#esau mink

[emelinstriker]

incorrect quotes go brrrr

[maythekawaiipotato]

Here's more of @emelinstriker 's ESAU redraw in my own style

I also know the lower symbol isn't exactly a cannon thing anymore but I just added it cuz it was in the pic.

[emelinstriker]

Mink being a lil shit towards literally every other champion be like.

I’m reading the Wikipedia page for high-fives (you know, like you do) and I’m losing it over this part

Look at the misery in this last pic. The absolute sorrow. Their friendship has been shattered and will never recover.

I think this has some serious meme potential

[averytiredcatboi]

Something I’m actually going to work on (tomorrow cause I’m tired)

A moment with Mink :3

I need to work on a background too, so that’ll be fun.

I need fluffy Mink, he may not be very fluffy in the Eternal Servants au but I’ll make him at least a little fluffy….. also I’m so bad at proportions lmao, but I hope this’ll work anyway.

( @emelinstriker I love your au so much :3 )

[emelinstriker]

{Eternal Servants AU} Ao Lie ♡ Adoration

Art drawn by me + the AU itself is mine.

Took way longer than the previous ones cuz my brain did not wanna stick to tryna finish this until recently fhgndfghnfhgd

[TL;DR] A dragon joins the team.

♡ ~ Fluff ~ ♡

A man in a green robe groggily woke up. He raised his head slightly from his position on the floor to take in his surroundings. He was in between two rows of large wooden shelves. There was text in bold reading "Interdimensional Geographics" on either side.

Was he... in a library? But why? Did he fall asleep while reading a book?

He sat up, groaning a bit as he held the back of his neck in pain, before he glanced at one row of bookshelves in confusion. He did hear talking coming from somewhere past all the bookshelves, but he was unsure whether or not he could trust those voices. He also wasn't sure why his neck was throbbing in pain. Given the way we was lying on the floor, he brushed it off as simply pain from his previous position.

While trying to stand up, he noticed a little note on the floor. All it had written on it was: "Find Master."

Raising an eyebrow at it, the man in green picked it up, turning the piece of paper and verifying that those were the only words written on it. Weird. He couldn't remember writing that down. Actually, now that he thought about it, he couldn't remember much in general. And it all just confused him even more, making him feel a slight bit of panic at his lack of memory.

The man in green had to think about what he did manage to recollect... He had more than one name, but he could only recall being called Ao Lie. He remembered traveling with what he believed were his friends, although he could only specifically remember a monkey's face from that group... Besides that, he could only faintly remember two people talking in a language he did not understand, followed up by a crow's caw. Every other memory seemed to have been pushed aside or blurred.

And assuming he wrote that note to himself... who was this supposed 'Master' to him if he had no recollection of them? Was he their disciple? Either way, since he had no idea on what else to do, he decided to try find this supposed 'Master'. Maybe they knew why he had been knocked out in the library.

Suddenly, Ao Lie had the urge to rush towards the voices he heard earlier. It was like some strong pull when he felt some form of internal panic. He didn't know why. He clearly wasn't in any danger, after all. But it felt like someone else was. Someone important to him. He dropped the note and decided to hesitantly answer to the call, moving around the many bookshelves. However, this sudden feeling of urgency left him as quickly as it came... But why?

Upon turning at another bookshelf, he stopped.

While he did take notice of the tall lion and the man on wheels, his eyes were mostly focused on the person who had their back turned to him, with a tiny black silhouette of a blob on their shoulder.

Mink already took notice of Ao Lie in return, letting out a groan. "You can't be fucking serious."

You hummed in confusion at the curse's comment. "What's wrong, Mink?"

Then your two other champions took note of this green stranger. Nezha was quick to take on a more defensive position behind you, his fire-tipped spear at the ready. Azure on the other hand simply looked intrigued by this guy across from them. Because the first thing he noticed were his void-black eyes. The exact same ones all of your champions had...

After realizing they were all looking behind you, you turned around to see the man with the long, white hair. You didn't recognize him at all since you've never seen him in the palace before. But he did seem to recognize you. Or, well, at least your title.

He moved a bit closer to you and the others as Nezha kept his guard up. Just in case this was another Celestial Hunter pulling some illusion trick again. Once the white-haired man reached Nezha, who was pointing his fire-tipped spear at the newcomer's chest, he looked over to you, past your pink champion... and he kneeled.

"You... You must be my Master", Ao Lie stated more to himself than you, his voice sounding like he was in awe at your presence. He then lowered his head a bit in respect, which made some of his hair move from his back to his front.

