[Previously on Journey to Somewhe-!!! jk jk]
"So," Monkey paced in front of the brigade, rotating his staff. "you guys got the basics down." he faced them with a smile. "Now time for one final test. Come at me."
"What?" Shen blinked twice as the rest of the group murmured to each-other.
"If you can land *one* hit on me," he raised an index. "I'll say you're qualified to take on the demons in the mountain."
"...Just one?" Bao asked.
Monkey nodded and tossed his staff aside before putting his hand behind his back.
"Seriously?" he frowned.
Monkey shrugged.
"Think of it as evening things out."
"There's a dozen of us." Wu-peng gestured to his group.
"Then give it your worst."
The soldiers hesitated, first one to run at him was obviously Bao.
From where (Y/n) was, this was hard to watch. The boys were trying so much and every time Monkey would effortlessly dodge, push them or make them lose their balance. For a moment, they were all catching their breath.
"When...When does it stop exactly?" Wu-peng asked, panting.
"Once one of you lands a hit." Monkey casually said, not even breaking a sweat. "You can take breaks if you want. Hell, take the rest of the day off. I'll stay right there."
"What about the mountain palace?" (Y/n) asked.
"I already gave our inside men their own mission. They'll be busy with that."
Because yes, a strategy has been developing off screen.
Some of them sat down to take a break, some kept going. (Y/n) at some point of the day brought some fresh drinks and snacks for them. Even though Monkey joined them of their break, whenever someone would attempt a sneak attack, he'd dodge it like it's nothing.
"When do you train (Y/n)?" Bao asked.
"Mmh?"
"Do you have like special training after this?"
"Oh, about that...I'm not going."
"Huh?" his expression fell.
"Yeah, Monkey said it'd be better if I stayed here and try to improve my powers. Plus since I'm all out of these paralyzing paper seals, I don't think I'd be of much help..." she trailed off for a moment. "So I'll stay here and train, which is cool because, for once I actually want to go to the monastery's library." she chuckled.
"I agree." Shen nodded. "It'd be too risky for you to go. Plus someone needs to look after the village while we're gone."
"Right, I even learned some new sutras that I think I might be able to use."
"Really?"
"Yeah I tried and I just need to get the hang of it."
"That's great!"
She smiled proudly.
"B-but, what about the demon?" she looked at Bao. "You...You wanted to kill him."
"Short memory much?" Monkey asked, standing a few meters away. "Like I said, I'll avenge the old master."
Bao fell a twist in his stomach.
"S-Since when...?" he looked back at (Y/n).
"Um..." she tilted her head. "Since a while."
"Why didn't you tell me?"
She blinked twice, taken aback by his tone. It sounded pressing.
"I...I don't know." she honestly said, shifting uncomfortably in her seat.
He kept looking at her for a moment before going back to his drink, finishing it in one go, then he stood up and went back to Monkey, ready to fight.
When the sun started to set, most of the men left to rest, those who stayed ate dinner here on the training ground. At some point, only Bao was left.
"Are you sure you don't wanna come with us?" his comrades asked before leaving.
"I'm good, don't worry about me!"
"You sure about that?" Monkey asked, taunting him.
He frowned.
"How's that for my bite?" he asked before attacking again, well, trying to.
It was getting dark now, and the two men have yet to stop fighting. The only different (Y/n) could see was how tired and frustrated Bao was becoming. She stayed for a good while too. She was worried for him but couldn't think of anything to do to help. She thought back to when he 'protected her' from the ogre-mom. He gave up, but he looked like he was determined to give up, if that made sense... When she realized how much she was yawning, she decided to go to bed and slowly walked away. It was then Monkey got sick of this. To him, it was clear this guy wasn't driven by his determination to succeed. Bao tried yet again to attack him and he just pushed him away with his tail, making him drop his sword.
'Alright, this isn't fun anymore, now I just feel bad for him.' he thought before removing his hand from his back. "Alright, let's stop for today."
"What? No way!" he exclaimed, not changing his fighting stand. "You said this would be over once I land a hit!"
"Dude, you're done."
Bao shouted in anger and ran toward him. Monkey let him punch him in the face, he didn't even budge.
"Wha... You..." he panted, stepping back. "You can't just give up!"
"Yeah? Frustrating isn't it?" Monkey folded his arms. "What is your deal exactly?"
"None of your business!"
"If it's gonna impact the mission, then it is my business." he frowned, trying to stay calm this time. "Is it just with (Y/n), or do you become a meat-shield with everyone?"
"Wh-what kind of question is that?!"
"The kind that wants to make sure you won't throw yourself at every attack of the fight. What's even your goal here?" he waved a hand in circle in his direction.
"Oh I don't know, to protect my comrades and friends and to kill the demon who killed my old master?!"
"Thing is: I'll be the one killing the demon-"
"Why you?! It should be me! You didn't even know my master! I should be the one who avenges him!"
Monkey raised his eyebrows, a moment of silence passed.
"...Oh that's what this is about!" Monkey pointed at him then turned around. "Alright, stay here."
He then turned into a bird and flew away. Bao wanted to run after him, but his legs didn't allow him to. A short while later, Monkey came back with (Y/n).
"What is happening?" she asked.
"Your friend here has something to tell you." he grabbed her by the shoulders and gently pushed her to face him. "This is between you two." he lightly patted her shoulder then turned into a bird again and left.
Although he could sympathize with losing a loved one and feeling at fault for it. He knew Bao would never listen to him, but he'd listen to her.
"What is it Bao?" she asked, rubbing her eye.
He stared at her with big eyes, at first his words were caught in his throat.
"I... Why don't I kill the demon for you?"
"Huh?"
"Yeah, it'd solve everything. That way we both get closure." he gestured between the two of them.
