My sword pushed against his pipe as I stared at him.
He was definitely not someone to be ignored nor dismissed. I'd heard his legends and knew them quite well, and I would even admit to being a fan.
Sun Wukong – the Monkey King – The Great Sage Equal to Heaven.
There were so many more titles I could call him.
His eyes had a faint fiery glow to them, a golden hue pulsing as he looked me over. He smiled faintly before letting the tension off his hand, withdrawing his pipe. I hesitantly held my sword protectively to the side.
If needed, I would immediately take Yasaka and Kunou and escape. This was not a foe I could even dream of taking lightly if it came to blows.
"People don't really call me that anymore." He smiled good naturedly, and I felt the tension ease up and begin to dissipate. "These days, it's usually the Victorious Fighting Buddha if they're inclined. But I mostly hear 'That old Monkey'" He chuckled.
[Careful, brat.] Ddraig spoke up. [That Monkey is not someone to be trifled with. Even at my best, It would be a hard fight.]
How strong was he?
[Once when Albion and I were fighting above China, we heard an annoyed shout.] Ddraig began to explain. [We ignored it, of course. But suddenly things got very dark. A massive staff slammed down on Albion and shattered a good few dozen of his scales.]
I didn't outward react, but I was genuinely surprised. I knew how strong Ddraig and his rival were. To hear that Sun Wukong actually damaged Albion back in their prime with a single – probably casual – attack was more astonishing.
His legends weren't over exaggerated it seemed.
"Sun Wukong." Yasaka broke the silence, in a respectful tone. "It's been awhile." She bowed her head slightly.
The Monkey King chuckled again, scratching his head. "Haah, it's been…..twelve years? Where does the time go." He smiled warmly. "I still remember when your mom was running things and now here you are with a little one of your own."
I felt Yasaka's hand squeeze my arm. I glanced at her and I could more or less guess what she was trying to convey. This guy wasn't an enemy and probably wouldn't become one.
I dismissed my sword. "I've heard your stores, Monkey King." I adopted a respectful tone as well. If he wasn't going to be an enemy, then I shouldn't treat him like one. Besides, I did admire him based on the stories.
"Haha, I'm glad some young'uns still like to listen to those tales." He twirled his pipe. "But that's long in the past. I even passed on that title to my successor a few years ago."
"Still a wet-behind-the-ears brat if you ask me." Nurarihyon grunted. "He's got talent, but it's going to be hard to live up to your name."
"Kids gotta grow up somehow." Son Wukong shrugged. "Gotta go on his own adventures, experience his own life – the good times and the bad times."
That's interesting, I could vaguely recall that tibit of information, but I never bothered with it until now. Didn't remember the kid's name, but apparently, he passed on his title and old gear. "The kid got a name?" I questioned.
"Bikou." Sun Wukong said plainly. "Last I heard he was running around with your – " He paused, waiving his hand as if trying to think of the right word. "—Rival."
I blinked in confusion. "My rival?"
"Yeah, the White Dragon Emperor." He replied nonchalantly, tapping his pip to remove all the old stuff inside.
I took a long breath, letting it out.
The Monkey king smiled almost smugly. "Even if I didn't see that video of you fighting that storm brat, not many things can hide from my eyes." For added effect, they ignited again in that fiery and golden glow. He raised his hand up, a finger extended. "Lots of fun things I see about you that I haven't seen before, makes an old guy like me wonder where they came from."
I guessed there was no point in hiding it, may as well try to get more information. "Is it well known then?" I relaxed slightly, noticing how at ease he was. I was still tense, but looking at him again, he in no way appeared to be looking for a fight.
"Who knows." He shrugged again. "Some of us older folks probably noticed the Gauntlet, but not a lot of them even bother with the newest technology."
[Ask him about Albion.]
"And what about the owner of the Divine Dividing?" I questioned. Once again, my knowledge was...miniscule in this area.
"Did Ddraig put you up to that?" The Old monkey chuckled. "Still so obsessed with his rival."
[Fuck you.]
"I'm sure he's cursing me right now."
"He is." I didn't deny.
The money grinned. "It's funny."
"What is?"
"Fate." He still had that wide grin on his face. "You both are Half-Devil Half-Humans...even if that's not entirely accurate for you anymore." He pointed out, making me twitch involuntarily. "And you both loath your families, of which, are each related to a Lucifer. If I wasn't so sure that other brat would utterly lose as he is right now, I would call it the perfect rivalry."
