harshly.

“But I truly hope you don't think this will last? I'm going to come find you. I'll find you and our cubs. And I'm going to bring you all home.” He paused, clenching his fists.

“ When I catch you, Mihou, oh when I catch you, I'm going to make you regret this betrayal. I promise moonlight, you'll regret this choice for the rest of eternity.” He growled.

“Until then my love, I hope you enjoy the final round of our little game~”

Chapter Text

“ When I catch you, Mihou, oh when I catch you, I'm going to make you regret this betrayal. I promise moonlight, you'll regret this choice for the rest of eternity… until then my love, I hope you enjoy the final round of our little game~”

Wukong's sinister chuckle echoed through his mind. It was the only thing he could think about since hearing the king wake up two days after his escape.

He hadn't been found yet, Wukong wasn't even on his trail. He felt safe assuming the bone demon's plan had worked.

Wukong couldn't track him or the cubs in any way.

That was one problem he had solved.

The key was still burning a hole in his pocket, and his cubs had many, many questions he hadn't had the time to answer. He just said it was an adventure when they first woke up this morning.

He glanced over at where the two of them were curled up by the fire. It was late at night, they should've been asleep hours ago, but neither could.

They were tired, he knew they were tired from all the excitement of the day, once they got over their initial fear of being hurt for leaving the island, but they were struggling with getting to sleep. They just couldn't .

I really hope this isn't because of the medicine Wukong gave them. He prayed silently.

“Baba! I'm hungry!” Chao-Xing chirped.

“Coming, starlight.” He crossed their little campsite to his cubs.

“We don't have much food, so I can't give you snacks that often, but I have some leftovers from dinner.” he told her.

“When are we going home Baba?” Yingyue asked.

He flinched at the innocent question.

“Do you want a snack?” He asked instead.

Yingyue scowled at him but nodded.

He served the leftovers from their dinner to his cubs, hoping they would be sleepy after filling their bellies and he wouldn't have to explain quite yet.

He didn't even know where to start with explaining this mess.

How was he going to tell them the father they loved was actually an obsessive, possessive , deranged monster who blinded him, held him against his will, forced himself on him, and hurt him whenever he stepped out of line?

How was he supposed to explain that to three year olds?

“Baba? You look sad.” Chao-Xing cooed.

“Do you miss Papa too?” Yingyue asked.

He stared at his cubs, innocently looking up at him for answers. He was going to destroy everything they knew by telling them this.

He had to look away.

“No. I don't.”

“What? You don't miss Papa?!” Yingyue squawked like it was the most unbelievable thing.

“I don't.”

“Why not? Don't you like Papa?” She wondered.

“No, Yingyue, I don't like him. I hate him.” I hate him so fucking much.

“Why? I thought Papa and Baba loved each other.” Yingyue whimpered.

“We don't. It's all a lie. Wu- Your papa… he isn't a good person, he did lots of bad things… to others and me… and you two.” He admitted solemnly.

“I'm so sorry, I never wanted to lie, but I couldn't tell you the truth with him around, he wouldn't let me tell you. He didn't want you to know.” he said.

He waited for one of his cubs to say something, he couldn't bring himself to look at them.

I should have gotten them out before they hatched. I should have fought harder. I should have just been better !

“ …you're scared of Papa?” Chao-Xing mumbled in a very small voice.

“He's lying! You're lying!” Yingyue spat.

“I wish I wasn't, I wish your Papa was good and we were happy, but he isn't . He hurts me when you can't see, he hurts me when I do things he doesn't like. He's bad, and I am so sorry I ever let him near you.” he said.

“No! It's not true! It's not!” Yingyue cried.

“Sunbeam, look at me.” He turned to face his cubs, dropping the glamor he had been wearing since they woke up.

Their little faces filled with shock and horror at the bruises, bite marks, scratches, and scars he had. He had started glamoring his scared eye when they were about a year old, worried they would ask difficult questions he wasn't allowed to answer.

“Papa… did that to you…?” Yingyue's voice was so small.

“He's bad, I'm sorry, sunbeam, but he is.” He nodded.

“But… Papa loves us… he loves you !” She protested.

“He doesn't know how to really love anyone. I know it's hard, and you don't have to believe me yet, I won't make you.” He said softly.

Yingyue turned away from him and buried herself underneath the blanket, he heard her sniffling to herself. A wave of guilt slammed into him, he'd completely destroyed her view of Wukong, and the world she thought she lived in. He had to do it, but it hurt to see his baby so upset.

Chao-Xing leaned against him, drawing his attention to her.

“I-i don't wan to see Papa again…” she mumbled, looking at him with tears in her eyes.

“You won't have to see him ever again. We're never going back there, I promise.” He swore.

“Papa’s scary…” she whimpered.

“He is, but he can't hurt you. I won't let him.” he gently scooped his daughter up and tucked her in next to her sister.

“Try to sleep, starlight, I'll be with you in a few minutes. I have to put out the fire.” He whispered.

He rose to his feet and dealt with the fire as promised, he dropped the bone key into the fire pit before smothering the flames and burying the fire so there wasn't any trace of the pit left.

He'd just have to look for the fire pit by a plum tree in this general area when he eventually retrieved the key to fulfill his part of the deal.

He dusted off his hands and gathered everything together so they could leave first thing in the morning.

The plum tree was fruiting, he would pick some for breakfast tomorrow and take some with them, any food was a blessing for them. He really didn't know what the new world had in store for him, he didn't know when or if he'd get a steady source of food.

With everything prepared for the morning, he set up a couple of shadow clones to watch over their campsite for the night, then settled down with his cubs.

A little extra food seemed to be all they needed, they were both fast asleep. He pulled them close to his chest, kissing each of his girls goodnight before closing his eyes to sleep.

XXX

Of all the days for him to be out of medicine, it had to be today.

His stupid freeloader of a husband got himself sick coming home through a storm after giving a student his umbrella, and the rains hadn't let up one bit. Now, he was out an umbrella and out of medicine.

Pigsy tapped his foot impatiently at the cashier taking their sweet time processing his purchase of an umbrella and a bottle of cold medicine on their outdated piece of junk. This crappy convenience store was just the closest to his house, if it wasn't raining like dragons had summoned a monsoon, he would've gone literally anywhere else.

“Have a good night sir.” The cashier finally said after way too long spent standing at that dumb register.

“Uh huh.” He grunted, snatching up the cheap plastic bag of cold medicine and the umbrella and heading out of the damned store.

He opened the new umbrella in defense against the torrential downpouring of rain. The rain was falling so hard he could barely hear anything over the sound of water hitting concrete.

The streets were empty, except for him.

And a figure huddled under the awning of the building trying to shelter something from the rain.

As he got closer, he saw what it was, or rather, what they were.

A monkey demon with two cubs.

The other demon had one cub on his shoulder and the younger cub tucked in a cloth baby carrier. The monkey was squinting at a paper map, stress and confusion etched into his face.

Damn right, where'd he even get a paper map these days? Pigsy wondered.

“Baba, Xīng-Xīng looks sick again.” The older cub whispered to her father.

The monkey demon bunched the map up in one hand to check on his sick cub. Even at this distance, Pigsy could see the little kid’s face flush with a fever.

The father fussed over his sick cub without getting much of a reaction from her, her sister watched on with worry from her perch.

“Do we need to get Papa?” The older cub questioned.

Pigsy watched the father go still, the cub quickly rushed to do damage control.

“I-i know Papa's… bad… but Xīng-Xīng is super sick! Papa will help her… right?” The cub said optimistically.

The sick cub suddenly started screeching .

“No Papa! No! Don't want Papa!”

Whoever ‘papa’ was, the kid was scared enough of him to violently object to seeing him when nothing else had gotten a reaction from her.

A bad sign. Pigsy frowned.

“Hey, hey, it's okay, it's okay, we're not going back to papa. I promise we aren't, it's alright, you're okay, you're okay.” The father whispered to his screaming, crying toddler.

“I'm sorry Xīng-Xīng! I don't wanna make you cry! Don't cry!” the older sister pipped up.

“No Papa-!” the cub broke off with a sickly wet cough, her father patted her back until the coughing fit ended.

The little cub went quiet again, settling back down in the sling she was nestled in.

“We can't go to him, Yingyue, not for anything, ever .” The father told his older cub, trembling with barely concealed fear.