Blinking in surprise, you awkwardly scratched your head. Nezha hummed, seemingly contemplating still poking Ao Lie with a bit of fire. After all, he couldn't be too sure about him being another Celestial Hunter or not. But before he could hold his spear closer to the white-haired man, you stopped him by gently tugging on his cape.

"He seems to be real. I don't think you need to check", you commented as you raised an eyebrow at him, knowing full well of his and MK's stabbing tendencies. Your pink champion reluctantly lowered his weapon and gave you a little bow, muttering out a "Yes, Master" behind his mask.

You then turned back towards your apparently new champion, who was still kneeling. "Uh... You may rise- Uh- Wait- What's your name? And how did you get here?" At your questions, the white-haired man happily stood up as he gestured with his hands... or rather sleeves, because both of his arms were fully covered by his green robe's long sleeves.

"My name is Ao Lie! And I, uh, honestly have no idea. I just... kind of woke up on the floor here a couple of minutes ago, hehe", he confessed awkwardly. You knew almost all of your champions also didn't know how they ended up in the palace, but this was the first time you encountered one just after his arrival yourself.

Azure finally decided to speak up as he examines the newcomer. "Ao Lie, if I may ask. Do you remember anything from before waking up?"

The man in green opened his mouth happily to answer him, but then he realized... Why could he barely remember anything?

You couldn't help but watch in sadness as his smile turned into a frown as he spoke. "I... Well, I remember that I'm from a family of dragons... I turned into a horse, though I can't remember why... Oh! And I was carrying a guy around as a horse while being accompanied by... I think friends?" His eyebrows furrowed as he tried  his hardest to remember his past. But much like the others, he only seemed to recall specific aspects of it.

And knowing how pointless it was for them to force out out some kind of memory, Azure sighed in disappointment. "That's enough, thank you. No need to try to force your way into any potential memories, it'll just give you a headache."

Nezha grinned beneath his mask as he leaned against his spear, holding back a chuckle. "Yeah, we've tried. Especially MK. I feel like that just made his memory even worse than it already was. He only keeps doing it because he keeps forgetting that he already tried forcing his memories back."

You gave him a confused and baffled look, to which the celestial simply shrugged in response. MK having the worst memory of them all wasn't new to you, but you didn't know about his attempts to force his memories back. Though in order to ease your worries by just a bit, Nezha added, "He's fine. It's just more of an endless cycle of that short-term memory he has to deal with. And him trying to forcefully remember things just adds to all his confusion." Your pink champion then waved his hand dismissively. It wasn't a big deal to MK after all, just a confusing point about his own lack of memory.

You grimaced a bit at him, not exactly trusting his sudden dismissal of the topic. However, you also didn't want to pry further, knowing about how well your champions could dance around concerning things happening in the palace. They did avoid talking in-depth about their brandmarks, and they did seem to hide many other secrets you were curious about. Such as blood stains on them when they hadn't been on any battle missions.

"Um.. Anyway. Ao Lie was it, right? I... Uh... I'm... assuming you're one of my champions..?" You said, hesitantly trailing off towards the end as you weren't sure how you would be able to confirm such a statement. Because void-black eyes weren't exactly an accurate way of confirmation. It merely meant they were infected.

Ao Lie tilted his head a bit in confusion. "Champion? Does that mean I have to fight in an arena?"

"I mean we don't have an arena, but-" "No, no, no- No fighting in an arena-" You quickly cut Nezha off before he could suggest anything brutal.

Mink, still boredly sitting on your shoulder as a tiny blob, decided that it'd be a good idea to torment-check the green newcomer. Just to take a jab at him and see how much he can take before breaking. Because judging by his current looks, he really did not look like he could be of any use to Mink. He snickered as he grinned at Ao Lie. "So, you're a dragon, right? How about a test of wits and strength? You know... Just to prove to our dear Master that you're actually worthy of even calling them your Master." You gave Mink a little bit of a baffled look, not knowing what he was planning. But he did weaponize your title a lot, even when you clearly disapproved.

The man in green perked up at your black champion's words. He seemed oddly excited about the idea of doing something to show off what he can do. "What do I have to do?"

However, before Mink could say anything that would end up in some catastrophe, you quickly used a finger to bonk his small ken-doll-looking form on the head. It didn't hurt him, but it did catch him off-guard. "Ah- What the- Hey-"

You glared at him, unamused. "Could you maybe like, not trick the others into doing evil or concerning deeds for like five minutes?"