[Damn right, my host is way better than that white asshole!] Ddraig snorted. [I can't wait to see the look on his face when you wipe the floor with his pathetic wielder.]
"Boosted Gear. Various blessings, some strange power emanating from your soul –" He paused, looking at Yasaka. "—that she also seems to have. And a bunch of other stuff, but the Divinity is what really surprises me."
"Divinity?" Nurarihyon repeated.
"Mmm, feels a lot like the storm brat's, but it's weird." Sun Wukong stated. "Well, I can see why Indra wanted me to investigate you." He said casually as if it wasn't something I would take issue with.
No, I most certainly was more on guard now. "Excuse me?" I felt myself having to stop from reaching for my sword again.
"You expect the higher ups not to look into you, kid?" His eyebrow raised over his glasses. "You can't just throw around the power you did as an unkown entity without people getting concerned."
"So this all comes back to me fighting Susanoo." I let out a sigh. "Really regretting my decision there." Well, then I remembered how happy Izzy was in those moments she spent with him and those feelings diminished.
"Well…..in my case, it's not because of that." He fiddled around in his pockets, taking out a piece of paper. "Indra assigned me a task of looking into the reason why his visions of the future were thrown off. Suffice to say that you were the variable in all of them."
That made me freeze up. It was something I hadn't considered until this point. The fact that I wasn't bound to this World-Line meant that certain events around me must have been thrown off if the higher powers were watching them intently.
"I-is Daddy in trouble?" I heard Kunou ask Yasaka as we all seemingly looked back at her.
"Oh sweetie, Daddy isn't in trouble." She reached down, hugging my daughter.
"Hey Yasaka why don't I take Kunou and show her around, eh? It's been awhile since she's been here." Nurarihyon offered.
Well, the obvious cue was obvious.
"Do you want to go with Uncle Nurarihyon, my little fox?"
"Can I?" She perked up immediately.
"Of course you can." Yasaka smiled.
"Come one little lady, let me show you some nifty trinkets I've gotten since you've last been here." Nurarihyon held his arm out as Kunou ran to him. He gently guided her through the door, giving us a wink as he left.
"First time meeting him, but he's alright in my book." I would have a good impression of anyone who treated my daughter that well and made her smile.
"Oh, he is a good man. The only issues we've ever had were because of our political affiliations." Yasaka stated.
"Well, I suppose we can talk more openly." The Monkey King, watched them leave, looking back at us. "The Cute Fox is gone, so I don't have to mince my words."
"About that." I crossed my arms. "Did you come here for me?" I narrowed my eyes.
"Actually…." He scratched his cheek. "It was just a coincidence. I was visiting that old bastard, having some drinks, and he mentioned you two were coming over yesterday. Thought it was a good opportunity to meet you."
"Drinking, huh? Some Buddha you are." It was hard to get a read on this guy….God, Buddha. "Aren't you supposed to refrain from that sorta thing?"
"Don't I just have to confess my sins and apologize?" He quirked a smile. "No harm done."
"That's Christianity." I deadpanned. "You're the worst Buddhist I've ever seen."
The Monkey laughed, the aura around him changed to something….holy. "Drinking, not drinking. Does it matter? One thought to be a Buddha, one thought to be a Devil. I have Buddha in my heart, therefore, I am Buddha." He smiled, his radiance showing off brightly.
"That sounds nice, but I feel like you're just making excuses to keep drinking."
"Could be." He grinned, his Buddhistic Aura abruptly vanishing. "But we were talking about Indra and your seeming overturning of fate and destiny on a grand scale."
"Please, we both know that's just sophistric bullshit." I couldn't help but roll my eyes. "His future visions are nothing more than glancing at the myriad of possibilities that could occur. It's not my fault if he can't take into account other people are able to avoid such things."
"Ohoh." He rubbed his chin. "Not a response I expected. Interesting, very interesting. You ever think about getting a teacher?" He suddenly questioned. "You're still pretty young, though older than you should be." His eyes flashed that fiery gold for a brief moment. "I'm sure there are some things I could teach you."
That took me by surprise If I were being honest. And I'm sure he could teach me many things, however…. "I already have a teacher."
"Well, it was worth a shot." He shrugged again. "Where were we?"
"You were talking about how you were stalking me." I helpfully replied.