“I'm sorry Baba…” the older sister said.

“It's okay, sunbeam, just try not to bring him up.” Her father advised.

The older cub gave her sister a guilty glance and nodded. Her father smiled at her and patted her head.

That's when he saw it.

The discoloration all around the father's wrist, it looked like a nasty bruise.

Pigsy studied the other demon closer, his dark fur made them harder to spot, but he was pretty sure he had bruises on his neck and face too. They looked like hand marks, ugly, blotchy, dark purple hand marks.

He's beat up, completely lost with a “mate” he and his cubs are terrified of… sounds familiar. He scowled.

Some demons took their typical mating traditions and customs and twisted them into something very fucked up. It was more common with the really old ones.

The demon in question would abduct and isolate their intended from the rest of the world for decades to centuries, and keep them locked in their territory.

If the poor kidnapped demon managed to escape somehow, adjusting to the world they had been isolated from for so long was a challenge. They stuck out like a sore thumb, and so they were easier to recapture.

Another common trait of such kidnapped demons was sickly cubs, if they bothered to take their cubs with them in the escape and honestly who could blame them for not doing so. Any children they had would have also been isolated and have a weak immune system as a consequence.

They made the news whenever they were discovered by the public, and authorities tended to deal with them quietly to not attract their “mate”’s attention.

The scene in front of him was looking like a fairly typical case of an escaped forced mate.

He'd seen a few cases before, but none had seemed nearly as lost as this guy was.

Makes you wonder how long he's been trapped for. He narrowed his eyes, the kids were pretty young, but some demons held out for as long as they could against cubs.

The older of the two cubs suddenly made a face.

“Baba, I'm hungry.” She whispered.

Her father's face fell to despair.

“I'm so sorry moonlet, I don't have anymore, I ran out.” The father apologized.

They don't have food?!?! Pigsy nearly squealed in outrage.

No kid should ever have to go hungry, no matter what circumstances they were coming from.

He marched right over to the trio of monkeys, the daughter noticed him first and cowered away from him, tucking under her father's thick black mane of hair. The father turned to face him with a deep seeded fear in his eyes.

Well, eye , there was a horrific scar going through the right eye, the iris was milky and discolored from damage. And there was a nasty bruise on that cheek, like he had been slapped hard, it wasn't fresh either. Untreated bite marks peppered his face. This guy had certainly seen better days.

“Kids eat for free at Pigsy's, y’know.” he said.

The father glanced around, then back at him questioningly.

“A-are you talking to me?” He asked, pointing to himself.

“Ain't nobody else around to talk to.” Pigsy nodded.

“O-oh…” the father glanced away uncertainly.

“I'm just gonna take a guess here and say you've just gotten out of a bad relationship, and don't know what to do next now that you have two kids depending on you and you alone?” He said.

The monkey flinched at his words but nodded.

“Th-they’ve never gotten sick before…” the distressed father told him.

“Yeah! Never ever!” The older cub pipped up from her hiding spot.

“Well, I know a place that can help you with both problems you have.” Pigsy said, walking past the monkey demon.

He didn't hear him follow, he stopped and glanced over his shoulder.

“Do you want free food or not? This isn't an offer that'll stand forever.” He said.

The father took a moment to weigh his options, then quickly walked over to him. A bolt of lightning struck nearby, the monkey jumped and grabbed his arm, hiding his face from the thunder like a scared cub.

The monkey released him as soon as he realized what he was doing, a flush of embarrassment on his face.

“What's your name, kid?” Pigsy snorted.

“ … Mihou…” he mumbled, as though saying the name would attract whoever he was running from.

“Name's Pigsy, nice to meet you.”

XXX

Tang didn't know what to expect when he came downstairs upon hearing his husband was home.

He certainly didn't expect to find his husband still in his raincoat, with a pot of water boiling on the stove for some very late night noodles, and a sopping wet monkey demon sitting at the bar with a small wet cub by his side, and an even smaller cub in his arms.

The monkey's face filled with apprehensive fear upon seeing him.

Monkey demons weren't that common in modern cities, they preferred to live closer to nature, seeing one here was certainly a shock.

Tang took in the sight of the monkey before him. His right eye was milky and discolored with horrific scar cutting through it, there was a bruise on that cheek, and on his neck, and his wrists, he had faded bite marks all over his face, his dark fur was dirty and tangled. He was clearly worse for wear.

“Uh… Pigsy?” He cleared his sore throat awkwardly.

His husband glanced up at him with that no nonsense look on his face.

Oh, this is serious serious. He grimaced.

“Got you cold medicine.” Pigsy gestured to a white plastic bag on the counter, near the family of monkey demons.

“Right… cold medicine…” he repeated. 

The monkey father flinched away when he reached for the bag, he gave the little family what he hoped was a reassuring smile. Given the growl he received from the larger cub, it didn't work.

He retreated with bag in hand, he was already sick, he wasn't too keen on getting bitten tonight. The father visibly relaxed with him at a further distance from his cubs.

“Mihou, this is my husband, Tang, I told you about him on the way here.” Pigsy introduced him.

Mihou nodded, eyeing him with a little less uncertainty than before. Tang offered him a wave, the cub in his arms waved weakly in response.

The poor thing did not look like she felt good, her eyes and nose were all red and puffy, her skin had a sickly sheen to it, and she was very pale.

The other cub looked perfectly healthy, though she was older, so it shouldn't be that much of a surprise.

“Tang, outta the way.” Pigsy instructed.

He jumped out of his husband's way as the chef carried two bowls of soup to the monkey family. Tang smiled, his piggy’s oft unseen soft side was showing itself once again.

The larger cub eagerly, ravenously, began eating, like she hadn't had a decent meal in days.

She probably hasn't.

The smaller cub wrinkled her nose at the food and tucked her face into her father's arm. The older monkey’s face paled with worry.

“For the little one.” Pigsy set a small cup on the table in front of him.

The older sister gave it a curious sniff, her face scrunched in confusion.

“What's that?” She wondered, looking between him and Pigsy with a pair of truly striking red and silver eyes.

“It's medicine.” Pigsy grunted.

“Medicine?” She echoed, then her eyes lit up.

“Like the sleepy medicine?!” She asked hopefully.

Mihou stiffened, Tang could see the color draining from his face.

“N-no… not that…” he mumbled, gently nudging the cub's outstretched hand away.

“T’s for your sister.” He said.

Tang glanced at his husband, his brow was furrowed in deep thought. They stepped away from the trio to give them space to feel comfortable. He tried not to directly stare at them.

“Starlight, you have to drink.” Mihou pleaded with his sick cub.

“Tummy hurts, don't wanna eat.” The cub cried.

“I know starlight, I know, but this will make you feel better, I promise.” Her father told her.

“If you don't drink it we'll have to go back to Papa .” The older sister said.

“No! No Papa!” The little sister screeched.

Tang blinked in alarm at the severity of her reaction. The little cub took the medicine cup from her father and drank the whole thing in one shot.

Her little face scrunched up in disgust, she looked at her father nervously.

“No Papa, right?” She asked.

“That's right, no Papa. We'll never go back.” Mihou told her, patting her head lightly while giving his other daughter a stern look.

The older cub, for her part, looked pleased with herself.

“Do they have anywhere to stay?” He whispered to his husband.

Pigsy shook his head.

“No money or food either.” He said.

“Do you think it's a forced mate case?” Tang asked very quietly.

“Most likely.” Pigsy confirmed.

Escaped forced mates were extremely vulnerable demons, they were easy to take advantage of due to their lack of knowledge about the modern world, they were weakened from decades of being held hostage by someone who claimed to love them, and they were constantly trying to avoid recapture.

There were few services made accessible to demons like them, not many wanted to be on the receiving end of their “mate’s” wrath when they were found.

Mihou needed a place to stay and someone to teach him another world before he was left to it alone…

The current semester was coming to an end within the next few weeks, he was going to be on sabbatical leave the next year anyway, he'd have time to help between research, and a monkey demon like Mihou could provide valuable information as well.

“We do have the guest room set up.” He suggested.

“Tang… that's three more mouths to feed.” Pigsy sighed.

“Why'd you bring them home if we weren't keeping them?” He challenged.

Tough as he was, Pigsy was a huge softie at heart, he couldn't bear to let someone go hungry if he could do something about it.

“Fine. But you're going to bed as soon as they are, you're sick enough as is.” Pigsy huffed.