"Closure?"
"W-well, yeah. It's my fault he's dead after all."
"Woh, what?" she frowned, raising a hand as a way to say 'hold on'. "What do you mean it's your fault?"
"Well, it is."
"No it's not. If anything, it's *my* fault he's dead."
"What?! Come on, you didn't-"
"I wasn't allowed to leave the village, yet I did."
"I couldn't protect you!"
"I didn't listen when you told me not to follow the demons!"
"I got caught into the cave!"
"If I hadn't dropped the doll, he could've came out of the cave!"
"You wouldn't have dropped it if I hadn't drag you out with me!"
"I couldn't use my powers!"
"I wasn't strong enough!"
"He died because I was too weak!!!" they both yelled at the same time, one with an expression of sadness and grief, the other with one of anger and self-loathing.
Silence. A tear rolled down (Y/n)'s cheek as the two of them looked at each-other, shocked. The night wind gently blew.
"Is that how you've felt this whole time?" she finally asked in a breathy voice.
He looked away and nodded.
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"...You were already grieving," he ran a hand through his hair, still avoiding eye contact as he recalled her younger self crying over her father's body. "I didn't want to put my own burden on top of that."
She looked down, processing what he said.
"Is that why you were ready to die for me?"
He pursued his lips.
"I have to repent myself somehow."
"By dying?"
He didn't respond. She walked up to him.
"I understand how you feel." she held his hand. "But Bao," he looked at her. "how can you protect anyone if you can't even protect yourself?"
His eyebrows furrowed. When it came to this 'it's my fault' thing, none of them knew how to resolve it. After all it's hard to find a solution to help your friend when you have the same problem. Both exhausted, emotionally and physically, they parted ways.
To take her mind off things, (Y/n) climbed the monastery's rooftops, challenging herself to be as quiet as possible. When she reached the tallest one, she saw a bird, which turned back into Monkey as she climbed up to stand on the roof. They looked at each-other for a moment. Finally, he sat down and patted his shoulder. She sighed through her nose, smiling, and sat beside him. Gently, she placed the side of her head on his shoulder and closed her eyes. She breathed deeply as he looked up at the night sky for a while.
"Remember when you said that, even though they're gone, the love wasn't going anywhere?" he broke the silence, though his voice was quiet, still looking up. "...I believe you."
She opened her eyes, a flow of tears running down. But she didn't say anything.
"I saw it, when they welcomed you back. You were right, it's still there." he paused. "Your village has that spark it's... It's nice."
She rubbed her eyes with a faint smile. They stayed like this in silence for a bit longer.
It has been a week. The entire village (at least, what was left of it) gathered to see the brigade off. (Y/n) gripped her arms while the boys waved.
"Come back okay?" she said, addressing everyone, but looking at Bao, who silently sighed.
"Hey come on now!" Monkey, still standing by her side, ruffled her hair. "What, you don't think we'll succeed?"
"Yeah!" Shen smiled with determination. "Our plan is completely fireproof!"
"O-of course, I know that!" she said.
"Don't worry, we'll save everyone." Monkey placed his hand on her shoulder, leaning a little bit closer. "And everyone will come back." he whispered before he joined the group.
When they walked into the forest and towards the mountain, (Y/n) stayed standing there, even when the villagers have gone back to their home. The grip on her arms tightened. She flinched when the head monk placed a hand on her shoulder.
"Come on child." he said as he led her back to the monastery. "There is much I have to teach you."
Monkey made sure everyone was in position by turning into a bird and going around the mountain. Then he went back to the three childhood friends, hiding behind the trees and looking over the main entrance.
"They're all set and ready to go."
"Great, then let's go." Wu-peng nodded.
Monkey nodded back and they all prepared themselves. He glanced at Bao and asked.
"You know, (Y/n)'s not a mind reader."
"What?" he looked at him, confused.
"Nothin'." he turned into a little mole. "Wait for my signal." he said before digging underground.
When she accepted to stay here, (Y/n) had several reasons to believe that this was a good idea, the right thing to do. Well as she discovered the wonders of attempting classes, her reasoning went out the window.
'I have to get to the mountain! What if something bad happens?! What if another general shows up like that Leopard demon?! They need my help!' she kept thinking.
The head monk has trained her to master the sutras she's learned over the week. Now they were sitting on pillows, facing each-other in the meditation room. She never been here for long, not even to prank them as a kid, she understood that it was a very important thing for monks to do. But because they'd just sit there, she's never taken an interest in this room. Usually there was always at least a couple of people here meditating (sometimes, students would compete to see who could last longer), but right now, it was just the two of them.
"You've learned well (Y/n)." the head monk smiled. "You've reached a new level of sutras, I'm so proud of you."
"It's nothing like yours master."
"With time, child, all comes with time. Now," he adjusted himself in his seat. "I heard you've tried meditating a couple of time."
"Right, some have tried to teach me..." she scratched the back of her neck. "didn't really work out. The standing bell did something though!"
"There are quite something aren't they?"
"Yeah, it's like..." she placed her hand on her chest. "It's vibrating my soul."
"They can have that effect on people, your powers mist be susceptible to its frequency." he explained. "But for now, let's try without it."
She pursued her lips, skeptic of this decision.
"Maybe those teachers couldn't help because they didn't know you well enough. The way of learning is different for everyone after all." he smiled. "So I'll try and explain it in a way you can understand. There are three principles that you need in order to meditate. First one: silence..." he paused. "giving you room to listen. Second one: stillness, giving you room to feel. Third one: spaciousness, just giving you room." and with that, he closed his eyes, positioning his hands accordingly.
She frowned, but soon did the same.
