[Yeah, once again, I'm cutting this into two. Except this time, I'll make you wait a little bit before I publish part 2 ð Sorry not sorry~]
Because they already booked a room in an inn, (Y/n) and Monkey left Hou Yi for the night, but they made sure to pass by his house the next morning before leaving the town.
"Hopefully, you'll get your powers back by next year." he smiled.
"Heh, of course." Monkey smiled back.
(Y/n) waved as they walked away. Hou Yi waved back and watched them go. He looked at Monkey and chuckled to himself, recalling each time Monkey was annoyed, he noticed it was whenever he and (Y/n)'s 'romantic' escapade was mentioned. He didn't say it out loud, she didn't seem to have noticed and didn't want to embarrass her but...
"Never saw him being jealous before." he said to himself as he went back inside the house, amused.
Our two protagonists were once again on their way to Guan Yin's island. Monkey pointed at a mountain range in the horizon.
"Past these mountains we'll be able to see the ocean," he said. "where her island is."
"That's great! We're almost there then!" she smiled.
"Not really. It's like two horizons away."
"Horizons aren't measurements Monkey."
"What do you mean? It makes sense. We gotta go to the mountains, that's one horizon, then once we're there, the ocean will be at the horizon, that's two. We who fly always use this measurement." he folded his arms.
"That doesn't really mean anything to us then! You can't fly- well, you can but you can't take me with you. You told me why very clearly."
"..."
Monkey didn't say anything and looked away, up at the sky. (Y/n) noticed the melancholic look on his face.
"Do you miss flying?"
"Of course I do." he sighed. "Nothing's cooler than flying Well, except maybe transforming yourself, changing your size, duplicating yourself, tricking the most powerful of beings, busting in and out of Heaven's Palace multiple times, defeating the entire army of Hell and Heave-"
"Okay we get it you're amazing! Geez!" she picked up the pace to get away from him.
'Even when he's sad he brags about himself.' she shook her head.
They walked through a large meadow with colorful flowers, bees hovering around them. (Y/n) appreciated watching them while Monkey treated them like they were mosquitoes, ready to slap one if it landed on his arm. She'd stop him before he does it though. Suddenly they heard screaming in the distance. They turned towards it and saw a rather old-looking bear demon running away from a swarm of bees, their hives in his hands.
"Should we help him?" (Y/n) asked.
"I'd say he had it coming if he's dumb enough do steal a beehive."
She hummed, she couldn't help but feel bad for him.
"Try and jump in the river!" she exclaimed, raising her hands to her mouth.
The bear demon looked at her and yelled out in shock, stopping in his tracks. Bad move, he began to get stung multiple times. Both (Y/n) and Monket winced. Finally he let go of the beehive and blindly tried to run into the river. He instead tripped over a rock and landed face first on the ground. With the bees now gone, taking their hive with them, out two protagonists approached him.
"Are you okay sir?" she crouched.
"I know you bears like honey but I didn't know it'd smooth your brain like that." Monkey said.
"That's a stereotype!" the bear clumsily stood up, both his eyes swollen, along with multiple spots on his body.
"Oof." he whispered.
"I'll have you know that this honey is a key component of a very important thing my Lord is trying to make!"
"Your Lord?" (Y/n) repeated.
"Is he a chef or something?"
"No! That doesn't matter!" he took a fighting stand. "Now that I have the Great Sun Wukong in front of me, I'll just finish the job! And I'll take Golden Cicada and bring her to my Lord!"
(Y/n) and Monkey looked at each-other with big eyes, understanding what's going on before quickly stepping away from the demon, ready to fight while at the same time knowing this won't be much of a fight considering the state he was already in. The bear demon charged at them, although he did it blindly, Monkey still had to push (Y/n) away with how fast he was going. He gestured her not to speak since the demon's eyesight was pretty damaged, she nodded. The two of them would dodge his attacks and Monkey would land a couple of hits, but this one was tough. At some point, the bear began to be out of breath, he was able to open his eyes a little bit, but even then, he could only see two silhouettes.
"Heh, you lucky bastards." he smirked. "You've pushed me to use my secret weapon!"
They frowned, confused as he took out something from his pocket.
"Nian Zhen was kind enough to gift it to me, I won't let it go to waste!"
He then threw it at who he thought was (Y/n), instead it was thrown right at Monkey, who was simply unimpressed. This wasn't the first time someone threw a potion at him, poison, sleeping gas, fire cocktails, what's it gonna be now? However, now that this projectile was getting closer, he realized that it wasn't a potion, but a little crystal ball, like the ones in the mine, and this one was fully charged.