“Thank you piggy.” he leaned over to kiss his husband's cheek.

The swine ducked out of the way, much to the delight of the children watching them.

“You're still sick.” Pigsy pointed out.

Tang crossed his arms with a pout. Pigsy collected the licked clean dishes and medicine cup from the monkey family. Tang slid over to them, keeping himself at a safe distance from the cubs, Mihou eyed him nervously.

“Would you like me to show you to the bathroom so you can get cleaned up?” he offered.

The monkey stared at him in confusion.

“You have a bathroom for that in a noodle shop?” He wondered.

“No, it's in our home. We live above the restaurant.” He said.

Mihou cocked his head in further confusion.

“ Why are you taking me into your home?” he asked, with a hint of suspicion in his voice.

“You don't have anywhere to stay, right?” Tang prompted.

“No…” he said slowly.

“Then we'd like you to stay with us, at least until you feel like you're ready to leave.” He said.

Mihou glanced between him and Pigsy, suspicion falling to a look of utter bewilderment.

“That's incredibly kind of you… but why?” He asked.

“Look kid, you're alone with two kids, no food, and no money, do you really think we're going to kick you out into a storm like this?” Pigsy prompted, gesturing towards the downpour outside.

“You're letting me stay the night? In your house? No strings attached? I can leave if I want?” Mihou questioned.

“Yes, that's it.” Tang nodded.

“Though I'd prefer if you didn't until the kid was better.” Pigsy grumbled.

Fear flashed in the monkey’s eyes, his fur bristling.

“But you can if you want to.” Tang assured him.

The puffed up fur settled back down.

“Would you like to stay with us?” Tang asked.

Mihou glanced at his two cubs, then to him and Pigsy, and nodded.

“Great, I'll show you up.”

XXX

Mihou scrubbed three weeks worth of sweat and dirt and grime out of Chao-Xing’s fur.

Behind him in the main room, the human, Tang, was explaining how a ‘television’ worked to Yingyue. She had already gotten her bath and was currently wearing an oversized pair of pig themed ‘pajamas’ that Tang got from somewhere.

Tang, and Pigsy, they were weird, he was certain he'd met them somewhere before, but he can't have.

Tang was a human, and pig demons only lived about a century and a half on average, he couldn't have met them before Wukong took him.

Chao-Xing tried to bite him again, she was not enjoying bath time today.

“I'm sorry starlight, but this is going to make you feel so much better.” he cooed.

“Eepy Baba… eepy…” she cried.

“I know, you can sleep as long as you want tomorrow morning, but you gotta stay awake so I can clean you.” He said.

She pouted, tears welling up in her eyes, he cooed softly.

“It's okay, you can cry if you need to.” He told her.

She didn't end up crying, he finished washing her well enough for now. He'd need to give her another bath once she felt better to really get her clean, but this was loads better than how she was before.

He pulled her out of the tub and dried her off as best he could.

Once she was dry, he got her dressed in different pig themed clothes. This one had a hoodie with cute little pig ears on it, it fit her okay, it was a little big, and a bit of a struggle to get both of her tails through the little hole in the back, but it worked.

He left the bathroom with her curled up in his arms, practically falling asleep already. Even if she hadn't enjoyed it, the bath really helped take her fever down. That and the medicine Pigsy had given her were already working wonders for his little sick cub.

Tang spotted him coming out and gave him a warm smile.

He'd seen that smile somewhere before.

“Your baba is done, I think it's time to sleep.” Tang told Yingyue.

Yingyue glanced up at him, her face scrunched in confusion.

“Don't you want to get a bath too?” she wondered, tilting her head curiously.

He suppressed a flinch at her question.

“I'm very sleepy, moonlet, I'll get one tomorrow.” I don't want to see what he did to me yet. He said.

That's not your bed you're getting dirty! He flinched and shot a glance at Tang.

“I-if that's okay with you .” He added.

“The sheets can be washed, don't worry about it.” The human shrugged.

Tang guided Yingyue over to the guest room the couple had so generously offered to share with him.

“Pigsy and I will be right upstairs if you need anything, don't hesitate to ask.” Tang told him.

“Thank you, really , thank you.” he said.

He was starting to get really worried he wouldn't be able to provide for his cubs in the strange new world, a stroke of luck like this was the least he had expected to get.

Tang’s expression softened.

“It's no problem.” He said.

Mihou waited until he heard the human and pig begin talking to each other to go into the guest room. The pair were talking about him, their plans for how to get documents of some kind and what would come next.

He stopped listening, it was a personal conversation they had no idea was being eavesdropped on. That was not how he repaid the two who had done so much for him.

He closed the door and helped Yingyue onto the bed. It was very different from the nests they slept in back on Flower Fruit Mountain, and to what they had been sleeping on recently, usually a small nest made by him on the ground.

It was so comfortable.

He could just sink into the cloud like surface and soft blankets.

He laid Chao-Xing down on the bed, the poor sick cub was already fast asleep, Yingyue curled up next to her sister.

He laid down, curling his tail around both of them, leaving Chao-Xing sandwiched between him and Yingyue. She didn't stir a bit.

He nuzzled both his daughters' heads gently then closed his eyes.

It was impossibly easy to fall asleep here.

He was safe .

XXX

It was as bad as he feared.

Mihou stared at his battered body in the mirror of the bathroom.

Dark bruises from his last encounter with Wukong marred his skin, he still had hand shaped marks on his thighs and hips, he was pretty sure he had a few hematomas.

He ran his fingers gingerly over the deep bite mark on his neck, his skin was warm to the touch, it was probably infected. At least the bites on his face weren't as deep.

He really should have taken care of his injuries sooner, he hadn't properly cleaned himself since leaving Wukong. He was honestly surprised he didn't have a very different kind of infection.

He turned away from his battered reflection and stepped into the shower.

The warm water soaked into his fur, running down his body and turning the water a disgusting mix of dirty brown and rusty red.

He avoided looking down as he lathered up his fur with the liquid soap Tang told him to use; he didn't want to see the mess he was making.

He carefully cleaned the most sensitive part of his body.

He shivered at the memory of Wukong’s hands gripping his hips, bearing down on him, trapping him underneath his immovable stone body. His tail subconsciously wrapped around his ankle.

Don't think about him. It's over. It's over. He can't touch you anymore. He told himself.

Yet he could shake the phantom sensation of Wukong's hands on him.

He rinsed his body off and reached out of the shower to grab a towel. He struggled to dry himself off with his long, thick hair.

It was soaked through, reaching all the way down to his knees after being flattened by the water.

It's too long. He grimaced.

Before Wukong took him, he had his hair much shorter, having decided to cut it to make his traveling lifestyle easier. Wukong didn't like that, he wanted his hair longer, he likes to play with it, and yank him around.

He had a knife in his pocket, he turned to the pile of clothes he'd left on the floor.

He snatched the knife out of the pocket and removed the sheath, inspecting the glint of the blade in the artificial light.

He took a fistful of hair and slashed the knife through it.

The clump of black hair sat limply in his hand, he looked at himself in the mirror again, then let the handful of hair fall to the ground.

More clumps of hair joined it.

He hacked off handfuls of hair blindly until he was satisfied with the result.

Mihou stared at his new reflection in the mirror. It was a choppy, uneven mess , it was shorter, just below his shoulders at the shortest, but he liked it.

He looked like himself again.

Chapter Text

Mihou peered into the guest room, his cubs were still fast asleep.

They need it, it's been a hard few weeks for them. He thought

He closed the door quietly.

Above him, he could hear someone moving around upstairs, they would be coming down here soon.

I should do something for them. They've been so kind to me. He made his way over to the kitchen, thankful Wukong had at least updated their kitchen appliances a few decades ago, the ones in this kitchen were similar enough to what he was used to using.

He could make something for them, he opened the fridge to see what ingredients he knew how to work with, the food selection on FFM was a bit limited.

There were a lot of things he didn't recognize, he only really recognized the vegetables, and some of them he'd never seen before. He grabbed a round, red berry that had leaves like a nightshade.

Is eating poisonous berries a thing now? He wondered, sniffing the strange berry.

“You never seen a tomato before?” he jumped at the sound of Pigsy's voice behind him.

He turned to face the pig demon, the chef was dressed in a long white buttoned up shirt. Mihou flinched at the stern look he was getting, feeling like a guilty cub caught doing something naughty.

