9:40pm
Heping laid on the ground in the midst of the garden. The crisp fog and autumn air pricked her skin as the waning moon rose higher in the sky. The lights from the city drowned out the stars, and she could hardly see many of them, certainly not as many as she could at her parent's mountain home. But it wasn't so much the act of stargazing, but the fact of it that kept her tired smile on her face. Somewhere in her training with Pigsy, she couldn't say why, but it finally dawned on her that, as long as she was here, in Athens, away from her parents, she could do as she pleased. Shenghuo could chastise her all he liked, but his praise didn't matter anymore: they were enemies, if only for the sake of the war. So long as she could still beat him when things were down to the wire, did his opinion matter at all?
It was a revelation both liberating and troublesome for one so accustomed by the beck and call of others, but one that her tired mind was still incapable of processing. She felt it on her heart, and on her breath, but had neither the time nor energy to understand or develop the implications of such a situation, as she'd truly never obtained such freedom, and had hardly ever dreamed of it to begin with.
The other issue pressing on her heart and breath was Pigsy's round bottom. He sat cross-legged on her stomach, looking at the sky just as she was. He claimed that this was to train her breathing, but she saw little reason to believe that. Although surely his Servant body wasn't half as sore as her mortal one, they had still dueled for several hours, and she could perceive that he was tired as well. He craved rest, and, more so, she thought, he craved company- though his pride would never have him admit as much.
She reached over and began petting the top of his head, primarily with her thumb and forefinger. She had half-expected him to swat her hand away, but, while she felt his body tense at first, he neither said or did anything to stop her; he continued to stare into the vacant sky.
Until-
"Oi."
Heping gazed down at the pig sitting on her belly, "What is it?"
"Has the sky always been this dark? Ya can't see a single star."
She returned her gaze to the sky, "The lights of the city block out the stars. It is not so bad if you can get far enough away, but, even so, I imagine it could still not be the same as the sky you knew."
He grunted in response, but said nothing.
"Pigsy?"
"Don't call me Pigsy. What is it?"
"Is it true that Heaven used to be in the sky? In the stars?"
Even as one mostly unfamiliar with magecraft, she was still aware of a central doctrine of mage history: the Reverse Side of the World. Long, long ago, in the Age of Gods, spirits, monsters, and even gods roamed the Earth. Heaven and Hell were said even to be physical places one could visit, assuming he could find the entrance. Now, those mystics were gone, with only their shadows remaining.
"...Yeah, I guess. I couldn't tell you where or how it worked, but I can tell you a few things. I can tell ya that I fell from Heaven and landed on Earth, and I can tell ya that, whenever I looked at the sky, I could see the palaces of the celestial emperors."
"I am sorry."
"Huh? Sorry for what?"
"I am sorry that you cannot see your home anymore."
He waved his hand, "Bah! It's probably for the best anyhow. It helps me to keep focused. I can't win this damn war if my head's stuck in the clouds."
"But is that not why you fight? Did you not say that returning there was your goal?"
A strange noise came from the Servant's throat, she couldn't tell if it was a growl or a grumble, "My goal is to reach enlightenment. I don't care about those losers."
"Does that mean you would rather stay on Earth?"
"You see- that's the kinda question ya don't answer until you're enlightened. Besides, what I want doesn't matter, what matters is what the Buddha wants."
Her curiosity was too much to contain, "But, if you could choose, which would it be?"
He jumped up and stomped on her abdomen, turning to face her, "Why the Hell are you so curious, huh?! What's it to you?"
Even though he was angry, she could only smile. With his small body, it was hard to take him seriously, especially when he wasn't being serious in the first place, "It is for my training. The Buddha Palm is based on the will to preserve, correct? So, it would help if I knew what it was that you fight so hard to maintain."
Heping never lied. She was too innocent to even conceive of untruth, especially to think of a lie on the spot. In fact, she despised lies, and always found herself appreciative of those who offer the whole truth. Those who were so honest with themselves and others were hard to come by, especially in mage culture, and even her naïve heart could comprehend how rare and precious such a person was.
Even so, she possessed a maternal instinct, one that told her that there were times when what someone needed to hear wasn't necessarily the truth, and a childish instinct that pressed her to follow her wonder. Had someone caught her in her lie, she would have found herself genuinely apologetic and ashamed, for sure, she was not aware of her lie. She was too caught up in her wonder for the pig from another age.