"What the-" Poof!
The crystal hit him, shattering into a cloud of smoke.
"Monkey!" (Y/n) shouted.
"Wait." the bear demon tapped his pockets. "Isn't that the one in my right pocket? So I hit him with the-Oh no!"
"Monkey are you okay?!" she called out again, ignoring the bear. "Monkey?"
"Not just any monkey."
The smoke dissipated and she flinched when she saw his face suddenly up close to hers, their nose almost touching. He looked...different. He was now the same height as her, even a few centimeters smaller. His clothes were baggier, except for his crown of course. His sharp features were now more rounded, she would call him cute if it wasn't for the mischievous smirk on his face. He looked...younger.
"I am *the* Monkey King!" he smiled, showing his smaller fangs and tapped her forehead with his index. "Don't forget it okay?"
"Wha... Huh?" she said under her breath.
"Speechless? I can't really blame you." he casually shrugged. "I mean look at me."
"You- How- What did you do?!" she looked at the bear demon but he was already running away, soon disappearing in the nearby forest. "Hey! Come back here! Turn him back!"
Monkey tilted his head then looked around.
"Say, care to explain what I'm doing here?"
"U-Um..." she looked at him. "What is the last thing you remember exactly?"
"Well I remember coming back to Flower Fruit Mountain after my long training and after getting some awesome powers." he puffed his chest. "I was welcomed like the king I am, even the demon lords came to the party!"
"...How old are you?"
"Twenty."
Her eyes widen.
"Oh my lord~," she rubbed her face then gestured towards him. "you're even younger than me!"
"I am?!"
"By one year but still!"
"Oh! You're my elder then!" he bowed.
'Respectful. That's a nice change I guess.'
"It's nice to have met you, but I should probably go back to the party, it's rude to leave a guest hanging. Bye~!"
He waved and turned away. He then jumped but landed on the ground.
"Huh?" he looked down at his feet and jumped again. "That's weird. Why can't I fly?"
"Please Monk- I mean, Wukong, please don't leave!" she quickly stood in front of him again, joining her hands as she plead. "It's a really long story but please listen."
"Sure, got all the time in the world now that me and my monkeys are immortal." he smiled.
'Everything about him is so different, it's so weird!'
Without giving away too much, she explained what happened to him: his emprisonnent in a giant crystal, the seal on his back and which powers he's regained so far, along with who she was and how they met.
"I see..." he thought, his arms folded as he was thinking. "I suppose that makes sense."
"Huh. I thought you wouldn't believe me." she said, a little relieved.
"I don't see why you'd lie to me about this. Besides, if you are lying, 'cause I will find out, I can just kill you." he smiled.
"Huh?" she let out, her smile frozen in shock.
'How can he say that so casually?!"
"So, that bear demon is the one that turned me into my younger self." he pointed towards the forest.
"Right, and we need to find him quickly!"
"No problem, I'm on it!"
With enthusiasm, he dashed away in a flash. Either he was faster in his younger age, or Monkey was slowing himself down all this time. (Y/n) had no idea but that didn't matter at the moment, she tried her best to follow him and though he was out of sight, she followed his voice as he called out for the demon, taunting him. At some point she heard the bear scream as well and eventually, in the distance, she saw Monkey and gasped when he killed the bear demon with a sharp blow to the head, who then turned back to his original form: an regular bear.
"Monkey!" she yelled out, angry.
"Please don't call me monkey." he gave her an annoyed side-eye as she ran up to him. "I'm the Monkey *King*!"
"Whatever! Wukong! Why did you kill him?!"
"What do you mean why did I kill him? Now the problem's gone." he gestured towards the corpse.
"How are we supposed to find an antidote if he's dead!"
"It's obviously on him, duh."
Monkey calmly crouched down and searched in the bear's ripped off pants. He took out another crystal ball from his left pocket and inspected it for a moment. He hummed to himself before tossing it in his mouth. (Y/n) cringed a little bit when she heard the noise of shattered glass inside his mouth. Monkey swallowed and right after doing that, his cheeks puffed up as the sound of a muffled explosion resonated from inside his stomach. He looked surprised, but nothing more as he placed a hand on his stomach.
"That wasn't it."
"Oh was it not? Was it not?!" she covered her face in frustration, looking up at the sky. "What are we supposed to do now~?" she glared at him. "Good job Wukong!"