He snorted, biting on his pipe. "Never stalked you, damn brat. I just looked at some places where Indra's sight went haywire. Your hometown, some places around Japan, oh and that Pendragon Family. That was an interesting visit."
I didn't like the sound of that…
"With how coy you're sounding, I assume you're not going to elaborate?"
"Hmm, I'll keep it to myself for now." He responded with an amused smile. "But I'm getting sidetracked again. We were talking about Indra throwing a fit."
I blinked at his wording. "Please continue then."
"Right, so it started when you killed one of his favorite toys."
"I haven't had dealings with the Indian Pantheon in any capacity thus far." I was trying to think who I killed that could have been important to him.
"The brat you got Biblical God's spear from." He elaborated.
"Cao Cao." The name was accompanied with a small growl. "The idiot who attacked Kyoto and tried to Kidnap my daughter, are you saying Indra had a hand in that?" I almost lost control of myself, but I quickly reined it in.
"I would also like to know the answer to that question." Yasaka's expression turned really dark.
"Woah, woah." He quickly threw his arms up. "Aint like that, let me explain." He set his pipe aside. "Jeez, if I knew it was like this I'd have been more gentle with my words. Cao Cao was Indra's plaything, yeah, but not really….supervised unless he was bored. The whole thing with attacking you was all on him."
"Annoyingly, I believe you." Yasaka let out a sigh.
"You knew him then?" The tension left me once more.
"Trained him for a little while. Never liked the little shit, but Indra told me to." He shrugged again. "Had Bikou spar with him a few times, always spouting that crap about human supremacy. Got nothin against humans, but it gets really annoying after awhile."
"And I take it Indra's blaming me?" I raised an eyebrow.
"Something like that." He nodded. "Gods hold grudges, he's not going to come here looking to smite or anything like that, but given the opportunity or you wander into his territory, he's going to be petty. Especially since Izanami somehow claimed Cao Cao's soul."
"Huh….." I didn't expect that either. I'd have to check with her afterwards. "Joy, something else to pay attention to."
"It's what happens when you play in the big leagues. You think I don't got grudges against me from my younger days? I can barely step foot in China without the Jade Emperor trying to throw Heavenly Judgement at me."
"Speaking of, and not to be rude, but aren't you like three-times over immortal, why are you….."
"Old?" He laughed.
"Yeah.."
"Haha, it's not the first time I've been asked that." He sounded amused if anything. "When I converted to Buddhism, I gave up my Godhood bestowed by the Celestial Court, and I gave up my other forms of immortality." He brought his hands together, and that holy light seeped out. It wasn't like the Abrahamic faction's holy, but something else entirely. It was…..welcoming. "Buddha is all I need."
"That and something good to drink."
"Well, it doesn't hurt." He returned to normal again.
The metaphysical logistics of doing what he said boggled my mind to the point where I didn't even want to think about it.
"By the way, mind if I take a look at the spear?" He suddenly asked.
"The True Longinus?"
"Yeah, I just wanted to see something."
I mean….sure? I doubted he'd try to steal it from me, doesn't seem like something he would do. With a shrug, I held my arm out, letting the spear fall to the ground infront of us.
He didn't move to touch it, instead, his eyes glowed from behind his glasses, then he threw his head back and erupted in laughter.
I shared a look with Yasaka and we were both confused.
"What's so funny?"
"N-nothing." He managed to eek out between laughs. "Oh Merciful Buddha, the future is going to be fun."
And I was confused. Was something wrong with my spear, or was I not privy to some kind of inside information or a joke?
I decided not to dwell on it. With a wave of my hand, the spear returned to my storage.
"Alright." He cleared his throat, settling down. "There's a real reason I'm here besides just wantin to meet you. The old bastard's going to talk to you both about it cause it's gonna concern yah at some point, but I figured I'd back him on it since we're friends."
"And I have a feeling I'm not going to like the sound of this." Yasaka sighed. "Continue." She gestured at him.
"Sorry, it's not good news." He gave an apologetic smile. "I said I was checking up on that Pendragon Family, I snuck in during one of their meetings heard some secrets." He shot a little smirk my way which annoyed me for some reason. "But I wasn't the only one there. Saw one of them Fae Folk up on the wall disguised as a bug."
"Fairies?" Yasaka furrowed her brow. "That was in England, so it's not that surprising...what would they be doing all the way over here? They never come to Japan."
The Old Monkey tapped his pipe. "I think you both know the answer to that question better than I do." He chuckled.