“I'm sorry… I didn't mean to snoop around.” He apologized.

“If you were hungry, you could've let me know.” Pigsy said gruffly.

“I didn't want to bother you.” He admitted.

“Don't worry about it. Take a seat, Tang will be done soon too, the freeloader takes a while to wake up.” Pigsy told him.

Mihou sat down and watched the chef work. It was a bit mesmerizing to watch.

He must've zoned out at some point because he jolted back into awareness with the pig chef prodding him. He and Tang were looking at him with concern- when did Tang come down? Did he fall asleep?

“Are… you okay?” Tang asked slowly.

He blinked at the human, unsure of how to answer.

“I think so?” He guessed.

The human and swine shared a concerned look. Pigsy huffed and went back to cooking, Tang sat on the seat next to him.

“Did you sleep well?” The man asked.

“Yes, better than I have for a while.” I slept better than I have in centuries here.

“Are the kids still asleep?” Tang wondered.

“Yes, I just checked on them.” He nodded.

“They must be tired from all the moving around you've done.” Tang said.

He stared at the human.

“Yingyue told me about you moving every couple of days.” He explained.

“Oh… yes, we did do that.” he turned his head away.

The bite mark on his neck twinged with pain. He flinched, biting his lip to keep from making any sound.

The human and pig were staring at him again, he cleared his throat awkwardly.

“Do you have anything for infections?” He asked.

Pigsy’s concerned expression morphed into something more serious.

“What kind of infections?” He asked seriously.

Mihou pulled down the high collar of the shirt he was wearing, revealing the infected bite mark to the swine chef. He visibly relaxed at the sight of it.

“Oh. Yeah, we got stuff for that.” He grunted.

“I'll show you.” Tang offered.

The human got up and motioned for him to follow, slowly, he did. He tried his best not to let his current weakness show, they were already worried, he didn't need to worry them further.

Tang led him to a small closet that had a sharp, stinging scent, kind of like the burn of alcohol. He took out a small tube of something, along with a roll of bandages, some soft looking white balls, and a bottle of alcohol.

“Would you like to tend to it yourself or would you like help?” The human asked.

Mihou stared at the collection of things in his arms blankly.

“I-i don't know how to use that…” he admitted.

“I can do it for you, if you'd like.” Tang offered.

Mihou nodded, Tang smiled at him, it made him feel warm inside.

“Let's go to the bathroom then.” He suggested.

Mihou followed him to the bathroom and sat on the toilet when instructed to. Tang left the door open a crack, he didn't know why but it made him feel better about being alone with the other.

“Do you want me to take your shirt off?” Tang asked him, setting the supplies on the counter.

“Do I have to take it off?” He wondered, fiddling with his sleeves nervously.

Tang grimaced, giving him a regretful nod.

“I won't look at any other wounds, but it will be easier if I have unblocked access to the wound.” He said.

It's not the bruises I'm worried about. He’d chosen to hide his and the cubs’ ears over changing his body to what he felt comfortable with a few weeks ago. The cloth he used for binding since was with his old clothes, he hadn't expected to be caught before he put it back on.

He wasn't ashamed of his body, but the world he'd lived in before Wukong wasn't the kindest towards those with a feminine body. He didn't know how this new world would react to someone like him. He really didn't want to get kicked out.

“You won't tell anyone anything you see? You won't be upset?” He asked.

“Nope, not unless you say I can.” Tang answered.

His hidden ears detected no lie in the man's voice, he supposed it was safe enough, the human hadn't been harsh towards his daughters. He carefully, quickly took off the shirt, bunching the fabric in his hands on his lap.

He braced to get yelled at, or at the very least have some snide remark made about it.

“Oh. That makes more sense now.” Tang said.

He glanced up at the human in confusion.

“You're not going to yell or kick me out?” He asked.

“It'd be pretty hypocritical of me to kick you out over that , we can get you a binder if you'd like one, I don't think any of my old ones are your size.” Tang shrugged.

He stared at him, this world was strange.

“I'm going to clean that wound now, if you don't mind.” Tang told him.

Mihou let the man treat his infected wound, he cleaned it with the white balls soaked in the clear liquid, rubbing alcohol apparently. It stung, but it wasn't the worst pain he'd ever felt.

The worst was when Wukong first "reacquainted” himself with him. His face had been freshly sliced through and was still bleeding as Wukong ravaged his body, ignoring all his pleas to stop.

He's still glad he blacked out before Wukong could get too far.

When the wound was cleaned and trimmed, Tang took the tube and squeezed a sharp smelling paste out of it onto his finger.

“This is going to treat the infection, you'll need to reapply it at least twice a day, enough to cover the infected area.” Tang explained before applying it.

It also stung.

Then Tang covered it with a white square of cloth and bandaged it.

“And we're done.” The human said happily.

“Thank you, for helping, and not making a big deal out of this .” Mihou gestured to his body.

“Of course, we’re going to help you.” Tang gave him another warm smile, and left him to get re-dressed.

Mihou put his shirt back on and walked back out to the kitchen, a steaming bowl of noodles was left out on the counter for him.

But the human and swine chef were absent.

He heard Pigsy shout from downstairs in the noodle shop, something roared in anger, he froze.

He hasn't found me? Has he? He can't have! The Lady Bone Demon said he wouldn't be able to! He panicked.

Stomping came from downstairs, he was frozen in place, a sitting duck just waiting to get taken again. He didn't even move to protect his cubs, he was too frozen with fear.

The door slammed open, a scaley, deep red head shoved its way in. A dragon.

His breath caught in his throat, the dragon’s head snapped towards him.

A pair of blind, discolored milky gray eyes stared into his very soul .

The dragon narrowed it's eyes, its head moved closer to him, closer until he could feel its breath on his face. He squeezed his eyes shut tight.

The dragon breathed in deeply once, twice, then exhaled. The dragon sniffed him closely, he flinched at the soft growl it gave sniffing his neck.

Pounding footsteps and shouting drew his attention to the doorway, blocked by the dragon's body. A red fox squeezed into the room past the dragon, a fox with nine tails.

The huli jing yipped and snarled at the dragon, the dragon just stared at him unblinking, unresponsive to the fox demon's anger.

Mihou took a step away, the dragon growled at him.

Then, in a brief flash of crimson light, it changed into its mortal form.

Someone he thought was dead , someone he saw Wukong tear to pieces for standing between them-

“Mihou?” Her voice was different than it had been seven hundred years ago, but he could still recognize it.

“Mingxia… you're alive… ?” His voice was barely above a whisper.

His sister pulled him into a tight hug, a thick, powerful tail wrapped around him. She held him off the ground, she had gotten taller, much taller.

Over her shoulder, he saw Pigsy and Tang run in, the pair came to a stop as soon as they entered, matching looks of bewilderment on their faces.

The huli jing stretched, fanning out all nine of her tails, then took on a form resembling a mortal woman, with the sharp, angular face and yellow eyes characteristic of the species's transformations. He could faintly see the shimmer of a heavy glamour on her face.

“I'm making tea.” She announced.

Pigsy cleared his throat, Mingxia glanced over her shoulder at him with a growl.

“I take it you know Mihou, Miss Ao?” He grunted.

Mingxia grinned, Mihou was still too stunned to speak or say anything. He'd thought his student and sister was dead for seven hundred years, the shock of seeing her scared face burst into the room still had him stunned.

“You're very perceptive , Pigsy.” She snorted.

The dragon-demon finally set him down and cupped his face in her hands, she frowned, her fingers feeling around the side of his head-

He jerked away before she could touch the false ears he had disguised himself with. The magic wasn't strong, and he feared a slight touch might shatter the illusion.

Mingxia scowled, a look of anger and hatred flashing across her brown and yellow mottled face.

“What did that bastard do to you?” She hissed.

Before he had to answer that uncomfortable question to its full extent-

“I'm sorry, how do you know Mihou?” Tang asked.

Mihou peered around the dragon nervously.

“It's a bit of a long story.” He admitted.

“Given a dragon broke down my door this morning, I don't think I'll be opening today. We got time.” Pigsy snorted gruffly.

Mingxia didn't even look ashamed of it. Mihou stepped out from behind her, nervous that what he was about to do was a mistake, but he had to tell them now or it'd be too late.

“The truth is, I haven't been entirely honest with you.” He started.