"Would you relax?" he frowned, folding his arms. "It's not like he was gonna talk anyway."
"You could've at least try! Why was killing him the first option?!"
"I'm sorry who are you to talk to me like that human?" his eyes narrowed. "Telling me to give up on one of my favorite things to do."
"I'll tell you, I'm your master!" she pointed at him.
His expression fell in surprise as (Y/n) tried not to look nervous. She didn't talk about his journey to the west, and she decided to use that to her advantage. If this younger Sun Wukong was so casual about killing, if he was more murder-happy, then it would be best to keep him under control. She didn't like controlling him - or anyone for that matter - which was why she never called herself Monkey's new master before. But this time would be an exception, she didn't want this situation to turn into a bloody disaster.
"Master I am so sorry!" he quickly bowed down.
'He's more naive, thank Heaven I guess.'
"Was not killing a rule before?" he asked.
"Never as a first resort." she looked over the corpse and sighed. "But it's too late now."
"No worries Master, I have a solution!" he pointed at himself with a thumb on his chest.
He turned over and began to knock on the ground with his staff, hard enough for her to feel the earth shaking a little bit beneath her feet.
"Come out Earth God! My Master and I need your help!" he called out. "I may have only three of my powers now, but that only means the process of destroying your entire land will be very slow, so hurry up!"
(Y/n) questioned his choice of words but the thought of seeing a second Earth God in her life made her eagerly look around. Monkey stopped knocking to listen closely. A moment of silence passed.
"Is it safe?" they heard a frail voice, but saw no one.
She figured the God must've saw everything that happened, so that must mean he wasn't talking about the bear, but about Monkey.
"Don't worry," she said. "could you come out please? We really need your help."
Then, from behind a tree, a little old man popped his head out from behind a nearby tree. He looked similar to another Earth God she knew.
"Shu-hui?"
Right after she said this name, he disappeared into the earth in a little cloud of smoke, only to then reappear right in front of her, making her yelp in surprise.
"So he did tell you his name!"
"Oh, so you're not him. I'm sorry." she bowed and Monkey, standing behind her, imitated her.
Now that he was closer, she did see the difference. While Shu-hui's eyebrows were almost hiding his eyes, this God's long white beard was hiding his mouth. He had no cane and his bald head looked more like a potato than a turnip.
"You know Shu-hui?" she asked.
"Of course, he's my little brother."
"Oh! It's nice to meet you!" she bowed again, Monkey imitated her again.
"Why, the feeling's mutual!" his face beamed. "You know, words spread fast among Earth Gods. And after what happened back on Shu-hui's hills, pretty much everyone knows about you two now!"
(Y/n) and Monkey exchanged a look. He wasn't confused though, of course something amazing happened and he was involved. But he was curious to know what exactly happened.
"Ehehe." she smiled, blushing. "Really?"
She began playing with her fingers, giggling like a young girl in front of her crush. Monkey nudged her, surprising himself.
"Master! I am so sorry! Are you okay?!" he asked in a panic.
"It's okay Wukong." she raised a hand. "It's just something you do."
As she turned back to the Earth God, he looked down at his open hand. He moved on his own, as if his instinct made him do it. Maybe it was his former - well, future - self, dormant within him. But still, he frowned slightly as he looked back at her. When he nudged her, he really thought she'd punish him, but she didn't.
"But that doesn't matter right now," the God said, panicked again. "I need your help!"
"Hey, we asked first." Monkey pointed.
"I know, I want to help but I'm not as powerful anymore. I made too many children!"
"What?"
"I was lonely, so I made children to keep me company. Now they're even more powerful than me."
(Y/n) and Monkey exchanged another look, this time they were both confused.
"...How do you make children exactly?" he asked.
"I don't think now's the time for this conversation!" she immediately exclaimed.
"Do not worry miss, the way we do it is completely different." the God explained. "We Earth Gods use our powers to grow children in the ground, like vegetables."
"Oh. Well then."
"And so you see, I grew a lot of them, so I'm left with very little energy. My children themselves aren't much either, but only individually. Together they must be powerful enough to turn young Sun Wukong six hundred again!"
"I'm six hundred years old?!" Monkey exclaimed, shocked but happy.
"So you see, if you want help, you need them." the God continued. "But right now, they are scattered all around my land. They covered their track so I don't know where they are!"
"How many are there?"
"Twenty-five."
"Okay wait," Monkey said. "why didn't you go look for them yourself in the first place?"