The small ink demon huffed as he shoved your finger away from him. "Oh please. Your definitions of evil and concerning are so simple-mindedly black and white, it's pathetic. I would've actually suggested that he duels me in the scroll. Take it as more of a test of his strength."

It was indeed true that a duel in the scroll was more of a psychological test. If Ao Lie managed to beat the ink demon, he would most certainly be accepted by your other champions as one of their own. But perhaps it was too soon to- "Alright, I'm down! Let's do it! That sounds like fun!"

You grimaced at the dragon's eagerness to duel the ink demon curse. Azure seemed more surprised that the man in green would happily jump into battle without any knowledge or questions regarding Mink's powers. Meanwhile Nezha was rather amused at the offer. After all, if he could get a front row seat of seeing someone else having a shot at eliminating the inky pest, that'd be great.

"Okay, how about we don't have you beat up the new guy? He literally just got here", you quickly intervened as you stepped closer to the white-haired man. It was odd to you how the others had a little bit of white in their hair, except for this one. He seemed to have fully white hair. So perhaps it wasn't actually a signifier that labeled one your champion?

"Anyway, Ao Lie was it? If you don't have your memories right now, you could stay with us and we can try figure things out with the others", you offered as you held out your hand to shake his hand. The white-haired man gave you a puzzled look for a moment before reaching out with a smile, shaking your hand rather strongly. Though, his hand felt rather sharp...

"That's so nice of you! Thank you, Master!" He had barely just met you and it already seemed like calling you 'Master' came naturally to him. Which was surprising, considering that Nezha told you it took him and Azure at least a little while to get used to addressing their personally first Master as such. The others also seemed rather hesitant at first. Though, he couldn't talk for the two simians as they were the first ones to pledge their allegiance and servitude. And Mink just plainly refused to call you his Master, unless it was to sway the others.

Just to make sure the newcomer was actually unharmed upon arrival, you decided to have him visit the medical bay first. You didn't have the tools or knowledge to do a full check-up, but you asked him for permission to check if he had any of those black wounds the others had. And he did. Right on the back of his neck. He then realized that must've been why his neck had been hurting a bit since he woke up. He just thought he must've been unconscious at an uncomfortable angle for too long.

While Azure went looking for the others to tell them about the new champion, Nezha decided to stick around in case the newcomer tried anything. He knew you were safe with Mink, but he couldn't take any risks. Not when he didn't know the full capabilities of the man in green.

And as you were assessing Ao Lie's neck situation, the pink champion's sight landed on the table next to him. Something caught his attention. It was one of those zip-up bags with a familiar black substance inside. Apparently it hadn't been picked up by an Overseer yet. The Oracle must've been busy.

His gaze then turned back and locked onto the green champion, watching you hand him new clothes to try out later.

"Tell me or a servant if you need a different size or want something different in general, alright?" The celestial heard you tell the dragon, to which the man nodded happily.

However, something else that caught Nezha's attention were Ao Lie's hands. He only noticed the way they were somewhat sharp claws and practically fully black when he held onto the neatly folded clothes... His hands looked suspiciously similar to a certain crow's hands... The pink champion furrowed his eyebrows. He wasn't the only one who noticed as Mink crossed his arms, eyeing the white-haired man suspiciously.

You then turned towards Nezha, "Could you show him around, please? We would still need to figure out where he's gonna sleep, so just show him where everything necessary is." While it was technically a command, you couldn't help but make it sound like a gentle request. The celestial bowed his head before leading Ao Lie away, keeping an eye on him at all times.

Sighing, you rubbed your temple. So much was happening at the same time again. You also had to make sure the others were okay since there still were some Celestial Hunters they were disposing of.

"Hmpf. Are you done collecting immortals like trading cards now?" You heard Mink ask in annoyance as he still sat on your shoulder. Rolling your eyes at him, you gently bonked him with your finger again, making him whine once more.

"I don't even know how they end up like this in the first place, Mink. For all we know, the servants could have been going through a trial before ending up here-" "They didn't. None of us did", Mink said with a slight hint of annoyance, cutting you off. You raised an eyebrow at him in response.

The ink demon looked you dead in the eye. "Be happy they don't remember the infection process. Or you would have a bunch of immortals traumatized at the feeling of their body having been altered to a point of no return." He crossed his arms before adding, "And be happy I can't feel pain. Or I wouldn't be on 'friendly terms' with either one of you."

"What are you talking about?"