Both the chef and human didn't look entirely surprised by that. Mihou let the glamor hiding his ears fall.

“My name is Liu'er Mihou… the uh, six eared macaque…” he said nervously.

Tang’s jaw dropped and he promptly fainted into Pigsy behind him. The swine in question gave his husband an annoyed glare, but caught him anyway.

“I don't really know why that'd be important, but it's enough to break Tang here.” He snorted.

“I broke him?” Mihou panicked.

“He'll be fine, he's just dramatic like that.” Pigsy chuffed.

“Oh…” he mumbled.

“Tea’s ready!” The huli jing called from the kitchen.

XXX

Once Tang recovered from his fainting spell, with a bowl of noodles being placed in front of him, he was full of excited, nearly manic energy, eagerly writing everything down.

Tang, unbeknownst to him, was a scholar of a very influential text, The Journey To The West, a story about Wukong’s early life, imprisonment and pilgrimage compiled from various accounts, regional variants and historical records in the sixteenth century.

Mihou himself was in the story, the first few chapters about Wukong's early life featured him as an under confident, timid and shy friend who just went along with whatever Wukong said because he was afraid of Wukong leaving him if he ever said no.

A bit on the nose and exaggerated, but largely accurate.

It wasn't like he had any other friends at that time.

Then he appeared again in the middle of the book asking the great monk for advice about the emptiness he felt with Wukong gone. Some of it was straight out of his memory.

He glanced up at the practically vibrating scholar, he was almost frothing at the mouth with excitement. He'd never had anyone react so intensely to seeing him. It was a bit unnerving.

“Do you… have a question…?” He said uncertainly.

Tang's eyes lit up, he opened his mouth but Pigsy cut him off.

“One question at a time, Tang. Don't overwhelm him.” He said sternly.

Tang pouted, Pigsy rolled his eyes fondly and mumbled something about Tang being a huge nerd.

“Do the cubs have your ears?” He asked, pen and notepad ready to write down his response.

“Yes… Chao-Xing has six and Yingyue has four…” he answered.

That was easy enough. I could answer any question about them. Just please don't ask about-

“Does Sun Wukong know you're free? The book makes it seem like you were very close, frankly I'm surprised he didn't free you himself with how defensive he got whenever someone insulted you.”

Mihou flinched, Mingxia next to him snarled at the mention of him.

“I guess not…” Tang chuckled nervously.

He remembered the king's ominous warning, the pure rage in his voice as he threatened him.

“He knows… he's not happy about it… definitely not happy… I had to drug him to get away… i-i wasn't allowed to leave… ever… he always caught me when I tried to escape… if it weren't for the cubs… I don't think I'd have ever gotten out…” he stammered.

He should stop, he really should stop, reliving the past centuries of torment wouldn't be good for him, but gods damnit , the dam was breaking and he needed to let it out, he needed someone else in the world to know what happened to him.

“H-he kidnapped me seven hundred years ago, he was upset I hadn't come back yet, I wasn't supposed to come back yet, I still had a hundred years, and I didn't want to go when he came, he forced me to, I tried to run but he caught me, he dragged me back to the mountain and kept me there, he never let me leave and he hurt anyone who tried to help me-” he choked on the lump in his throat, unable to continue.

He turned into Mingxia’s side, her barbed tail carefully wrapped around him, shielding him from the rest of the world.

“Wukong's a fucking bastard.” Mingxia snapped.

“He did seem strangely possessive in the book.” Tang mumbled.

“He just sounds like an asshole to me.” Pigsy grunted.

Mihou snorted from where he was tucked into his sworn sister's side.

“He sounds a lot like my ex-wife.” The huli jing, Caihong, his little sister’s mate, his sister had a mate and cubs and he missed all of it, said.

“I believe that .” Mingxia agreed heartily.

Another day, he'd have to ask about that, but he was starting to feel pretty tired from all the excitement of the morning. It wasn't even noon, the cubs were still asleep, and all he wanted to do was curl up right here and go back to sleep.

Mingxia nudged him back into wakefulness, he groaned at her, he was tired, let him sleep.

“Mihou, we need to talk about how you'll hide.” Mingxia told him.

Right, he'd agreed with her earlier that he needed a better disguise. If he stayed like he was before, just himself with his ears hidden, it didn't matter what spell the Lady Bone Demon had given him, Wukong would easily identify him.

“What should I do? And the cubs! What about them? How do I hide them without hurting them? Is that possible?” He asked.

His cubs had already been through so much, he didn't want them to go through any more pain.

“Let's discuss it, test some out, see what forms work best, then handle the kids. There's no need to rush, they won't be awake for a while yet.” Caihong said calmly.

Mihou nodded, the fox gave him a gentle, warm smile.

“I think a dragon could be an effective disguise, there's quite a few of them around Megapolis because of the Ao-Long estate and my own, and since Megapolis is under my jurisdiction, nobody would bat an eye about either of us checking in on you.” Mingxia suggested.

“A common dragon, it's easy to explain you going missing for so long without a huge deal being made out of it. Common dragons aren't as powerful either, especially if we say you were taken young, and the cubs could be better disguised as part demon since dragons don't courtnap like that…” she mused, speaking more to herself than to anyone else.

“Do you think that could work?” Mihou wondered, sitting back up.

“It's pretty far from a monkey, and we can tailor the disguise to your liking and make it easier to keep up day in and day out. It'll be like a second skin.” Caihong pipped up.

Leave it to a huli jing to know about shape shifting and disguises.

Mihou glanced at Pigsy and Tang, both of whom gave him uncertain looks.

“Don't look at us, I don't use glamors or that fancy shape shifting stuff, and Tang's a human.” Pigsy snorted.

“Would you be okay with us like that? The cubs already get into so much trouble, I can't imagine how much more they'd get into as dragons…” Mihou mumbled.

“We're okay with whatever makes you feel comfortable.” Tang told him.

“Whatever makes you feel comfortable.” Just like what Tripitaka told me. Mihou realized.

Gods, it felt so long ago since that life altering conversation, Tripitaka had been the first person he met to take his feeling of emptiness without Wukong as the warning sign it was. He told the great monk his woes, and the man helped him how he could. He said that Mihou didn't have a self outside of who he was to Wukong, and he should try to learn who he was without him.

He suggested he go on a journey, and he did.

Tang was a lot like Tripitaka actually, just way less monk-like.

“Thank you, all of you.” Mihou told them.

They all gave him such a kind smile, it made him feel so warm and safe.

XXX

Chao-Xing woke up with a foggy head, sore throat and stuffed up nose. She sat up groggily to find herself alone on a bed like the one in the medicine room back home.

Completely alone.

She could hear muffled voices coming from somewhere past the door with light, but she couldn't hear them very clearly.

Shouldn't she have easily been able to hear?

Why would she think that? She didn't have any sort of special hearing abilities. Her hearing was only lessened because she was sick.

She shook her head, the dissonance faded, her ears had been feeling stuffy and painful while she was sick, they still did.

She crawled to the edge of the bed, it didn't go down as far as she thought it would.

Was she taller?

The bed at home is taller, she didn't change size.

Their beds at home were taller.

She pushed herself off the edge, trying to find something to ground herself with her tails-

Why would she do that? She didn't have a prehensile tail, her tails were for balance and defense.

Her tails were covered in shiny, deep red scales instead of fur-

She didn't have fur, she never had fur, she always had scales.

Deep purplish red scales replaced her cocoa brown fur in all her memories until she no longer questioned them. She'd always had scales.

She got up off the ground, fumbling a bit, her tails were thicker-

They were always this thick, two tails are awkward on something not supposed to have two tails.

Her tails were awkward to move with as always.

She reached for the doorknob, her hand had thin, fine hairs and speckled scales, it had always been like that. It had always had the small talons too.

She opened the door, once she stepped through it, all the questions about herself vanished. She'd always been like this.

“Xīng-Xīng! You're awake!” Her sister chirped, charging at her from across the room she barley remembered from the night before.

Her sister slammed into her, scooping her up off the ground with a tight hug. It made her feel dizzy.

“Yingyue, down!” She whined.

With a giggle, her sister set her down. She squinted at the small bumps on Yingyue's forehead, the scales smattering her face like freckles, the almost deer like ears on the sides of her head, the slitted pupils in her now lavender and burgundy eyes.