"An old man like me? Plus, you really think they'd let any stranger find them, *especially* their dad?"
"He's got a point." (Y/n) leaned towards him and whispered. "It's a kid thing." she looked back at the God. "But won't they try getting away from us?"
"I am a bit worried." he quickly glanced at Monkey. "But you miss are a kind person, and they sense these things."
She suppressed another giggle. Being praised by a god made her heart skip a beat.
"We'll find them!" she nodded, determined.
"Oh please do! I heard one of them even got kidnapped!"
"What?! Oh no! By who?!"
"A very influential merchant in the city down the road. He's like greed incarnated, which is why I told my kids never to go there!" he pointed at a direction. "This man basically controlled the place before. But now that he has my child-"
"We'll get them back don't worry." she cut him off, talking about it seem to only make him more and more worry. "What do your children look like?"
"They look like mandoras."
"Uh... Mandoras?" she glanced at Monkey, he didn't seem to know either.
"You know, like the game mandor- You'll know when you see them." he waved a hand.
"If you say so. Thank you Sir." she bowed one more time, Monkey imitating her yet again, before walking away to the direction of the town.
On the way out of the forest, (Y/n) noticed more and more differences in Monkey, down to the way he walked.
'This really is a completely different person...' she thought, a bit weirded out. 'I guess that's what six hundred years will do to you.'
"Master?" he walked backwards in front of her. "Master, how was I before?" he asked, but then thought for a second with his index on his chin. "Rather, how *will* I be in the future?"
"Um..." she looked away. "I don't think I should tell you."
"Why~?!"
'Oh my lord, hearing him whine is so weird!'
"We don't know how this whole thing works." she gestured towards him. "I don't want to change the way you'll act out your life. So no spoilers."
"Oww~ At least tell me if I'm still cool!"
"Still? You're always cool Wukong."
"Huh?" he stopped and she walked passed him. "... thank you Master."
But she noticed he didn't sound very thankful, as he followed her again, she also noticed he was more quiet than before. Seeing his reaction, she realized that her correction was more of a compliment.
'Maybe he's not used to compliments.' she thought.
A full thirty seconds passed before he went back to his young cheerful self and asked more questions.
"Can you tell me this: do I meet the Jade Emperor?"
"...You do. Multiple times."
"Ahaha~! I knew it! Is he as powerful as they say?"
"Um...I wouldn't know, I've never met him myself. But he must be if he's the Jade Emperor."
"What about the bad guy pursuing us? What is he like?"
"Again, spoilers."
He frowned with a pout.
"Have we ever encountered him?"
"Well you have, but I've never..." she trailed off. "I...don't think I even know his name."
"You don't know his name?"
"It's not like we're looking for him, not in the state you're in right now." she scratched her cheek. "But sometimes, we'd stumble upon one of his generals."
"Ooo! I hope we see one before I turn back to normal!" he exclaimed with an excited smile.
(Y/n) smiled and chuckled. Except she didn't chuckle, someone else did. The two of them stopped and looked back. She saw nothing out of the ordinary, Monkey however...
"This rock Master. I sense something." he leaned towards her and pointed at this one rock.
"A rock..." she mumbled, her eyes narrowed as she approached it. "You told me once that Earth Gods would sometimes turn into rocks to spy on people."
"They would? I didn't know that-Oh!" he started to snicker. "Isn't that a spoiler Master?"
"I-No," she pointed at him. "that doesn't count if it's just general information! Anyway."
She turned back to the rock, now standing in front of his, it was big enough to reach the middle of her calf. She crouched down and looked at it, not really knowing what to do. Hesitantly, she tapped the top of it with the tip of her finger and quickly retracted it when the rock giggled at her touch. She blinked twice but then found the determination to knock on the rock like you'd do with a door. With a puff of smoke, the rock turned into a tiny creature. At the sight of it, (Y/n) gasped and covered her mouth. With the same height was a chubby little thing with smooth skin, tiny arms, tiny legs, and a little chubby face. There were also two leaves growing out of the top of its head. This was simply the cutest thing she's ever seen in her life. Now, she still had no idea what a mandora was, but the name suited this little guy perfectly. It spun around, happy to see someone new, and looked up at her.
"Oh my lord~! Hi~!" she waved at it.
It waved back, making a little noise. She looked back at Monkey, her eyebrows furrowed and her lips pursued like she was silently squealing. He looked unimpressed however. He wasn't one for cute, cool and badass was more his thing.