'I really don't get this. How in the world can monks do this - My face inches - for hours, days, weeks sometimes! - I think I positioned my foot wrong - I bet they just sleep - Like bears! - but how do they eat? How come they don't starve themselves? - I'm gonna have pins and needles in my foot for sure - Maybe they're being fed, - This is hopeless what am I doing?! - like the cook crushes fruits into juice and jam it in their mouth. - Fruits - Peaches - Monkey like peaches - Monkey!'
Suddenly, she opened her eyes, the head monk was deep in his meditative state. It was then she realized: she could very easily just walk out now. Carefully and quietly, she stood up and walked backwards towards the door. Once she exited the room and closed the door behind her, she began to run. Unfortunately, she wasn't really paying attention and just kept looking at the mountain, so when she ran down the monastery's stairs, she put down her foot the wrong way and fell down to the bottom. Now laying on her back, she groaned in pain.
"Oh man," she heard somebody say. "(Y/n)? You good? Oh my Lord!"
"Y-yeah I'm f-" she sat up and felt that something was off.
She looked over and her heart dropped when she saw that her foot was...facing the wrong way. She started to scream, more scared than in pain. Some villagers heard her and gathered around her in a panic, trying to calm her down. They quickly called the village's doctor.
"Alright (Y/n), it's fine, breathe." the doctor gently took her foot, ready to put it back in place. "Lay back down, you don't have to look."
Ventilating, she laid back down, facing the sky.
"Okay, take a deep breath, ready? On three. One...Two." Snap.
Her eyes widen, she forgot how to breath for a moment. Then she slowly exhaled. As she fixed the sky, it felt like the whole world was blue, she even forgot they were people around her. She didn't even notice how they looked at her in shock. Her eyes have turned cyan.
"Oh my lord doc!" one of the children exclaimed. "You unlocked her powers!"
"Huh?" (Y/n) looked at him, snapping out of her thoughts, her eyes turning back (e/c).
"Oww..." he looked down, disappointed as she sat up.
"Thank you so much doc," she stood up. "I gotta go now!"
With that said, she ran back up the stairs to the monastery, and this time she watched her steps.
She quietly entered the meditation room and sat back down on her cushion.
"Master!" she exclaimed with a smile, startling him out of his meditative state. "Master I got it!"
"Fantastic." he smiled.
"Once I accepted where I was instead of wishing I was somewhere else, it's like something clicked." her gaze wandered as she tried to described that feeling. "For a second, my brain was so in the moment that it wasn't really thinking anymore, like I..."
"You just *were*?"
"Exactly!"
"That's what meditation does, it helps you put some space between you and your thoughts." he explained. "Think of your mind as a house, and your thoughts are the furniture, sometimes the house if too small, or you could be a hoarder. But once you put some distance between you and your thoughts, it's like moving into a much bigger house. Then you can even invite people in, there's room for you and for them. That's spaciousness."
"I see..." she slowly nodded, listening closely.
"Some students have asked me 'what if I just empty my mind?' Well, you can try but-"
"But it's impossible right?"
"Right, and that isn't the goal of meditation. Which is a common mistake: some think of their mind as some...loud teenager and want to make it shut up."
She chuckled.
"So once you've realize that you're not as connected to your thoughts as you thought, then you can see and feel the world around you with a fresher, and more 'in the moment' perspective."
"Yeah, I get it." she smiled, proud of herself. "Say, can we try again?"
"Of course." he said before the two of them closed their eyes again.
There were three groups, two of them were escorting the freed villagers (who could pack up quite a punch) out of two separate exits. The third one which Monkey led stayed behind to fight whoever was still standing. And the only one left standing was the purple horned demon.
Before leaving the village, they asked the doctor to give them a very powerful sleeping medicine, which Monkey gave to the monastery's cook who's been captured as well. It worked, and it gave them time to put their very complex plan into motion and so, in an hour, they freed the villagers and defeat the other demons. But when they tried to retrieve the spear, it turned out some kind of security has been put on it. Not only did it prevent anyone from taking it, but it also linked it to its wielder, so once the security was activated, the sleeping medicine wore off.
So now, it was fighting time.
Thankfully, their opponent wasn't the smartest, and the shock of seeing *the* Sun Wukong took him aback for the precious first seconds of the fight. Their combat strategy wasn't allowing him to use the spear's powers. And when Monkey turned into his giant ape form and began to wrestle him, it began to overwhelm him. Unfortunately, the element of surprise wore off as well, and the demon blaster a light beam right on Monkey's guts, blasting him across the room and making him turn back into his original form. As he held his stomach in pain (felt like a giant flaming punch to him), the demon steadied himself and wanted to catch his breath, but the brigade didn't let him and kept attacking him. He wanted to blast them off but the spear needed to recharge itself.
"Dammit!" he said between his teeth. "Huh?" he noticed Bao in the distance. "Hey! I know you!"
Bao's eyes widen.
'Oh shit.' Monkey thought.
"You're that whinny kid I almost ate! Good to see you're not looking like you're gonna piss your pants anytime soon!" he cackled. "Guess it's a good thing that old man died instead of you if you turned out like this, right?!"
"Shut up! Shut up shut up shut up shut up!!!" he shouted as he ran towards him, disregarding everyone around him.
"Bao stop!"
"Ignore him!"
"He wants you to lose your cool!" his friends tried to stop him.
But he ignored them, as the fight continued, he climbed on the wall and jumped to try and strike him from above.
"Thanks for the projectile buddy."
The three-meters tall demon grabbed him by the legs and though Bao took the opportunity to slash the back of his hand, he ignored it and threw him towards the group.
"Since you seem so keen on killing me," the demon smiled confidently. "I'll kill you first. And the circle will be complete since I killed your dad!"