He was about to add to his rant, but then stopped himself. "...Ugh, nevermind." You already knew he was hiding a lot from you, but his responses just gave you more questions than answers. However, you knew better than to try get more out of him, considering he would just end up toying with you, dangling the answers in front of you, yet still too far out of your reach.

But for now you had to deal with your new champion.

Perhaps asking Mink another time would be more appropriate.

[ Masterlist ]

[emelinstriker]

"Only for you."

Edit: Updated torso line-up with all eight champions is [here]!

Torso line-up of your champions. But with a change of clothes... c: Or I guess lack thereof for Mink since he never wears clothes in general with him just being goopy ink hfgnfghfhggfnd

Which does come with a few more crumbs of lore within the drawings as well.

The way I cut Macaque's staff to make it fit just makes it look like he's got a giant glowstick HDSFNHDSFHF I JUST REALIZED WHILE TYPING THIS- A GIANT GLOWSTICK TO BONK PEEPS TO HORNY JAIL PLS-

[emelinstriker]

mink's a horrible influence

and the bean would most definitely cockblock his baba's relationship with their master frfr

It was Mink's idea to send the bebe into the room.

Eternal Servants AU by @emelinstriker

[emelinstriker]

Since Ao Lie is officially part of the team… can we see a group cuddle? Or maybe a height chart of our lovely champions? 💚💚

I'm horrible with height charts cuz I'm inconsistent af and just roughly go by who's shorter than who, so have a new torso line-up for your champions instead. :D

Ignore the fact that I did an oopsie of doodling on the wrong canvas size DHSFNDHSFNDHFNHF I only noticed how smol they all were when I was already coloring-

Now excuse me as I go to bed cuz I only now found out my clock's batteries are starting to perish and I've just wasted more hours of sleep. :DDD

[emelinstriker]

@verity-moon good to know the answer still stands after the second time ehehehehehe-

No speech bubble version here tho :))

[maythekawaiipotato]

Here's a recreation I made from @emelinstriker 's Eternal servants au

I added more parts to them to make them a bit more stand out ish and tried to make them fit with their normal outfits a little.

I didnt go too in depth like I normally do tho.

Original post:

[emelinstriker]

HE WOULD DEFFO BE LIKE JAX- also GOTTA LOVE THE DOODLES HNHNHNFH

Also, this version of Celestial Hunters in the one-shot ain't all that scary thanks to their fluffy wolf-like-ish appearance... Even tho they're made out of the same stuff as that watch from the Macaque X Reader angst part 2 lul-

Got into the Amazing Digital Circus, and so many of Jax lines reminded me of something Mink would say in @emelinstriker ESAU. (If you haven’t seen the pilot episode, please do, it was an experience.)

I’m not sure how he emerges from the Scroll but I’d like to think he could liquify himself and just shape his head enough to talk. (Celestial Hunter is a creature mentioned in their lore and my brain already is shaking with what it might look like. Mink certainly doesn’t approve.)

Also also have ESAU Nezha being protective over ESAU MK as he has an internal panic attack at the thought of a spider potentially in his room. Mink would pull stuff like this, right?

Also trying to figure out how to draw Mink. Oof.

Also bonus: because Mink is the only one who still has his memories in this AU, I wonder if there are times he gets PTSD flashbacks. It’s highly unlikely… but I imagine he’d act like this during those episodes. Since it is mentioned Mink is the last/main defense for the Reader, this scenario is highly unlikely… but I wanted to draw it anyway.

Again. Inspired by Jax.

[emelinstriker]

Ehehehehehehe-

The best part is that this is pretty much canon, considering MK ain't takin' any form of disrespect towards the Reader lightly lmao- No mercy for teammates either-

Edit: Posted it on YouTube too- https://youtu.be/akqEkGA-yPU

[emelinstriker]

How would the boys react if the reader just bites them like a cat

First off, what.

Second off, it varies but they generally don't mind all that much- It could be cuz of human bites not exactly hurting them much at all, but it's also for other reasons...

"Oh- Uh- Master, are you hungry or something?"

"Mhm~ Master, you could've just said that you wanted to mark me~"

"Ahh- M-Master??"

"Wh- What the- Master, are you in pain and are trying to hold back screams?!"