She looked different-

No. Yingyue has always looked like this. You're dragons, you have horns, your ears are like a deer’s, your mortal forms have scales on your skin, and your eyes have no gold.

Her sister looked normal.

“Be easy there moonlet, she's still recovering.” Baba!

Chao-Xing turned and rushed towards the sound of his voice. She didn't like waking up without Baba.

He caught her and held her close, she buried her shorter muzzle- normal nose -into his chest.

She looked up at him, and was once again hit with the conflicting thoughts of him looking wrong, then thinking he looked completely normal, he'd always looked like this.

Baba smiled at her, and yeah, that was her Baba’s smile, nothing could fake it.

“I have someone I'd like you to meet, she's someone very important to me.” Baba told her.

She suddenly registered the other sounds in the room, mainly the cooing, and turned sharply towards it.

A pair of women were watching them, one of them was shorter, a little taller than Baba, the other was much taller. She was huge.

The tall woman has large, antler like red horns, she had two different colors on her face, and her hair was dark with bits of yellow throughout it, and the scales scattered around her skin.

A long, thick tail swished behind her, the tip curled inward, she didn't have a tuft of fur like her or Yingyue or Baba, the tip of her tail looked like more scales and came to a sharp point.

Three slashes cut through each of her milky gray-red eyes, her pupils were discolored, they didn't look at her directly. Kinda like Baba's eye… she didn't want to think about Baba’s eye.

The dragon smiled at her, it was warm and kind. Papa was dumb to say everyone was mean outside home, everyone here had been so nice to her.

The shorter woman had short, straight red-brown hair, and two fluffy dark orange ears on top of her head, and she had more than one tail! She had a lot of tails actually.

They were all swishing around behind her, bushy and fluffy, like the tails Baba made for Xía!

Both of them were really pretty, even with the scars on the dragon and the weird shimmeriness of the fox lady's face.

“Chao-Xing, this is Caihong.” Baba pointed to the shorter woman.

Chao-Xing waved to her, she smiled warmly and waved back.

“And this is Mingxia, she's a very important friend of mine. She taught me how to do the shadow stories.” Baba pointed to the dragon.

Chao-Xing gasped.

“You taught Baba how to do the shadows?!” She squealed, wiggling her way out of Baba's arms and onto the ground.

“I wanna do the shadows too! Can you teach me! Please! I promise I'm a good learner! Papa is always super shocked by how much I remember!” She asked eagerly.

Mingxia knelt down to her with a smile, it looked a bit concerned.

“Of course I can teach you… but can you not do shadow magic? You should be able to at this age. Even just a little.” She said.

“Papa says it's normal to not be able to do magic yet, is he wrong?” She asked.

Mingxia glanced up at Baba, and they had a conversation without words.

“Yes, he's wrong.” Mingxia told her.

“Makes sense, Papa's usually wrong.” She nodded.

“Why can't we do magic again?” Yingyue asked Baba.

He made a funny face, Chao-Xing giggled.

“The doctor said something is blocked, right?” She said.

“Uh, yes, there's a blockage, but it should be loosening up now.” Baba answered.

She tilted her head to the side, there was something he wasn't saying.

“It's Papa's fault, right?” She guessed.

“Yes, he put the seal in place to control your magic and make you dependent on him.” Caihong said.

“Why would he do that?” Yingyue asked, coming to stand next to her.

“Papa's mean, remember? He hurt Baba.” She whispered.

“Oh yeah, that's really mean. We could've been doing magic this whole time!” Yingyue stomped.

“Don't you worry now, it'll be gone and you two will be doing magic in no time.” Baba said.

Chao-Xing smiled at Baba, he looked so much happier now, he must've really missed his teacher.

“Yongtian! Dinner is ready if the cubs are awake!” A half familiar voice called from downstairs.

She frowned, it sounded familiar, and like she should trust it, but her memories of the last night were foggy. She remembered the nasty tasting medicine she needed to drink or else they'd have to go back to Papa, and that was it.

She'd never heard anyone address Baba as “Yongtian” though, but he responded to it. Everyone called him Mihou-

No they don't. You don't know anyone named Mihou, Yongtian is Baba's name.

The name Mihou faded from her mind entirely, replaced by Yongtian, the little cub was none the wiser to it.

It was for her own good that she forget about such things, there was less of a chance of either cub slipping up and revealing something that could get them recaptured, and everyone who helped them killed.

Chao-Xing went downstairs with her Baba and sister, Yingyue happily told her about everything she missed while she was sleeping.

XXX

Later that night, when the cubs were enjoying noodles and stories with Pigsy and Tang, Caihong pulled him aside, an urgent look on her face.

“Yongtian, I know we don't really know each other but, be honest with me, how did you escape him?” The huli jing asked him, a flicker of worry in her eyes.

“I didn't escape on my own, I needed help from a demoness who offered it, and Guanyin, she seemed to know what was happening.” He admitted.

“A demoness? Do you know who she was?” Caihong questioned, brows furrowing together.

“Yes she called herself-” his voice cut off with a squeak

It was like someone had their hand wrapped around his vocal cords, strangling them so he could not produce the sounds to say her name.

It burned, not with the fire like burning pain when Wukong would strangle him, it burned like ice .

He stopped trying to say it, the pressure released instantly, he rubbed his throat, wincing at the new tender spot on his alright bruised body. Caihong was giving him a weary look as he recovered.

“I-i can't say it…” he mumbled.

Her weary gaze hardened into a glare.

“N-no! Not like that! I want to! I'm trying to! But I can't… I can't say her name…” he trailed off.

“W-why do you ask…?” He wondered.

Caihong eyed him skeptically, as if debating whether or not to trust him with this information, then sighed and leaned back against the wall with her arms crossed.

“I keep thinking I smell her every time I smell you, but whenever I try to get a closer sniff, it's gone like it wasn't there at all. It's strange, there aren't many who can mess with my nose like that…” she trailed off, something dark and haunted at the edge of her gaze.

She snapped back to him.

“Try writing it down.” She ordered.

Mihou did, he tried, and he couldn't. His hands shook so violently he couldn't even make the first stroke of the brush. He wasn't making them shake, he was just as confused as the fox next to him.

“What… what does this mean?” He asked, suddenly feeling like a small and stupid child who did something reckless.

“Whoever you made that deal with had some… caveats you didn't know about.” Caihong remarked, eyes narrowing further in suspicion.

“Caveats?!”

I'm such an idiot! I was so desperate to get away that I made a deal with a demon without checking for any conditions she added! She could have made some claim to the cubs! Or that she had the right to return me if she desired to! Oh what have I gotten myself into?! Mihou panicked, a sinking feeling in his gut that his freedom was only temporary, and even then he could easily be chained to a new master, his cubs too.

Caihong rested a gentle hand on his shoulder, he yelped in momentary alarm.

“Calm down, it's not your fault, in the situation you were in, it's an understandable mistake to make.” She told him.

“But what if my cubs get hurt? I did this all so they could be free, I can't have walked them into a new cage!” He exclaimed.

“What was your deal exactly? Oftentimes the caveats are there to ensure nobody gets cheated, if you fulfill your part, they could be lifted.” Caihong suggested.

Mihou froze, the Bone Demon wanted him to free her. In exchange for his freedom, she gave him the key to her own.

“She wants me to release her…” he could barely say it above a whisper.

Caihong’s eyes widened, and he saw a flicker of the fear he felt each time he thought about Wukong.

“I didn't, I couldn't, I’d never release someone that blindly, I just wanted out… I don't even know why she decided to help me, it sounded like she pitied me…” he paused, the way the fox demon was looking increasingly more and more concerned as he spoke worried him.

“Do you think you know her?” He asked.

Caihong shook her head, but not at his question.

“I need to check something, I'll be back in a few weeks, don't stress about it, I'm sure it's fine, it's going to be fine.” She told him.

She left him there, Mihou couldn't help but think she was lying.

“Baba! Come see this!” Yingyue and Chao-Xing called from the kitchen.

He decided to put it aside for now, his cubs were calling, and this was the start of a new, better life.

Chapter Text

Mihou was out on his own for the first time in two months. He'd spent most of his time recovering and adjusting to the new world he found himself in.

He was really lucky Tang happened to be a historian, the man was kind enough to answer the many questions he had. The world was so different now.

The language had changed, he was lucky his ears made learning how to speak new ones easy, he was still having trouble understanding the writing, some of it looked familiar, but a lot of it didn't.