Just as he laughed, the spear was fully charged, and he shot, putting some of his own powers into it. The beam looked more like a circular saw now. Bao started to run, even though the beam will follow him, it'll give him time and he'd keep the demon's attention while the others can strike him down by surprise. He glanced to the side, it was getting dangerously close.
'It's fine.' he thought. 'If I could've helped, then I'm happy.'
'What's even your goal here?' he internally frowned as these words unwillingly echoed in the back of his head.
'I have to repent somehow.' 'By dying?'
'You know, (Y/n)'s not a mind-reader.'
It was when it clicked, he realized something and he called himself stupid for forgetting: he still hasn't told (Y/n) how he felt. And now that he thought about, there was a ton of things he hasn't done. He hasn't joined the grandmas' for tea since he got back, he hasn't paid a visit to his old classmates. He hasn't really enjoyed being back in his village after so long. And he was about to die, never to do any of these things. A picture of a younger (Y/n) popped in his mind, crying her eyes out over her father. Slowly, she turned into her current self, this time crying over his corpse.
'No...'
Then, one by one, the villagers, his friends and comrades appeared. They were all crying.
'I don't want that!' he felt his heart twist in pain. 'I don't wanna die!'
The beam of light was almost blinding at this point. Thinking quickly, he reached out and-
"Oh fuck!!!"
The shout and the explosion caught everybody's attention and the fight paused as they looked over the cloud of dust that was created. Slowly dissipating, it revealed Monkey and Bao, panting. Though he fell down, he still had a grip on his tail as Monkey was standing in front of him. Slowly, Monkey looked down to see his right arm, or lack there of. It's been chopped clean off from right bellow the shoulder and was now somewhere nearby on the stoned floor. Thankfully, no blood.
"AAAAAAAH What the hell?!?!?!" he shouted more shocked than in pain, throwing daggers at Bao and snatching his tail away from him. "Did you just use *me* as a meat shield?! What is wrong with you?!"
"I-It's fine isn't it?!" he stuttered, still in shock. "You're immortal!"
"Yeah but I can't regenerate dumbass! It's one of my powers, you know, the ones that are sealed!"
"...Oh."
"Oh?! Yeah oh!!!" he groaned. "That's it. It's been long enough anyway, the villagers should be far enough by now." he took out something from his pocket. "Stay back!"
The soldiers quickly distanced themselves from the demon, who frowned, confused. Monkey inhaled deeply and blew into the dragon scale as much as possible. Just like last time, it created a powerful gust of wind, pushing everyone away. The sound which only him and the demon could hear made them both wince in pain, piercing their ears. There was a moment of silence where the horned demon shook his head to get a hold of himself. Eventually, he glared at Monkey and groaned, ready to attack him. Just as he took one step forward, Yusheng busted into the room, creating a giant whole in the mountain. And because after planning throughout the week the sabotage of the palace's construction (which was very flawed to begin with), the entire place began to shake and it soon started to crumble.
"Yo what' up?!" Yusheng exclaimed. "I told you I'd come wherever you are?! So where'd you wanna go?!"
"Yeah we heard ya!" Monkey shouted. "But actually, we're good thanks! Everybody out!"
"Oh no, no not again!" the horned demon stepped back as he watched his palace collapse, his hands and legs shaking.
While he was distracted, Monkey jumped towards him and swung his staff so that he'd let go of the spear. The weapon flew out of his grasp and before he realized it, Monkey caught it and ran out.
"Where do you think you're going?!" the demon used the security seal to make it fly back into his hand before chasing down the group. "As long as I'm standing, this spear isn't going anywhere, and neither are you!"
Monkey clicked his tongue. But then he had an idea and looked at the others.
"You guys keep going, and don't look back."
"Huh?!" Bao exclaimed. "No! You are not doing thi-!"
"I can't die idiot! Why do you think you used me as a shield?!" he stopped and faced the demon. "Go!"
"...You'll come back for her! I know it!" he shouted before leaving.
"Heh, obviously." he smiled to himself.
The horned demon stopped once he was close enough to him and laughed.
"Are you really planning on sacrificing yourself for these humans Monkey King? How can you even wield you staff without your arm?!"
"Don't need to." he casually said as he tossed it in the air and catching it with his tail.
"Still, it's no use! I still have my celestial spear! Fighting me is useless!"
"That wasn't the goal here." he smirked. "My goal was to keep you still." and with that, he turned into a mole and quickly dug down.
Confused, the horned demon looked up to see the ceiling was falling.
"Uh-oh. Not agai-"
Monkey resurfaced outside the mountain (took a bit longer because he had only one arm) and joined the three groups. They all made sure everyone was okay, and they apologized to Yusheng for tricking him into their plan without telling them. They weren't that upset however, saying that it felt incredible to help out with a big rescue mission. They happily said goodbye and left, the soldiers scouted the now half-collapsed mountain.
"I'm still confused though." on soldier told him. "Didn't you say that collapsing the caves wouldn't work on a celestial spear?"
"I did yeah." he smiled. "Then we learn the guy had PTSD."
"Why would he come back here if he had PTSD?"
He shrugged.
"Probably for the theatrics of it all." he said before going back to searching.
'Urh, can't find my arm anywhere either.'
"Sun Wukong Sir! We found him!"
Monkey quickly went to where the voice came from. The horned demon's upper body was popping out from under the rumbles, laying on his stomach. Looked like he passed out. He looked around and saw the celestial spear nearby. Just then Bao arrived and he turned to face him. Silently, he gestured towards the demon with a smile. Bao looked back and forth between the two of them, understanding that he's been given the go, but still hesitant.
"As soon as he wakes up and summons the spear again, it's over for us." still looking at Bao, Monkey knocked him on the head with his staff to make sure he stayed knocked out. "So hurry up."
"Wh, why...?"
"Because I get that it's important to you."