"Oh you adorable little thing~!" she picked it up and stood up. "You know, your dad is very worried about you and your siblings."
It looked down, making a sadder noise. She suppressed another squeal.
"Now listen, we're about to go pick up one of them in the human city."
It smiled, excited. It didn't seem to be aware its sibling was basically kidnapped.
"But we can't take you with us, it could be dangerous. But once we come back, could you help us find your other siblings?"
It huffed with a pout.
"Please~? It'll be like a big game of hide and seek."
The little god suddenly became more excited and nodded. (Y/n) allowed herself to gently pinch its cheek before letting it down on the ground.
"Thank you~! We'll be back!" she waved as her and Monkey walked away.
"Don't you dare try to hide from us again, or else..."
It shrieked in fear. (Y/n) nudged him.
"Monkey!"
"Stop calling me that!" he huffed. "Is it what you called me before?"
"It's your nickname yeah."
"That's a terrible nickname and I hate it."
She sighed.
"Fine, I'm sorry, I'll be more careful next time."
He clicked his tongue. What frustrated him the most about this was her reaction.
"So you're my master?"
"Yeah."
She expected a follow up question, but there was none. Truth was, he forced himself not to ask it.
Once they left the forest, they saw a city not far from them. As they approached, (Y/n) noticed they were a lot of people and she looked over at Monkey.
"You're not gonna transform?"
"Huh?" he looked at her with a tilted head. "What do you mean?"
"Oh, um...nothing." the way he asked that made her hesitant to continue. "It's just that, sometimes, you'd turn yourself into a human when we come in a town."
He stopped walking, right in front of the city's entrance. She looked back at him and she regretted what she said. He looked genuinely offended.
"...Are you ashamed of me Master?" he asked, his voice sounding a little sad.
"What? No! I would never-"
"Then why do you want me to hide who I am?"
"I'm not! I just-"
"What about him?!"
He pointed his staff at an innocent passerby on his way out of the city, making him stop in his tracks, completely confused and scared. (Y/n) gasped.
"Would you be ashamed if this man was your disciple?!"
"No! You're my only disciple!"
"That's right! I am who I am!
"Look I'm sorry okay?! Please let him go!"
The two of them looked into each-other's eyes for a moment more before Monkey lowered his staff. The man, unsure at first, quickly ran away.
"Why are you apologizing?" he said under his breath.
"What?"
Monkey didn't say anything and walked in the town. (Y/n) let out a relieved sigh before following him.
As soon as they stepped in, she began to be called out by multiple salesmen. Now, in the beginning of their journey, she would stop and talk to them, happy to be approached by friendly-looking people, Monkey had to drag her out of the conversation before she'd be tricked into buying anything. Now she learned her lesson and just ignored them all. They were a lot more than usual, she noted.
"Keep walking." she quietly said to Monkey when he sent her a confused look.
Looking around, she noticed the tower in the middle of the city right away.
'The Earth God did say the merchant was very influential. So maybe this is it.'
On the way to the city center, she also noticed how all of the shops and general establishments had a sign on them, and it was the same name everytime: 'Property of Hung Ch'ien'.
"What a name." she mumbled to herself with a raised eyebrow before she heard yelling behind her.
She turned around and saw Monkey eating a raw fish. It surprised her at first to see him eat meat, but then she figured that he became vegetarian after becoming a Buddhist, when he met Tripitaka.
"Where'd you get that?"
"It was hanging with other fishies-"
'Fichies?!?!?!'
"-out in the open over there. It looked tasty so I took one." he pointed behind him, where she saw an tall, angry looking man running towards them.
"Oh boy." she mumbled as she stood in between the two men.
"This demon punk stole from me!" he pointed at Monkey, who looked liked he was used to have people calling him a punk and yelling at him, if anything, he looked amused.
"I am so sorry sir." she bowed. "My frie- uh, my disciple isn't being himself today. I'll pay for the fish." she opened her bag and looked into her bag, looking for her wallet. "How much is it?"
"150 copper coins."
"A hundred and fifty coins?!" she exclaimed, louder than expected. "For one fish?!"
"Is he ripping us off Master?" Monkey leaned in.
"A fish that size is usually only ten coins max."
"That's basically stealing!" he exclaimed, matching (Y/n)'s volume.
"What you did is straight up stealing!"
"Alright, alright." (Y/n) raised her hands, not wanting this argument to go on for too long. "Are you sure this is the right price? This isn't a whole tuna."