Lancer paused, his grimace beginning to slowly fade away until he finally plopped back onto her belly with a defeated expression, "The world... is just too ugly. I don't think I could stand to live here forever -oink-."
He cast his gaze back to the sky, "Up there, nothing ever changes. The gods, the spirits, they keep things in line, and everything's in order. But down here, it's just chaos. Everything falls apart, and the people try'na tear it down sure ain't helpin'."
She leaned up so her stomach pressed against his back, "Truly? I thought you would hate being trapped in such an ordered place."
He audibly scoffed, "-oink- Of course. It sucked in some ways, but I didn't care. Everythin' was taken care of, and ya never had to worry about nothin'. It was food, fruit, drink, and," His face flushed pink as a stupid grin squirmed to his expression, "-women, heh-heh."
He cast his arms to the sky, "I had everything I could'a ever wanted! Why would I ever give that up!?"
She looked to the sky as well, following his gaze, but found only the same empty sky as before. She was sure that she'd heard him, and yet, she couldn't understand what he meant, "-But what would be the point of that?"
He turned to her with wide eyes, "Huh?"
"What would be the point of having everything simply given to you? Food and rest are always pleasurable, but where would you go from there? Are there any mountains in Heaven?"
His pig-face turned to a rough scowl as his face fell into his palm, "Oh Buddha- you're an aesthetic."
She turned her head quizzically; she had no clue what he meant.
"Look, life's hard right?"
She first assumed the question was rhetorical, but it soon became clear that he was waiting for an answer, "Yes, naturally."
"Well, that 'food and rest' are your rewards for all that. What would be the point of having mountains in Heaven? You've already climbed that mountain, and now you're at the top -oink."
Still, she pouted like a child, "But why would anyone want that? It sounds so boring."
"Ugh- you're impossible. I knew you reminded me of Sanzang."
Sanzang, Xuanzang Sanzang, also called Tripitaka. The monk chosen by the Buddha to take his scriptures West, and the master of Pigsy. To be compared with such a figure was no simple matter, even someone with as passing a knowledge as hers could know as much.
"Sanzang? Are we similar?"
He sighed, "You're sure as stubborn as her, that much is true."
"Did she know the Buddha Palm as well?"
He smirked with pride, "Sure did! I taught 'er!"
She giggled before continuing, "So, what was it that she sought to preserve?"
The words felt strange on her lips. She had remembered Tripitaka being male, but she was no scholar, and so simply assumed her memory was faulty.
The pride fell away, being slowly replaced with a somber nostalgia, "Well, we both fought to preserve the Buddha's will, though I think we disagreed on what that was exactly. I wanted to preserve that Heaven -oink- that mountaintop, so that as many people as possible could experience it- hopefully without getting banished. But Sanzang, she..."
He trailed off, as if unsure of himself.
"...She loved humanity. She loved the Earth. Other than casting out demons, she loved things the way they were because that was how the Buddha intended it. I think... I think that's why her Buddha Palm ended up surpassing mine."
Heping wrapped her arms around her Servant, pulling him close. From under her chest, he couldn't see her upward looking face, nor the light smile upon it, "Well- I'm glad that you are here- on Earth. I think you being here makes it better."
Zhe Bajie was quiet for a long moment, "Maybe. But -oink- if I'm bein' honest, I think.... it's usually the other way around."
She resisted the urge to laugh, "Do you see? That is another reason to come down from your mountaintop."
"Screw that! I don't wanna change! I wanna sit on my ass and be served hand and foot!"
Here, she couldn't hold it back any longer, and she laughed. She laughed a great, hearty laugh that came from deep within. She laughed because her Servant was lying to her, and to himself, and he knew it. No, not so much a lie as a half-truth, the truth being that which he was too prideful to admit. He was happy. She laughed because her friend was happy, and because he was happy to be around her. When was the last time she laughed so hard? When was the last time she laughed at all?
She pulled him tighter into her chest, her body beginning to curl around his, "...May we stay here? Only for a while."
He huffed in mock frustration, "Yeah- I guess."
Her mind circled back over the last few hours, the time they had. Over the course of the last few hours, she felt she'd seen more of her Servant's true nature than she had in the week they'd already spent together. He had revealed a new, more hidden side to himself. More than that, he revealed that he, truly, in his heart, was happy to be here, to be around her. And he'd revealed a new side to her: that she, too, was happy to be around him. Perhaps the only time in her short life she'd had such joy.
"Thank you, Pigsy."
"-Don't call me Pigsy."
....