Pursuing his lips, he nodded and drew his sword as he walked up to the demon. But once he was besides Monkey, he handed him the sword.
"It's important for her too."
"You can just do it for her too."
"No, she appointed *you* to do it. So let's at least do it together."
He sighed, smiling. He put his staff aside and placed his remaining hand on Bao's as they both pointed the sword downward and aimed for the back of the demon's neck.
The joyful shouts from the villagers quickly turned horrific when they all came back. (Y/n)'s face became pale and she ran over to Monkey in a panic.
"What happened?! Are you okay?! Are you dizzy from blood loss?!" she leaned close to his face.
"Would you chill? Immortality prevents me from bleeding when it comes to something big such as a missing limb." he pushed her face away. "And if you really wanna know, I miscalculated a move of mine and well, this happened."
Bao's eyes widen and he looked at Monkey, who didn't look back.
"C-can't you grow another arm?" (Y/n) asked.
"Nope, regeneration is one of my sealed powers."
She thought for a moment.
"What if it wasn't..."
Before he could process what she said, she turned towards the head monk and began pushing Monkey towards the stairs.
"Master, please gather everyone. We're gonna unlock Monkey's powers."
"Wait what?!"
Suddenly, everyone was following them, some intrigued, others excited.
"Are you seriously going to try that again?" Monkey asked.
"Oh we are not 'trying'. We are going to do this." she looked him in the eyes.
He noticed a spark of determination in them, he couldn't help but smile as his heart made a light jump.
Monkey took off the top of his tunic, now shirtless, he sat down with his legs crossed, his back facing (Y/n) and the monks. A moment passed as they looked at the seal covering his back.
"What do you think?" she asked the head monk.
"I..." he frowned. "I've never seen such a complex seal before, and one with this many layers."
"Whoever made it must be a genius." another monk added.
"And young, young or very visionary." another one said. "Because this is not your traditional seal, even the designs look like updated versions of the ones we learn about."
"I'm sorry, but I don't think this is the time to play detective." she said. "My friend is missing an arm!"
"Meh, I can live with that."
"No you can't!"
"You don't know me."
"Yes I do! You'll use it as an excuse to make me do things for you."
"...Well now that you say tha-"
"Anyway!" she turned back to the monks. "I managed to remove the first circle before using Golden Cicada's powers, so together, surely we can remove another one!"
"...Why don't you do it yourself." the head monk smiled.
"Huh?" she blinked twice.
"You've made a lot of progress in only a week, more than any of us could've made in a year. I'm sure it will show. And (Y/n)," he leaned a bit closer. "you may not have owned those powers before, but they are yours now. There may be some remnants of your predecessors' left, but you must appropriate the powers given to you, or else they'd go to waste."
Her eyebrows furrowed.
"I'm just saying." he shrugged. "You have an advantage, use it."
She pursued her lips and sighed, she wanted to say 'I guess I can try' but as she said: no trying.
"Alright," she said. "but if we're doing this, could you ring a standing bell while I do this?"
"Certainly."
She kneeled down behind Monkey, took off her necklace and held it in her hand while placing the other on the center of the seal. For a moment she was motionless, then she sighed, her shoulders dropping.
"Something wrong?"
"Um...Don't get me wrong, I'm not nervous but... Do you all *have* to watch?" she looked back at almost the entire village, including the tired yet invested brigade, staring at her crammed in the room, crammed in the hallway by the door, and outside the windows.
"Right, sorry!" "Don't mind us!" "I told you it'd pressure her!" "Oh hey what's over here?!" "Let's go treat our injuries guys!" "Isn't it time for tea?" "No it's time to party!" "Yeah let's prepare a gods damn festival!" "Let's go~!" the villagers all walked out, bumping into each-other.
Monkey laughed, waving his hand at the few children who said goodbye to him.
(Y/n) sighed again, placing her hand back on the center of the seal. She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, then reopened them.
"I'm ready."
The head monk rotated the little mallet around the outside of the bell, producing a sustained musical note which resonated into the room as (Y/n) recited the needed sutra, focusing on what she learned so far. So focused in fact, that she didn't notice the bell has ceased to echo. And even when it did, her eyes still flickered a cyan blue color. A gentle blue light emanated from her palm and soon the red lines of the seal glowed of the same color. When they saw it, the monks leaned a bit closer. Eventually, Monkey groaned as his cut off limb began to shake. He became tense and was shifting uncomfortably while his remaining hand gripped his knee. He cried out when a new arm suddenly popped out of his shoulder. (Y/n) also cried out in shock and she suddenly backed away, almost falling backwards. She was panting because her energy was beginning to be drained, so even if this hasn't happened, she'd have stopped soon.
Monkey quickly stood up and turned around, looking at his new arm. It was made out of metal.
"Oh, my lord!" he exclaimed, trying to move it but couldn't (since you know, it's metal), only up and down, left and right, like a wooden doll.
"Oh my lord what have I done?!" (Y/n) cupped her face in her hands in horror. "Bu-but I'm certain I recited it correctly! What happened?! I'm so so sorry Monkey! I'm sorr-!"
"I'm kidding." he said as he turned his arm back to normal.
Her and the monks all let out a huge sigh of relief.
"Wait. But then..."
"Mmh~ let's see." he pretended to think, clearly forcing himself not to smile. "Regeneration," he counted on his fingers. "and metal arm shield. Yep, that's two!" he turned around and pointed at his back.
Indeed, two circles were missing now. (Y/n)'s face lit up as her and Monkey smiled widely before she stood up and they both jumped up and down with joy.
"Two~! Two~!" they chanted, holding hands and spinning around.
The monks sent each-other a knowing look before congratulating her. They've never seen her this happy before.
When they went out back to the village, they were welcomed by cheers, a party has been improvised.