"Lady, I don't make the rules ai'ght? I don't fix the prices, the owner does." he nodded towards the tall building.
She glanced at it with a frown before smiling politely.
"How about, we go fish a fish exactly like this one and we bring it back to you?"
The merchant laughed, even Monkey shook his head in second hand embarrassment.
"You know what?" he said. "There might be a way for us to come to an understanding. Follow me."
(Y/n) was relieved, it wouldn't be the first time she'd have to work to pay for her food after all. She was oblivious to the merchant's true intention, but Monkey sensed something was about to go down. With all the fights he's been in 'recently', he has developed a sixth sense for these things. And though six hundred years later, it wasn't as sharp as before, right now it was. He led them, not back to his shop, but to an alleyway. Passerby's would quickly glance at them before picking up the pace. (Y/n), only once they stopped, realized what was going on. She turned around, ready to run with Monkey, but saw that a group of men were blocking the way. She felt a twist in her stomach as she looked back at the merchant.
"Look," she said, her hands shaking slightly. "please don't do this."
"I'm sorry lady." he cracked is knuckles. "Business is business, nothing personal."
"Doesn't have to be this way, if you'd just hand over the cash." one of the men said.
"That's almost everything I have! Please!"
"Oh well." the merchant took a long stick one of his colleague handed to him. "No use in begging, as I said, it's just busin-."
"I'm not begging." she shook her head. "I'm saying this is a bad idea."
He was about to ask her what she meant, but then he saw her nervously gulping and looking at her demon disciple from the corner of her eyes. He was still eating, only slower, and staring at him dead in the eyes, as if he was waiting. The merchant frowned, a bit creeped out for a second, but he shook it off and looked back at her.
"Whatever! If you're not gonna pay, then we'll just take the money from you!"
He raised up his weapon but before he could even attempt to hit her with it, Monkey was suddenly behind him. He jumped, took his head with one hand and slammed his skull into the ground. (Y/n) gasped in horror and covered her mouth when she saw the blood.
"All of this for coins, and all these coins for a fish." he stood up, sighing as he threw away the fish's carcass. "Humans."
He looked over at the other men, waiting to see if they'll do anything. They were hesitant, then one of them took advantage of (Y/n)'s shock and took her hostage, restraining her arms. She struggled as the others went to attack Monkey. One of them tried to hit him, but he jumped just in time and landed on the guy's head, making him fall, just then, another one tried to strike him from behind, but he used his tail to take his wrist and throw him aside. This went on for a while, but in the end, they all dropped dead.
"What...Wha-what the hell?" the man keeping (Y/n) hostage said with a shaky voice.
She kicked his foot, catching him off guard and then hit his stomach with her elbow. She broke free from him and just as she backed away, Monkey ran passed her and jumped on who was now the last man standing. He grabbed him by the neck and brought him to his knees so he could look down on him. The man looked beyond terrified.
"Wukong! Let him go!"
"What?!" he quickly looked at her, shocked and outraged. "They attacked us first!"
"Yes, I know that! But come on, he learned his lesson!"
The man intensely nodded, but Monkey ignored him and kept glaring at her.
"Well then tell me: what does my future self would do exactly in these situations huh?!" he shook the man a little bit. "Give them a slap on the wrist?!"
"Of course not! Just a few punches is enough for them to understand that we're way stronger than them."
They looked into each-other's eyes for a moment that felt like longer. Finally, he let the man go, who didn't waste time running away. Still not looking away from her, he kicked his staff in the air to catch it in his hand and walked up to her.
"No. *I'm* stronger." he said between his teeth as he walked passed her.
Once he was out of sight, she exhaled, realizing she's been holding her breath.
'Twenty years old huh?' she looked back at him for a second before following him.
On the way to the tower, neither of them talked. And (Y/n) was both happy, and unsettled about it. For once, she didn't really want to talk to him, given that most of their interactions so far have ended in them arguing. But because of that, on the other hand, something about his silence felt wrong. Like when they entered Shu-hui's hills. Except this time, instead of making her sad, it made her a bit scared, given how unpredictable this Wukong was. She sighed, not knowing what to do.
'We gotta turn him back to his present self quickly.'
Once they reached the tower, they saw there was a line. Monkey froze.
"Why did I shiver just now?" he asked, frowning and confused.
She shrugged and they entered. She talked to the receptionist who gave her a form to fill out.