Tang was kind enough to teach him how to write too.

He checked the phone Tang and Pigsy had gotten him. It was kinda like astral protection but for mortals, and it only transmitted their voices? He didn't fully understand it but he knew how to call for Pigsy or Tang if he needed them.

The phone also had a map, maps now showed you where you were and provided directions to where you wanted to go.

He was still figuring it out, but as long as he followed the path it laid out, he'd get to where he was supposed to go. He hoped.

And that was why he was out on his own, Tang had bought tickets for the two of them to go see a play, but an unexpected meeting came up and he couldn't make it. Tang put the theater's location on his phone and sent him out to go see it, saying that Mingxia would meet him there and they could see it instead.

The theater didn't allow children under five to attend, and the play wasn't appropriate for young children, so he had to leave the cubs at home.

Mingxia’s friend…? he wasn't exactly sure on the nature of their relationship. The spider demoness had a niece a few years older than his cubs and thought to arrange a playdate between them while she watched them. His cubs liked that the two spider demons were purple.

Apparently Zhizhu had raised her niece from a spiderling, her sister had died before she hatched. He felt reasonably comfortable with leaving his cubs with her for a few hours.

And it got them out of the house.

He may have been keeping them mostly inside the last few weeks out of fear their disguises would fail, and pissing off both his cubs something fierce.

They both wanted to go outside and play and meet people, they'd never seen more than a few people at a time, and they were absolutely fascinated by everything new they encountered.

Zhizhu was going to take them to something called a park to play and burn off some of their excess energy.

The spider woman swore she wouldn't let them get into any trouble.

He hoped his cubs behaved themselves for her. 

He squinted at the map, it said he was at the theater, but it didn't look like there was any theater around here, at least nothing that looked like a theater to him.

Oh gods, did I get lost on my first day out? He glanced around at the unfamiliar writing and signage he didn't understand.

He was totally lost.

“Yongtian! Over here!” He whirled around at the sound of Mingxia’s voice.

The dragon demon was across the street, by a building that looked an exaggerated version of the buildings he was more familiar with. He quickly crossed the street to get to her.

“Sorry I'm late, I got a bit lost.” He apologized nervously.

“Don't worry about, the play won't start for another few minutes. Plenty of time to get in.” She shrugged, patting him on the back.

Mingxia wrapped an arm around his shoulders and lead him into the theater, there was a mortal man checking the tickets, his jaw dropped at the sight of them.

“Miss Ao! I-i didn't know you were coming! Would you like me to make arrangements for your usual seats? Someone is already sitting there but we can always move them.” The man jumped up from his seat, bowing his head to the dragon demon.

“You don't have to suck up to me just because your boss tells you too. I have tickets.” Mingxia shoved the tickets towards the man.

The tickets that had been in his pocket a moment ago. He shot her a confused look, she grinned, sticking her forked tongue out at him. He rolled his eyes fondly, at least some things were still the same.

“O-of course! Here! On the house!” The man said, handing back their checked tickets.

Mingxia took them and led him into the theater.

“What was that about?” Mihou asked.

“I own the theater, the current manager thinks if he has everyone suck up to me it'll get him a favor.” She shrugged.

They sat down at their designated seats.

“Glamor your horns, someone will complain about it and I don't want to deal with that today.” Mingxia instructed.

He did, and saw she had her own horns hidden. He frowned, Mingxia had never hidden any part of herself for anyone else's convenience before, she really must not have wanted trouble today.

Glancing around, he saw other demons in the audience making their own features less prominent or disappearing then entirely. Maybe it was just a polite thing to do.

XXX

“And then the music! It was incredible! I've never heard anything like it before!” Mihou gushed to his sister.

“I take it you liked the play?” Mingxia laughed.

“It was amazing!” He insisted.

“I'm glad you liked it, I was hoping you-” she broke off, glancing at something behind him.

He followed her gaze to see nothing there.

“Hold on a second, Caihong is projecting to me, I need to talk with her.” Mingxia told her, an easy, relaxed look on her face.

“I-is there a problem?” He whispered.

Caihong had left to investigate something shortly after he was settled in, this was the first he was hearing of her since she left.

“Nah it's probably just something with the kids, I'll be back in a few minutes, stay here.” She assured him.

The dragon demon left him at the table, going off to find a secluded area to talk, one out of his hearing range if he had to guess.

He glanced around, they were in an indoor area with lots of different foods being sold, Mingxia said it was called a food court. She had wanted to take him to lunch before taking him back to the noodle shop.

He eyed a poster for an upcoming movie, he hadn't gone to see any of those yet, but he enjoyed watching the smaller ones on the television with Yingyue and Chao-Xing.

The only problem with the poster was its subject, a scarily accurate artist's rendition of Wukong.

He really wished the world wasn't as obsessed with Wukong.

He was everywhere. He couldn't get away from him anywhere, it was Monkey King this or Monkey King that, he was everywhere.

The cartoon depictions of his tormentor haunted every step he took. 

He had been able to ignore it earlier, too focused on getting to the theater on time, but now that he was alone, it felt like the poster was staring into his soul.

It felt like any second the real Wukong would break down the walls and steal him away again, lock him up in some cold dark cave without any sunlight or food or his cubs-

Something landed on his lap, he gasped, tearing his gaze away from the haunting poster towards whatever had sat on him.

He looked down into the dark amber eyes of a cat demon. It was blue and orange, it couldn't have been a normal cat.

The feline creature stared up at him unblinkingly, it started purring and doing that paw lifting kneading thing, he’d seen the stray cats around Pigsy's do it.

His racing heart slowed down as the cat pawed at his lap, it was remarkably soothing.

He reached for the cat, hesitating just before he touched it, the cat leaned up and rubbed its cheek against his hand, purring even louder. He smiled softly and scratched behind the cat's ear.

“Mo? Where'd you run off to, buddy?” Someone called out.

To his surprise, the cat responded to the voice with a loud meow, settling down on his lap with a content purr.

Footsteps approached quickly, Mihou looked up to see a familiar face.

Wujing had been kind to him when he met the pilgrims centuries ago; he hadn't expected the giant water demon to be so friendly.

He was so friendly, warm, and kind, despite his troubled past and sins he was trying to redeem himself for.

He looked almost the same, a bit smaller honestly, but still a very large demon. The water demon blinked down at him then smiled, it was as warm and kind as he remembered it.

“Aw, Mo, did you make a friend?” The large demon cooed in a baby voice.

Mo, the cat, meowed as if to say yes, making himself even more comfortable on his lap with a content purr.

“Sorry about him, he was doing fine until just bolted all the sudden. Guess he sensed someone needed him.” The water demon laughed softly.

“Needed him?” Mihou questioned, his head tilting in confusion.

“Mo here is a therapy cat, he's trained to help people with panic attacks and dissociative episodes, helps calm them down and bring them back to reality.” he explained.

“Isn't that right, buddy?” He cooed at Mo, reaching towards the cat, and him.

The large hand reaching towards him was all he saw, for a moment he swore he saw Wukong, he flinched away.

Stupid. Wukong isn't here. He scolded himself, glancing up at the larger demon apologetically.

“Sorry I…” How do I explain that? He trailed off, unable to think of what to say.

“Nah it's my fault, I should've asked first. The name's Sandy, and you already know Mo.” the water demon chuckled brightly.

“Yongtian… Long Yongtian… it's nice to meet you.” Again.

Sandy dug something out of his pocket, and Mihou realized with embarrassment that the water demon wasn't wearing anything but pants, though most of his chest was covered by his large orange beard.

“Here, it's my number, I have a friend who trains therapy cats for demons, where I got that guy actually. I can connect you if you want. She doesn't answer unless it's someone she knows, she's kind of a recluse like that.” Sandy held out a small piece of paper to him.

He took it from him, glancing at the writing on it. He barely understood a word of it.

“Uh… thank you…” he mumbled.

“Anytime! My door's always open if you need anything.” Sandy said brightly.

“C'mon Mo, your brothers and sisters are waiting for us back home.” he beckoned the cat to him.

Mo rubbed his cheek against his hand one last time then hopped off his lap. He jumped into Sandy’s shoulder with a happy rolling meow.

“Don't be a stranger!” Sandy called out as he left.

Mihou watched the gentle blue giant and his cat leave, something warm bubbling up inside of him.