"Although," the fisherman said. "I'm sorry but you'll have to wait for the food..." he trailed off as he looked over the outside kitchen they set up.
The monastery's chef was hard at work, you could clearly see the fire in eyes.
"Ah yes, of course." (Y/n) smiled and went up to him. "You know, you're not in the mountain anymore. Why are you cooking like your life depends on it?"
"Are you kidding?! This is like *the* village event of all village events! Half of our people being saved from a demon?! This is historical! Plus we're having a celestial *god* as our guest tonight!" he gestured towards Monkey who smiled smugly as if to say 'Well he's not wrong'.
"Monkey doesn't eat cooked food though, just give him some fruits and vegetables and he'll be fine."
"Well in that case I'll get you the best of the best! I'll throw in there some spices and salt too!"
"Heh, nice."
"Spices...and salt?"
"Yeah, everything tastes better with salt-Oh!" the two men said at the same time before pointing at each-other, then they shook hands.
(Y/n) rolled her eyes and noticed Bao, looking at her from a distance. He's been meaning to go talk to her but he didn't want to bother her if she was busy with another conversation. Her eyes widen, she was so focused on Monkey that she didn't realize Bao had a spear with him. It looked so fancy, it must've been the celestial spear. She walked up to him while Monkey and the cook were talking food and cooking.
"Did it shrink or something, why is it human size now?" she asked.
"Wukong said it adapts to the one who wields it. And since the purple horn demon is dead..." he handed the spear to her. "I-I wanted to bring you his head at first," he blushed and looked away, embarrassed. "but the others reminded me there were children here...S-So..."
She chuckled and took it. It was heavy so she let it lean on her shoulder. The two of them stood there in silence, not really knowing what to say, especially after their last conversation.
"...You know," she broke the silence. "after we spoke, I had the opportunity to really think about stuff in general. I got to see things from a new perspective, and I realized something... Dad died while protecting us yes, but I don't believe it was his goal for us to avenge him. And knowing him, fighting over whose fault it is wouldn't sit right with him either." she tilted her head. "That'd give us two bonks on the head with his cane." they both chuckled faintly. "...He died so we could come back here, so we could be safe." her smile became softer as her eyes became teary. "And that's what we did... That's what you did. Welcome back Bao."
Tears flowed down his face as he began sobbing quietly. He put a hand over his eyes and hunched over. She hugged him and he hugged her back, both of them crying.
The party was full of warm joyful feelings, everyone was having fun and the brigade joined in and made friends with the villagers. Even though some were injured and were advised to stay in bed, they just took the beds and brought them out here! There were tables set up with a big buffet. There was music too and Monkey of course offered to teach them the hot musical trends.
"The new trends? Didn't you spent a hundred years stuck in a mountain?" one of the musicians asked.
"Ooooooh snap!" (Y/n) laughed and high-fived the musician as Monkey clicked his tongue.
As the sun began to set, Bao saw a man on horseback approaching the village's entrance. He went up to him before he could walk in.
"You guys having a party over here?"
"Yes, can I help you?"
"I'm a postman, I was sent here to deliver a letter." he reached in his bag and handed him a scroll. "The sender was right to give me directions, 'cause otherwise I would've never find this place. Looks cozy though."
"Oh," he took it. "thank you. We pride ourselves on that."
"Lovely lovely, say can I stay here for the night. It's been a long long ride."
"Uh, y-yes of course, we don't have an inn but I'm sure the monastery could give you a room." he walked away, gesturing him to follow.
The mailman got off his horse and followed Bao. He watched the party as they walked passed it, then he gasped and pointed at (Y/n), who was too far away to notice him.
"H-how in the world did she get here before me?!"
"Oh, um..." he rubbed the back of his neck. "She got a ride here."
As they kept walking, Monkey noticed them and recognized the mailman. He excused himself from the group of kids to whom he's been entertaining with his mad juggling skills (at some point he was standing on one foot on top of a wheel and using his tail as a third hand while also balancing his staff on his head) and went to where the two men were heading.
Bao has just walked back from the monastery and was now sitting on the stairs and reading a scroll. He looked sad.
"Hey." he sat beside him. "You good?"
Bao lowered the letter and sighed.
"Can I just say, congratulations." Monkey nudged him. "You managed to land a hit on me."
"What? I didn-"
"You did indirectly cut off my arm. That counts."
He smiled.
"So you're not mad about it anymore?"
"To be fair, I would've done the same."
They chuckled.
"That's (Y/n)'s letter right?" he gestured to the scroll. "Never got to read it but I'm gonna assume she talks about how awesome I am!" he puffed his chest.
He expected Bao to chuckled, or maybe even just roll his eyes. But instead he just handed the letter to him, looking away. A bit confused, but mostly curious, he took it and read it. Her writing was messy, but still readable.
'Hey everyone! It's me (Y/n)!
First off, don't worry about me, I'm perfectly okay and in good hands. The wolf demon did catch up to me but I was saved by, I swear it to the gods, Sun Wukong! Turned out he himself was in trouble, so we decided to travel together to Guan Yin's island to help us out. Long story short: I'm the new Golden Cicada and he has a seal put on him that prevents him from using his powers (I swear I'll tell you all in more details later!).
Don't tell him I said that, but when I first met Monkey (that's how I call him), I just wanted to punch him in the face. He was so bossy, arrogant and annoying! But then we came to an understanding, that we weren't really going on this journey voluntarily, and after that, we became really close. He became really fun to be around, and even without his powers he's still the strongest and toughest person I've ever met! I wish you could all meet him, he's amazing and I'd wish for nobody else to be my traveling companions. I'm really glad we're friends.