"Cause of visit..." she read when she and Monkey sat in a corner to write. "I don't think they'll accept 'potential kidnapping incident'."
"Why potential? The guy clearly did it!"
"We don't know if this is Ch'ien guy is even here, it could be the home of a noble or something. If it's not him, then we'll ask for direction, maybe even help." she thought for a moment. "I'll just write 'prices too high, need more money'."
"I really don't understand humans' deal with money." he shrugged and shook his head as they walked back to the receptionist. "If you're worthy of something, you should have it for free, no questions asked."
She smiled.
"It's nice to see some things didn't change after all these years."
"Why of course, it's the perfect logic!"
She chuckled and handed the form back to the lady at reception. She read through it then gave them a little piece of paper with a number on it, telling them to wait in line. Thing is, with how long the line was and with how slow it was going, they'll probably reach the top of the tower at nightfall. The thought of it made Monkey shiver again. Waiting in line was making him nervous and didn't know why, though he figure it was yet another remnant of his future self. And even without this remnant, waiting in line was so boring that it hurt him.
"I can't take this anymore." he finally said.
"It's been a minute."
He put his hands on her shoulders like he needed support from all the pain.
"Please please *please* can we do something about this?" he looked up at her with pleading eyes. "Please?"
"Okay okay! Just please don't look at me like that." she looked away and removed his hands from her. "I'm really not used to it."
"Ah~ thank you thank you!" he began rolling his shoulders, readying himself. "This will take a second."
(Y/n) felt her heart sink and her mind began racing.
"Or!" she said, he looked back at her. "We could try the...fun way?"
"But killing *is* fun."
"Sure," she said, trying to sound convinced. "but how about this..."
"You know what, you were right. This is also fun." Monkey smiled with his hands on his hips as he looked at the crowd of screaming people running away while (Y/n) was panting beside him.
This has been an exhausting hour for sure. She and Monkey came up with various ways to scare off the people in front of them. Turn into a bee and sting them, roll up their leg as a snake, (Y/n) faked a very highly contagious decease, one time Monkey turned into a statue and walked around to make it look like the place was haunted. The people started freaking out, and because they always went a step further, at some point the whole lobby was almost empty. (Y/n) and Monkey smiled at each-other and high-fived.
"Number 775!"
"Ah! That's us!" (Y/n) nudged him before rushing to the main office at the top of the tower.
They were led to a large room where a whole entourage was surrounding a kid, around fourteen years old, sitting on a large comfy chair that was way too big for him. (Y/n) froze when she saw him.
"Um...hi?" she said, looking at the adults in the room for an explanation.
"Don't look at the adults!" the kid exclaimed. "Look at me!"
"Sorry! I'm just...Are you Hung Ch'ien?"
"My dad is, but he and my mom aren't here right now so *I*, Taio Ch'ien, am taking over!"
"Your parents really left you to control the whole city?"
"W-well, they didn't per say. They just kinda left on short noticed because of very important business."
"Oh, I'm sorry."
"N-nothing to be sorry about! It's natural that they'd leave the business to me! They know I'd be alright!"
"Really?"
'Sounds like you just took their place without permission.'
"Whatever! If you're here to waste my time you can just leave now!"
"N-no! Please wait!"
"Then what do you want?!"
(Y/n) gulped, he didn't look like royalty, but he sure acted like it: all snobbish and short-tempered. Looking around, she didn't see the baby Earth God anywhere. She already angered him, she'll have to be careful with what she says if she wanted to get information out of him. She stood in front of the merchant a few meters away, Monkey behind her.
"First of all," she bowed. "thank you for allowing an audience with you to us travelers."
Taio stayed silent. She felt ignored but she kept her head down, waiting for him to speak before standing up again. He extended a hand towards one of his servants, who then gave him the form she was given. He slowly read it, purposefully taking his time before finally looking at her.
"(Y/n) right?"
She inhaled as she stood straight, trying to stay patient with this kid.
"Yes." she exhaled.
"I see you're here to complain about prices yet again." he sinked into his chair, sighing. "I've already said it too many time can someone else say it?"
"The prices are this high for a reason." "How else will the economy expand." "Plus there are other factors at play here, it's a real estate thing." "Very complex and hard for you to understand." his entourage said one by one.
"Actually," (Y/n) said. "I kinda lied when I said why I came here."
Taio raised an eyebrow, but didn't seem more interested.
"Because..." she continued. "I don't think I would've been let in with the real reason I'm here." she paused. "You see, while me and my disciple went through the forest, we found an Earth God."