My mind immediately went to Artoria and I could put the sequence of events together. "Mother fucker." I face palmed.
"See, the kid gets it." Sun Wukong grinned.
Artoria was not going to take this kind of news well. "And I assume because it's being mentioned that they aren't exactly ideal guests?"
"There's no sugar coating it. Most of them are menaces that leave chaos and destruction in their wake, even when not trying. Indra and by extension most Patheons don't really care, but the humans and their followers often take the brunt of it. I heard a thing or two about others making preparations since they're popping out of the woodwork all over the place."
I knew about Fae, they were not….enjoyable. I knew about my world's Fae, not my birth world's. The Rules were different here, did they serve a similar purpose or were they some kind of eldritch monstrosities like some lore describes? Were the courts the same or did the courts not exist?
"It's just one thing after another, isn't it?" Yasaka groaned. "Heard about some Exorcists kicking up a fuss in my territory, now this mess."
I reached out, grabbing her hand. "Hey, you got all of us. We'll make sure nothing bad happens." I gave her a reassuring smile.
Yasaka did perk up a little bit at that. "I do, don't I?" She smiled brightly right back.
"Ahem." Sun Wukong cleared his throat. "Not that I don't find that adorable, but I was gonna head out. I'm already pushing my schedule to report back to the Lightning Head himself."
"Report about me, you mean." I said dryly.
"Them's the breaks." He seemed unconcerned. "But, what I tell him is what I feel like, so don't worry. He'll be pissed at you, but he won't be pissed and paranoid at the very least."
"Gee thanks." I sighed. "Just what I need, another God whose shitlist I'm on."
"Seeing you like that makes me feel responsible." He sighed, rummaging through his pockets. "Here, take this as an apology."
He tossed something into my hand, and my eyes practically buggered out of my head as I realize what it was. "Is this….?"
"Oh, you recognize it? Yeah, they're pretty tasty, should be a nice little treat for someone of your level too." He nodded, proud of himself at my reaction.
"A Peach of Immortality." I said the name out loud.
"You're joking." Yasaka brought her face up to it, taking a large whiff. "It smells absolutely divine."
"Did you really just give me a Peach of Immortality?" I looked up at the old Monkey.
"Eh, sorta." He made the so-so gesture. "I take it you know about them then?"
"The Peaches that Grow in the garden at the Jade Emperor's palace. There are supposedly three types, each gives 3000 years of longevity when eaten. The first blooms every 3000 years and is supposed to ascend you, and makes you stronger and faster. The second blooms every 6000 years and is supposed to give eternal youth and inborn flight. The Third blooms every 9000 years and you become as eternal as the Sun and the Moon." I recited form memory. "Or so I've read."
The Monkey king laughed. "The mortals have embellished them over the years. While they're pretty darn good, they aren't that good, otherwise we'd have ruled the planet long ago."
"That's fair, I just got….excited." I held the fruit in my hand and was heavily resisting the urge to shove it into my mouth.
"This one Is of the first type, like you mentioned. They're supposed to ripen every 3000 years, but this one is only about 1600 years old before it was forcibly ripened by an influx of immortal Qi – or Senjutsu as it's known around here. Only about half as good as you'd expect, maybe somewhat worse due to the nature of its ripening." He shrugged, not appearing to care too much about the finer details.
"Still….this is a valuable thing. I couldn't even imagine putting a price tag on it."
"It's not a big deal, I got about a dozen more." He smirked.
"Of course you do." I deadpanned. "No wonder the Jade Emperor tries to smite you every time you go to China."
"I never said it wasn't for a good reason." He chuckled.
"Though….a random question about it."
"Hmm?"
"Can I...make wine out of this?"
"You…..want to make wine out of the immortal fruit that other Gods would and have literally killed for?" Sun Wukong asked slowly.
"I mean….the thought crossed my mind and I was curious?"
"You." His Glasses dropped down slightly. "I like you." The corners of his lips curled up. "Let me tell you all about my experience in trying to make Peach Wine with these things." Before I knew it, he had his arm wrapped around my shoulder.
"Weren't you getting ready to leave?" Yasaka questioned.
"Bah, that old Lightning Head can wait. This is important stuff!"
I'm still annoyed by some of the earlier things he said andheir implications. Not to mention the small amount of worry I had due the new information he revealed regarding the Fae. However...I can't say I disliked this Buddha.
***
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