Anyway, as for me I'm seeing a lot of the world. I've met so many cool people and made a lot of friends, even with an EARTH GOD! I'm also learning a lot, well, I'm trying to at least, but I know I'll be fine. We'll be fine.
I love you all so much, and I miss you all dearly!'
After that, she went on to address specific people in the village, but Monkey has stopped reading after that. Instead he re-read that first part again. Bao has been looking down this whole time and when he looked up, he felt a twist in his heart when he saw Monkey's reaction. A hand over his mouth, his eyes wide open, his cheeks a pinkish red.
"And she said she grew past that phase." he whispered, joking to himself as he stood up.
"What?" Monkey snapped out of his thoughts and looked up at him.
"...You know," he placed his hands on his hips, his back facing him. "I don't think I'll tell her actually." he hung his head down. "I already know what her answer's gonna be anyway."
A moment passed before Monkey got what he was talking about. He stood up and smacked him in the back of the head.
"What are you saying?! Who cares what her answer's gonna be, go tell her!" he stood by his side and pointed forward. "Be grateful that you at least got to realize what your feelings are before it's too late!"
He suddenly looked at him with big eyes. Before he could even ask what he meant by that, Monkey pushed him further. Which meant he was now five meters away from him now. After a second, to let the shock sink in, Bao nervously walked back to the party, looking for (Y/n). Meanwhile, Monkey looked down at the letter and unknowingly smiled while rubbing the underside of his nose with his index.
"(Y/n), could I speak to you for a second?"
"Mmh?"
She looked at him, everyone that wasn't in her field of vision suddenly stared at them with big eyes.
"Sure Bao," she faced him. "what it is?"
"U-um, I uh...I meant in private." he quietly said, trying to ignore the people who were silently freaking out.
"Oh, sure."
He mouthed 'cut it out!' to everyone who gave him thumbs ups and mouthing 'you got this!' 'you're the champ!' Him and (Y/n) distanced themselves from the party, where no one could hear them. Bao was panicking on the inside, his eyes darting around as he nervously played with his fingers.
"So... Are you gonna tell me?"
"Huh?!" he looked at her, now even more tense.
"Before you left, you said there was something you needed to tell me once you've become stronger. And, well, you clearly have now. So what is it?"
For a moment, he looked mesmerized.
"What?" she chuckled. "Did you think I forgot?"
"...I love you."
He said it in a quiet voice, like he'd whisper so many times when no one was listening before, but right now, his voice has clearly been heard. (Y/n)'s expression fell and for a moment they just looked into each-other's eyes. Eventually, she blinked and looked down, processing what was happening.
"Uh... Wow, okay." she nervously smiled for a second before looking back at him. "Since when?"
"...Since ever." even with such a quiet and simple answer, strong feelings could be heard in his voice.
She bit her lower lip and sighed.
"Thank you for telling me Bao." she placed a hand on his shoulder. "I really appreciate it..."
"But?"
"But...I've never- like I just..." she sighed again, removing her hand to gesture back and forth between the two of them. "We grew up together, you're... literally like a brother to me."
"...I mean, me Shen and Wu-peng stopped living in the monastery and went back to our houses after a while."
"Yeah but we still spent everyday with each-other." she casually pointed at him.
"I know...It's because of that that I...I-I fell for you."
"Well it's because of that I came to see you as like a brother. Just like Shen, Wu-peng and literally every boy in our village."
For a moment, none of them talked.
"I'm sorry I can't return your feelings." she spoke.
"Oh please don't apologize, it's not like you can control these things."
She smiled, happy that he took it well.
"Wait!" she said as they walked back to the party. "Is that why you were always all red whenever we spoke as kids?!"
"U-Umm!" his face became all red. "M-maybe yes."
She burst out laughing.
"And here I thought you were just sick all the time!" she wheezed. "I would force medicine down your throat!"
"Yeah, and I'd actually get sick after that."
"I'm sorry~!"
They both laughed. Seeing this, everyone's expectation went up. But then they became confused when the two of them separated. Bao sat in between his sworn brothers.
"So?" they asked, leaning closer.
He smiled and shook his head, his eyebrow furrowed. Sighing, they patted his back.
"I'm sorry bro." Shen said.
"You know, I'm so used to have my love unrequited, when she finally said it, it actually lifted that weight off my chest." he paused. "I knew she was gonna say that... Still hurts a bit but...I'm glad it's been said."
"Aw dude~!" Wu-peng hugged him from the side. "Be proud of yourself man! You've matured!"
He chuckled and asked for a drink. Meanwhile, (Y/n) went back to where she were, where Monkey now was, and he was really curious about what happened. She thought it was a bit unusual, but she still told him what happened. He laughed when she told him about the medicine bit.
The next day (well, the day after that actually, since almost everyone was hungover), it was time to leave the village again, but properly this time. And with a less improvised bag, stacked up rations and spare clothes. Because some of the soldiers were still injured, the brigade had to stay.
"Plus it is still our mission to protect the village." Bao smiled. "So maybe we'll stay for good."
(Y/n) smiled and handed him back the spear.
"Wha-Really? Are you sure?"
"I mean, Monkey won't accept anything other than his staff, and I don't know how to use a spear- especially a celestial one. The village could use it as like a last resort."
"Don't worry though," Monkey said. "as soon as we get into contact with Heaven, we'll report the missing weapon and they'll come pick it up."
The two of them stared at him in silence, waiting for it. After a second he burst out laughing.
"Ah~ good one Wukong." he said to himself, wiping a tear away as Bao took the spear.
The farewells were more tender and sweet, but no less tears were shed. (Y/n) kept reassuring everyone, but even she was a little teary eyed. Monkey went up to her.
"You know, you could stay too."
"Huh?" she turned towards him.
"You could train here, I go to Guan Yin's and when I get all of my powers back, I come back and pick you up and to the west we go."