“Who's that?” He jolted at Mingxia sitting back down with him.

He glanced between her and the card he'd been given.

“I think I made a friend?”

XXX

Yingyue pounced on her sister, causing her to fall and both of them to tumble down the grassy hill.

“You're it Xīng-Xīng!” She said proudly once they were at the bottom.

“No fair! You keep going after me cause I have little legs! Chase Spinny!” Chao-Xing objected, shoving her off.

“But I can't catch Spinny.” She complained.

“That's your problem.” Her sister huffed.

“Yingyue? Chao-Xing? Are you alright down there?” Auntie Zhizhu called from the top of the hill.

“We're alright auntie!” Chao-Xing called back up.

Yingyue looked up at the purple spider lady, Spinny called her auntie Zhizhu and said they should too. Auntie Zhizhu’s face got more purpley when they did it the first few times.

The hill was pretty tall, she didn't think they could make it back up.

“Can you web us up?” She asked.

“I'll come to you.” Auntie Zhizhu said, making her way down the hill slowly.

Yingyue pouted, she liked getting swung around in auntie's webs. She was slow and had some kind of metal thingy on her legs under her skirts, Spinny said she always had them, but she used her webs to catch them when they ran too far from her, it was really fun.

“Chao-Xing, sugar, where are you going?” Auntie Zhizhu called out after her sister.

Yingyue glanced over her shoulder to see that her sister had wandered away from her. She didn't respond to auntie Zhizhu, she kept wandering away.

“Xīng-Xīng? Where you going?” Yingyue asked, following after her sister.

“Spindrax! Can you help me get your cousins?” Auntie Zhizhu shouted behind them.

She followed her sister to a large building right next to the park, it smelled strange, and bad. There was a bunch of smelly garbage piled up around it. Her tiny sister was standing right next to the smelly pile.

“Xīng-Xīng, don't touch it, you remember what Baba said about bad smelling things!” Yingyue shouted, breaking into a run to catch up to her.

“Girls! Don't touch anything!” Auntie Zhizhu shouted at them.

Yingyue glanced back, auntie Zhizhu was coming down a less steep part of the hill, but Spinny was running right at them.

“Xīng-Xīng! You got us in trouble, Baba told us to be good.” She hissed.

Her sister ignored everything she said and knelt down to the smelly pile, Yingyue felt like throwing up when she started rifling through the pile of nasty garbage.

“You're nasty.” She gagged.

“I saw someone hide something here when you knocked me down.” Chao-Xing retorted, sticking her tongue out at her.

“Do you think it's a treasure?” Yingyue gasped.

“I thought it was nasty.” Chao-Xing snickered.

“Not anymore.” She said, plopping down next to her sister to dig through the trash.

“Ew, what are you doing?” Spinny said from behind them.

“Xīng-Xīng saw someone hide something-”

A teeny tiny little chirp interrupted her.

“Is there something in there?” Spinny asked, leaning over her to get a better look.

“Yeah, it's a box, I think.” Chao-Xing shrugged, moving more trash off a shiny metal box.

“Why would someone hide a box?” Yingyue wondered.

“I think there's something inside.” Chao-Xing mumbled, pressing her head against the side of it.

“Girls! Get away from that!” Auntie Zhizhu ordered.

She was right behind them now, good she got down the hill.

“But there's something in the box!” Yingyue pointed out.

Auntie Zhizhu frowned, she walked forward, pushing her and Spinny back behind her.

“Chao-Xing, get away from the box, now.” she said sternly.

Chao-Xing sat up, one side of her face was slimy now, Yingyue was going to make sure she got an extra good bath tonight.

“Something is hurt in there. Don't you smell it? It smells like Baba and Papa would when it was ‘that time again’.” Chao-Xing said.

Auntie Zhizhu glanced at the box, another sad, small sound came from it. She grabbed Chao-Xing and pulled her away from the box like it was going to bite her.

“Stay here, sugar, I'm going to open it.” She said.

Yingyue wiped the slime off her sister's face with the sneezing blanket Tangy gave her. Auntie Zhizhu hit a part of the box really hard and it cracked open, kinda like how Papa would crack open rocks for the stones inside.

Auntie Zhizhu gasped, Yingyue leaned forward to see what she found inside, her view was blocked.

“This isn't something you kids should see.” Auntie Zhizhu told them.

“Is it dead?” Spinny asked.

“Close-”

“We have to save it! We just gotta!” Chao-Xing cried.

“Sugar-”

“Please don't kill it! Please! Papa said it had to die and he squished it's head under a rock, he said it was too hurt to survive so he had to kill it!” Her sister wailed, throwing herself at Auntie Zhizhu.

“Calm down sweetpea, what are you talking about?” Auntie Zhizhu asked, pulling Chao-Xing away to dry her tears.

“I-i I don't remember anymore… but it was soft and-and tiny and white and my friend…” Chao-Xing sniffled.

Yingyue stiffened, she remembered the little critter that used to play with them, all the others were too afraid to get very near them, but that one would always play. Until the day it disappeared.

Her sister had been really quiet for a while after that.

“Is that what happened to our friend?” Yingyue whimpered.

Her sister nodded.

“Papa said not to tell you cause it'd make you sad… and telling Baba would get me in trouble… a-am I in trouble now…?” Chao-Xing hiccuped, looking up at auntie Zhizhu.

“No, no you're not.” Auntie Zhizhu said, her voice was a bit shaky.

“We'll take it back to the noodle shop and see what we can do there, does that sound okay?” She suggested.

Yingyue nodded along with her sister and Spinny. Auntie Zhizhu tore off one of the layers of her skirt and reached into the box to grab whatever little creature was in there. She wrapped it up carefully so none of them could get a good look at it.

“Let's go, I'm sure you are all hungry.” Auntie Zhizhu said.

XXX

Mihou had returned to a mad house.

Chao-Xing and Yingyue jumped on him the moment he stepped in the door, both wailing incoherently, his cubs smelled absolutely horrid, and there was something screaming in the bathroom upstairs that Tang was trying to treat. 

Which was how he ended up where he was now, outside a rehab and rescue facility for cats and cat demons with a small, bleeding kitten bundled up in Zhizhu’s dress.

He'd called Sandy for help as the only person he knew who knew anything about cat demons. The water demon readily gave him the location of a hospital specializing in caring for such demons; that therapy cat trainer he mentioned worked there too, though she wasn't here now.

Pigsy had driven him to the facility at the edge of the city, Tang was back home keeping the cubs calm, and getting them cleaned up after digging through garbage. He really hoped they didn't get sick from that.

“Ready kid?” Pigsy huffed, heaving the cage the kitten had been trapped in out of the back seat.

Zhizhu had gone back to get it for evidence, Mihou didn't understand what exactly was going on there, but he'd had children to calm down at the moment. It was some bad business, demons and mortals abusing those weaker than them.

A touch personal for him.

“Yeah, let's hope this little guy is okay.” He sighed, hugging the tiny cat closer to his chest.

His cubs would be so upset if it died. He still couldn't believe what Wukong did to their little monkey friend… He could, Wukong had done the same to all of his friends.

They entered the facility together. Mihou got the strangest feeling that the woman at the front desk was familiar, she definitely wasn't a human, he could sense the glamor on her, but only barely, it was well hidden.

Only people with dangerous enemies hid like that.

Is she like me? He wondered briefly, shuddering at the thought.

The woman looked up at them with sharp brown eyes, she wore a stylized light purple eyeshadow. And her hair was a very familiar shade of gray, though she didn't seem that old, he almost felt like if he squinted, he would recognize her.

“Ah, you're the emergency call?” She guessed.

“Yes, my cubs found it in that metal box under some trash.” He nodded, handing the little kitten over to her.

She took it and checked under the wrap, her eyes widened at the sight, it wasn't pleasant, he'd nearly thrown up at the sight of the bloody kitten.

“The leg… it's in the box.” He cleared his throat.

“Leave it, I'll have someone get it later.” The woman ordered.

“I'll let you know if she survives the night, but don't get your hopes up.” She warned.

The woman vanished into the facility with the kitten, he stared after her, he still couldn't shake the feeling he knew her.

Perhaps it was just his encounter with Sandy earlier today getting to him.

“C'mon kid, let's get home.” Pigsy patted his shoulder.

He turned and left with the swine chef, his cubs would be needing extra cuddles tonight after the day they had.