"...What are you trying to accomplish exactly? Lmao. Try biting me all you want. Just don't swallow. My ink isn't good for your health, Master~"

[emelinstriker]

just the champions preparing the palace last minute for the next master's arrival

wanted to make an animatic of this clip several months ago but never got to it, so i decided to just edit it. still love it how a lot of scenes from it's always sunny are so esau-coded fhgfnghfnghnfg

the animatic was supposed to show wukong, azure, and the reader/master showing up at the end, and nezha was supposed to float up to help red son lmao

also i realized too late that i did an oopsie and forgot to swap out nezha for mk at the end, oop

[also available on youtube]

[emelinstriker]

LMAO

honestly, mood though

*eyes that one esau smut in my drafts*

Writer!Reader x ESAU

AU belongs to to @emelinstriker and I must say. I apologize.

Warning: suggestive. Or suggests of something more R rated in the writing.

You had given a copy of your rough draft to each of your champions in hopes that they would give you actual critics. Stressing to actually tell you their genuine thoughts as if they weren’t written by you. You would not accept anymore of their praises unless it came with specific critiques. You knew you could do better.

They knew. But they would try their best to give their genuine, totally not biased opinion. They just had to bring up things they thought were…. “Fine” and things they thought could- emphasis on 'could’- be better.

However after a while, Macaque was looking a little….. hotter than the others. Wukong especially noticed the way his tail was moving. What could be getting him so excited? Macaque was certainly engrossed in the story, a pleased yet awed expression radiating off of him. Nezha was starting to get irritated with how much his tail was thumping on the ground.

“Could you calm down? I know Masters writing is wonderful but they told us to to be professional.” The pink champion finally turned to the purple champion. Despite also sharing Macaques eagerness in expressing to the world how wonderful their Master was, Nezha also took his missions (it was obvious he was seeing this as a mission) just as seriously.

“How can you say that?” Macaque turned with an excited smile, “Haven’t you gotten to the first bedroom scene!?”

The entire room went quiet. Deadly quiet.

“What?” Nezhas voice held a tone that Macque wasn’t expecting. His movements stopped, tail froze mid-thwack onto the ground.

“…. What… page are you on?”

Everyone shared the number they had last read, except for one. “I’m at the part with the two headed dragon.” MK answered, holding up one of the earlier pages. This twisted macaques face into confusion.

“…. Dragon?”

Wukong tilted his head slightly. “Macaque. What is the story you are reading?”

The purple champion turned to his sworn brother, and just as he opened his mouth, everyone felt a change in their masters emotions. They weren’t in danger, but they did seem in a panic. Before anyone could think to go to them, they felt their Master approaching the room they resided in. And they were coming quite fast. The door behind them soon slammed open. Even though they had sensed them coming, they were still surprised at the intensity the door had been opened.

Everyone faced their Master, looking quite frantic. Spotting Macaque immediately, walked over to him, knelt down, took the rough draft in his hands, and replaced it with another. “I’m sorry. This isn’t done yet. This is the story I gave everyone. I got them mixed up.” Was all they said before turning around and closing the door behind them.

Everyone remained silent. Macaque slowly turned to his copy and opened the page, gently flipping through them. “….. oh.” He said. Half realization and almost disappointed. “So… you didn’t read the rope scene?”

“THE WHAT!????”

Extra:

Macaque would not leave you alone. He was silently begging you with those void eyes of his. He didn’t say a word, but you were certain what he was thinking.

Eventually you let out a sigh and turned to him. “Do you want to read the rest of the draft? It’s not even finished.” It was nowhere near as refined as the adventure story they had given the champions.

He gave an eager nod.

Much later you had spotted him reading it over, and much to your surprise, Wukong and Nezha were by his side, completely engrossed in it. All held a fascination as their faces grew much pinker than they should. You quickly hid, your back met the wall, and slid down to the ground.

“What the heck did you write!?” You heard Mink nearly wheezing. If an ink curse could wheeze.

“….. I kinda…. Like writing a heroine who is…. Dominant.” You heard the ink curse collapsed next to you and fall into a a laughing fit.

“Hold on, hold on, HOW dominant are we talking?” came his teasing grin. You didn't even have to look. The way he said it was plastered in your mind.

You almost didn’t answer, but you were pretty sure macaque wouldn’t keep quiet about it. You slid your head into your hands. “The chains and handcuff scene isn’t all the way finished. I just threw all my ideas into that last page.” Again. The ink curse equivalent of wheezing sounded by your side. You were not looking forward to him finding out about the collar scene. But you. At that moment. Couldn’t even let out a squeak of frustration. Why. HOW did you stack those copies improperly?

[emelinstriker]

{Eternal Servants AU} Azure ♡ Allegiance

Art drawn by me + the AU itself is mine.