'Right, their journey isn't finished yet.' she thought before hitting him on the arm. "Hey! Don't you try and get rid of me like that!"
"I'm just giving you the opportunity to stay with your people! You clearly don't wanna leave."
"Of course I don't, but that doesn't mean we-"
"Monkey King~!"
A little girl ran towards him and hugged his leg, begging him to stay.
"I-I promise I'll c-clean my room if you stay~!"
"How would that- I'm not your mom." he whispered before patting her on the head. "But I have to kid. I'm on a super awesome and very important mission."
"Please~ don't go~!"
(Y/n) and Monkey awkwardly looked at each-other. Her mom apologized for her behavior but before she could force her off of him...
"Hey, don't worry." (Y/n) kneeled down. "Monkey King's not gonna leave, here." she opened her bag and took out her old doll. "This little guy's been protecting me ever since I was a kid like you. Took him everywhere with me." she handed it to her. "He'll watch over you always." she retracted it when the little girl reached. "But don't take his protection for granted." she playfully pointed at her. "Promise you'll take care of him too, it goes both ways."
She nodded, not crying anymore. (Y/n) smiled and handed her the doll again, she took it and hugged it. Meanwhile, Monkey bashfully scratched his cheek with his index.
The goodbyes continued, there were like a hundred people here after all (plus ten with the boy brigade). Shen shook hands with Monkey.
"You're a good man Sun Wukong Sir. You've been a great mentor to us."
"Yeah, I know."
"We all read the letter, we leave (Y/n) to you. That being said." he gripped his hand and placed his other one on his shoulder. "If you hurt her in any way shape or form, we will hunt you down throughout all of China. We will die in the process, and our ghosts will hunt you for the rest of your immortal life." he slowly said with unblinking eyes, his voice devoid of emotion.
Monkey was taken aback, but his blood turned cold and he felt a cold sweat when he saw the group of grandmas behind Shen, staring at him with the most threatening aura he's ever seen. One of them was slowly hitting her cane in the palm of her hand. He gulped.
"Got it." he quickly whispered.
"Wonderful!" Shen patted his shoulders, back to his cheerful self. "Be safe on your travels!" he said before walking away.
Monkey turned away, he came to the conclusion that he's developed a fear of old ladies. And how could you not?! They're ruthless, sneaky... and handy. He shivered just thinking about it.
Finally, it was time for our two protagonists to go. They called Yusheng, who sassed them by asking if this was for real or if there was another demon that needed their ass kicked.
"Yusheng please, there are children here." (Y/n) politely said.
"Oh shi-I mean! Sorry kids!"
"You can talk?!?!?!" they exclaimed, though they weren't paying attention to the words themselves.
Monkey ignored all of that and with one jump, he was on Yusheng's back. (Y/n) tried to climb up, but the scales were slippery. Monkey noticed it and offered her his hand.
"Come on."
For a moment, they looked into each-other's eyes. She smiled and took his hand, he smiled back and helped her up. Yusheng looked at the villagers with a look that said 'are you seeing this?'. The villagers nodded and a sly smirk formed on the dragon's face.
"I see I see. Alright~ back to the mountain we go! Up up and away or whatever!" they said as they started to fly.
The villagers waved and shouted goodbye, (Y/n) did the same and Monkey waved with a simple flick of the wrist. Then the village became smaller and smaller than it already was. When it was out of sight, (Y/n) sighed. She looked down and placed a hand on her japamala. Monkey noticed her pained smiled.
"You'll be back." he said.
"Right... But when?"
He thought for a moment. Then he placed a hand on her shoulder. She looked up at him.
"Hey, check this out." he smiled.
He stood up and took a long breath in, leaning back and puffing his chest. Then he blew all of the clouds away.
"Woah dude! Careful!" Yusheng said, almost going off course.
(Y/n)'s eyes widen and her jaw dropped. With the clouds out of the way, she could see the world below. It made her realize how high up they were. Monkey sat down and whispered to the dragon to go a tad slower, they happily obliged. At some point, a flock of birds flew by and (Y/n) stood up to try and touch one of them. Monkey smiled at how amazed she looked. One of the birds flew passed her too closely, making her lose her balance. With a 'woaw', Monkey grabbed her wrist so that she'd stay up. She looked at him and chuckled, embarrassed, then she took his hand to use as support as she stayed up. Monkey looked away, his cheeks a bit pinker. Once the birds were gone and she felt stabled, she slowly let go of Monkey's hand and lifted her arms in the air. A bug smile on her face, she let out a big 'Woooohoooo~!!!' and Monkey laughed.
Yusheng, being an experts on these things, wiggled in a way that'd make her fall right on Monkey's lap, facing up. They looked at each-other motionless, their eyes wide open, eventually, she giggled again as he cleared his throat. She sat back up and they both looked away, flustered.
"This is... amazing."
"Meh, 's'alright."
"Oh yeah," she looked at him. "you must be more used to your somersault cloud right?"
"Used to?" he looked at her with a raised eyebrow. "More like it *is* the best of the best when it comes to flying!"
"Is it?"
"Yeah! With it I could reach the horizon before you could even say Great Sage Equalling Heaven!"
"Too bad you can't summon it, I would've loved to fly on it."
"Look, I soon as I get it back, I'm taking you for a ride! It's gonna be the best flying experience you'll ever get in your life! I'll show you all the tricks in the book!"
"Tricks?"
"Yeah! There's the triple loop with 360 rotation, the flying serpent, the death drop is my favorite one though! It's the cherry on top, the grand finale! You go the highest point you can, then you..."
He then went on a tangent about the different tricks he could do on his cloud, and (Y/n) happily listened. With the big smile he had while talking, she couldn't help but smile too.