Much like the MK one-shot, this doodle isn't referencing anything from this one-shot.

CW: Descriptions of dismemberment and somewhat gore in the first half I guess-

[TL;DR] Azure worries about Wukong, and the Celestial Hunters are a nuisance.

♡ ~ Fluff ~ ♡

Growls could be heard echoing throughout the activity wing of the palace, followed by the painful roars of a beast.

Azure had just slashed at another Celestial Hunter, leaving it with a wide open gash on its side. The veiny red lines inside its body glowed as the beast tried to fight back. Another Hunter was about to attack him from behind, but was swiftly slammed into a wall so hard it created a hole. Wukong just saved his sworn brother from getting bit.

The white champion huffed as he slashed through one of the other beast's legs. He then quickly turned around as he heard another growl and slashed at another hunter. "Where are they coming from?!" He exclaimed as he punched a beast that was about to bite him, panting from how many him and Wukong had already taken down.

The simian only grunted in response as he ripped a leg off another beast before throwing its furry body across the hall. It wasn't like these beasts were a struggle to fight and get rid of for them, but it was like they kept on coming and coming. As if they were regenerating somewhere else despite their bodies turning to goop.

After not having paid enough attention, Wukong let out a growling noise of his own as he got bit by one of the Celestial Hunters in the arm. He swiftly slammed it into the ground, forcing it to let go before he punched into its neck, making it screech.

His sworn brother scoffed as he noticed the bite wound on Wukong. "Are you okay, brother?!" He asked as he slashed into another Hunter. The monkey in blue nodded in a bit of pain as he held his arm. It was quite a big bite wound due to the size of the beast.

Suddenly, a Celestial Hunter that was running down the hall towards them was hit by a fire ball from behind, making it fall to the ground as it yelped in pain. Wukong and Azure looked behind the beast and saw Red Son and MK walking towards their location. Red Son held more fire in his hands while MK summoned his staff to his side.

"Took you long enough to give us some backup!" Azure said a bit annoyed at the younger champions' tardiness.

The bull demon shrugged in response, "Sorry. Macaque just started arguing about why he should stay with Master, and why he should protect them instead of MK." He then chucked another fireball at a different beast, making it fall to the ground.

Despite the ginger-furred champion's calm stature, Azure could tell he was starting to be more in pain as he noticed Wukong's hits getting more sloppy than calculated. And it worried him. The white champion relaxed a bit as he saw MK bash some Celestial Hunters' bodies in with his staff, followed up by Red Son lighting them on fire. This finally turned the black goop on the ground into black dust.

"Red Son, can you and MK take over? Wukong requires medical attention", the blue lion asked as glanced at his brother.

The bull demon nodded, "We can take it from here. MK still has some rage to get rid of after Macaque took his spot next to Master." He then gestured towards the young monkey, who was in the middle of ripping apart Celestial Hunters one-by-one, limb-by-limb, with his staff and bare hands. He only got here maybe two minutes ago and was already covered in black goop, of which some was already hardening and falling off him, turning into more dust.

With that confirmation, Azure grabbed Wukong by the healthy arm and dragged him away. While the monkey could've just stopped him, he knew Azure was just worried about him.

Upon reaching the medbay and ducking to bypass the doorframe, the white champion finally let go of the monkey and rushed to a cabinet with items to disinfect the wound with and bandage it up. As well as a little plastic zip-up bag, as per the Oracle's instructions from when Azure was first introduced to the palace. While picking the materials, Wukong slowly sat down on a nearby chair, letting out heavy, yet quiet, deep breaths as he held his wounded arm. Now, a normal wound wouldn't bother him much. However, he was bit by a Celestial Hunter. And none of the servants were able to ignore the pain of both black fluids trying to mix. The wound would need to be closed asap, and any stains the Hunter left behind would need to be removed. Unlike Nezha's encounter with one of the first Hunters that broke through and cut him, the one that attacked Wukong actually bit deep enough that it made Azure concerned.

The lion positioned himself in front of the monkey and carefully started cleaning the wound. Wukong was definitely in pain, but he was also trying to stay still as best as he could so Azure could help him better. Once most of the fluid was collected and placed in a bag, he sighed in relief, already noticing how his brother was less in pain. He then bandaged up his arm, covering the bitten area.

"Better now?" He asked the blue champion, who nodded in response.

After a moment of silence, Wukong tried to stand up. "We need to go back." However, the lion quickly placed him back in his seat, confusing the monkey.

"You're still in pain, brother. It'd be wise of you to rest and recover for a while first", Azure pointed out. But Wukong didn't like that idea. How was he supposed to rest, knowing of the current dangers within the palace and how his Master's safety was at risk?

"...Not yet. Master needs me. The others need me. This palace needs me. Besides, it's not enough pain to stop me. I'm not going to sit this one out just because I've been bit." The monkey in blue spoke with such calm determination, Azure could've sworn it felt reminiscent of a time he no longer remembered.

The white champion couldn't help but smile a bit. "I guess we both can't just leave our comrades to fight alone, hm?" Knowing he wouldn't be able to convince Wukong to fully heal first, he let go of the monkey with a sigh. "Especially not when we are united as one to keep our beloved Master safe. Nothing can stop us."

Wukong nodded as he proceeded to stand up once more, this time without his brother stopping him. "Then let's not waste any time. We still need to figure out where exactly they're coming from", he said. Azure was aware of how much protecting the palace meant to Wukong. It was, again, something that reminded him of a bygone memory. And he couldn't deny that the lion himself felt proud about all they've vowed to fight and live for. Without this, none of them felt like they had anything else that actually mattered to them.

However, before both of them could move further towards the door, a shadow portal opened up against a wall, revealing you and two other champions. Macaque seemed to be in a panic as he rushed towards Wukong, practically throwing himself at his brother in a hug, frantically checking him for any more wounds. "Wukong! I heard you got bit! Are you in pain?! Are you okay?! Can you talk?! Do you still have your vision?! How many fingers am I holding up?!" The champion in purple then held up two of his fingers in his brother's face, who grumbled out a slightly annoyed "Two" in response.

You also gave him a worried look as you noticed his bandaged arm. "Oh, Wu-Wu...", you mumbled. Nezha also looked at the simian's bandaged arm, but he seemed to be rather intrigued than worried. Probably knowing about how the wound already got cleaned and the celestial himself had been hit before, knowing about the aftermath's pain. The pink champion knew Wukong could merely wait for the pain to go away.

The monkey in blue looked away from you, a bit ashamed of himself for having been weakened by seemingly a single bite. "I'm sorry, Master."

You placed your hand on his head and gently pet him with a little smile. "It's okay, Wu-Wu... I'm more worried about your wound." The simian let out a quiet purr contently as you pet him. His expression may have been rather blank, but his tail was giving away his silent happiness.

Then, as if to comfort you, Azure gently pulled you against his much taller body. "Don't worry, Master. He can handle the bit of leftover pain. He wouldn't be one of us if he couldn't", the lion spoke up for his brother. You let out some small noises of doubt as you turned back towards him, nuzzling into the white champion's chest. At least he was able to make you feel a little more at ease despite your worry.

"How many more of those things are there? I heard a bunch of them take hits earlier, but even now I can still hear them!" Macaque exclaimed. He was clinging onto his brother, ears twitching from all the sounds he was hearing past the walls. It almost looked like he was trying to focus on keeping his six ears hidden as well.

"That means MK and Red Son are still fighting them off... C'mon!" You urged before you turned towards your purple champion. "Mac-Mac, I need you to open a portal to where the other two are. Everyone else, get ready!"

The dark-furred simian chuckled as he finally let go of his brother. As if a switch had been turned inside him, his expression suddenly held a bit of a maniac grin as he opened a shadow portal beneath everyone. And just to make sure you didn't trip, Azure quickly picked you up, keeping you safe in his strong arms before before being consumed by the portal. His grip on you was tight yet comforting, making you feel a lot more safe about the idea of being near those Celestial Hunters.

Once you and your champions arrived at the scene, something you noticed right away was how the entire floor was covered in either black dust or goop. Meanwhile, something the boys noticed was that there weren't as many Celestial Hunters battling the two younger champions as before. Red Son looked a little tired however from using so much magical energy at once. MK on the other hand didn't seem tired at all, but he did seem a little confused. His memory loss probably kicked in, making him question why he was fighting these creatures. But he knew he had to fight them, so he didn't stop.

Wukong quickly joined back in the battle, followed up by Macaque and Nezha, who also seemed all to eager to finally be able to brutally murder something again.

"Azure, help me find the source of these things. The others can hold them back while we check the library", you said before adding, "...At least that's where I saw the first Hunter come from. We can use Macaque's hearing if we need back-up." You saw Macaque give you an innocent little smile in response before he slammed his shadow staff's thorny end into a Hunter, making it cry out in pain. And just so you wouldn't have to see these creatures suffer more by the hands of your loyal champions, Azure quickly moved into the library's open doors, not letting you leave his arms as he still held protectively onto you.

Upon entering the library, things seemed a lot more quiet, but also more ominous than the actual battle taking place. Azure finally put you down so you could freely move around again. However, he still stayed very close to you, just in case he needed to scoop you back into his arms and flee. His sword was by his side, ready for bloodshed if need be. You cautiously navigated from bookshelf to bookshelf, when you suddenly heard a rather deep sound. Turning your head around the corner, you spotted a book on the ground surrounded by black goop. The pages that were open were familiar to you as you noticed one image in particular- That was the same book you once read about Celestial Hunters!

But before you could even register what was happening, the puddle of goop around the book began to move. It began to form a familiar six-legged beast with four, red eyes... Another Hunter. And as if it could feel your presence nearby, it turned towards you and your white champion. It let out a screeching roar before it began running at you, leaving a trail of goop behind it that was unable to turn into fur in time. You gasped, stumbling back into your champion's chest in surprise. A low growl emitted from Azure as one of his arms wrapped around you while the other raised his sword. He swung it so swiftly you barely noticed his slash-attacks heading towards the beast, slicing it apart as it screeched, making it turn back into a puddle on the floor.

Azure pulled you a little closer to him. "Mink. Do you think we can seal that book?" He asked as he stared cautiously at the book on the ground. The Scroll of Memory you've been carrying around on the side of your hip began to move a bit. A somewhat big drop of ink began to make its way up your body and onto your shoulder, forming a tiny version of MK's ink copy.

Mink gave the book on the ground a solid five seconds of his attention before he shrugged, turning around to face the much taller champion. "Doubt it. Not with your type of seal, anyway. I'd say just go ahead and burn it."

The white champion raised an eyebrow at the black champion's suggestion. "Wait... Burn it? But would that really stop those creatures from coming back?"

"Trust the curse that's seen far worse shit than this, big guy. That book's better off burned to ashes than have it be sealed", Mink said rather casually as he plopped down on your shoulder, simply sitting there. Of course, he could help out with all the intel he had on this situation, but where would be the fun in that? It was so much more entertaining watching the others struggle in their plans. And it wasn't like he was lying about burning the book.

"Does it have to be a specific type of fire?" You asked as you slightly turned towards the ink curse on your shoulder.

Mink gave you a rather unamused expression. "If I had meant a specific type of fire, I would've said so. Think, idiot."

"Ah- Right-", you responded awkwardly. While Mink was probably the only champion you were able to talk normally to without being held at such high regard, that also meant his blunt and direct words hit a lot harder, and sometimes even caught you off-guard. Which wasn't necessarily a bad thing when you needed someone to talk about facts rather than biases. But he was still an asshole about it.

Azure huffed as he glared at the blob of ink on your shoulder. "You could show a little bit more respect towards our Master, Mink."

Mink turned his head a little, giving Azure a smug, shit-eating grin. "What'cha gonna do if I don't, big guy? Master still needs me." Every servant in the palace knew it was true. And he was aware of Mink's specific wording, as well as how the curse usually used this line on the other champions as manipulation tactic. Azure hated him for that.

You rolled your eyes before calling out to Macaque by talking to the air. "Mac-Mac, we need either Red Son or Nezha here." A few moments later, a shadow portal opened up behind you and Azure, revealing your pink champion. Explaining your order to him, he bowed his head a little before swiftly zooming over to the book on his flaming wheels. His spear's tip ignited before he slammed it down onto the book, stabbing through its pages and even hitting some of the goop lying on the ground beneath it. Something akin to a painful roar could be heard coming from the book before it fully caught on fire. The celestial let out a grunt as he slammed one of his flaming wheels down onto the open page, spreading the flames further.

Shortly after, the book had turned to ashes, and the goop around it turned to dust. There also were no longer any audible beastly sounds outside the library. The remaining Celestial Hunters must've already been killed off by the others.

Azure sighed in relief as he realized that the danger had finally passed. He smiled as he looked down at you, seeing you talk to Mink and Nezha about what to do next. You praised your pink champion for his work before turning towards your white champion, petting his fluffy mane.

No matter what the next plan would be, his Master was safe and sound, petting his mane in delight as a reward. And that was all that mattered to him. 

But no one seemed to have noticed the man in green roaming around the back of the library.

No one, except for Mink.

[ Masterlist ]