He leaned closer, now he was really listening.
"He seemed really distressed, he said his child went missing."
She decided not to speak of the other children, if this kid knew, he might go on a hunt.
"And...Since you're so influential you're basically leading this city, I thought you should know."
This stroke of ego worked, now he looked pleased and more open to conversation.
"Well I appreciate it." he nodded. "Did this God say anything more?"
"Um...Oh! Yes he did! He said whoever brings his child back to him will get a reward."
"A reward you say?"
"A reward? What are you-?" Monkey asked but (Y/n) shut him up by discreetly kicking his leg.
"Yes." she nodded. "He didn't say what, but he is a God, I'm sure it's something very valuable."
"Ah, I see." he leaned back in his chair with a larger smile. "Negotiations are open."
"...Negotiations?" she tilted her head, not liking where this is going.
"Tell this God that if he wants his kid back, he'll have to be upfront about this reward. Oh no wait!" he raised both his indexes. "I just had a stroke of genius! As an Earth God, he watches over the land right? So he basically owns it, right?" he smirked. "I want his land."
"Wha-what?" she stuttered, baffled, as was his entire entourage. "I...I don't think that's how it works."
"Oh so he doesn't want his precious plushie back? Figured, all adults are the same."
"Plushie?! They aren't toys!" she exclaimed.
"Have you seen it? It's totally a plushie!" he clapped his hands. "And until I become landlord, it'll stay my plushie!" he giggled, daydreaming. "Landlord~, mom and dad will be so proud! I'm taking such good care of the business!" he raised his hands in victory.
Out of a door came a servant holding a cage with a paper seal on it, in the cage was another baby Earth God. It was all curled up and was whining sadly for help. (Y/n)'s heart shattered seeing this, and from the look of the servant, he wasn't too proud either. Suddenly, Monkey dashed and jumped, ready to get to the servant and take the cage. (Y/n) felt her stomach twist as she could only imagine the carnage that would result from this.
"Monkey stop!!!" she immediately yelled out.
Monkey suddenly cried in pain and fell on the floor, rolling around and gripping his crown. Taio was shocked into silence for a moment before ordering they get kicked out.
"Wait! No!" (Y/n) protested as guards grabbed her arms and picked up Monkey. "This child isn't yours! You don't get to keep it just because your jealous of his father's love!"
"Wha- That's a load of bull! I got plenty of love from my dad! Look at all the playmates he left me!" he gestured to his entourage, who don't awkwardly looked away. "Get those poor people out of here! Her and her creepy monkey!"
"This is wrong and you know it!" she exclaimed as they were dragged out of the tower.
"Sorry miss, but you saw the prices, we need this job." one of the guards said. "And as long as he's Hung Ch'ien's son, he can do whatever he wants."
"But why? His parents clearly don't care."
"But they do care about their business and its image. Plus they're not here to tell him off." they stopped once they were in the doorway. "Again, sorry."
They threw the two of them out, (Y/n) stumbled and Monkey fell on the ground, the crown's curse only stopping as the door closed. She clenched her fists.
"Dammit!" she kicked the ground in anger.
"What the hell was that?!"
She turned around and saw Monkey pointing at his crown. He did not look happy.
"I can explain." she said. "This is a cursed crown put on you by your former master."
"Former Master?! I had another master before you?! Would've been great to tell me about this!" he walked closer to her. "Why did you stop me? I could've easily killed the human kid and his guards!"
"Keyword here being *kid*!"
"We could've freed that baby in less than thirty seconds but no~! We don't kill here!"
"No we do not! Not when the target's a kid or just people doing their job!"
He looked away for a moment and let out a 'heh', shaking his head in disbelief.
"You know what my old master would've done if I spoke to him the way I'm speaking to you right now?!" he pointed at her. "He'd lock me up in the training room and he'd make me do handstand pushups all night with a bolder attached my back! And I'd gladly do it! What kind of a master are you?! Huh?! You compliment me, you apologize, and on top of it all, you, don't, kill. Literally *the* most effective way to get rid of your ennemies!"
"I wanted to, once." she said with a grave voice. "I wanted to kill the demon responsible for my father's death."
"And what happened to that?"
"You stopped me."
His expression fell. First he was shocked, but then his expression turned furious.
"No I didn't."
"You did."
"No I didn't! You're lying!" he leaned towards her.
"I'm not lying!" she leaned towards him, their forehead almost touching.
They glared at each-other for a moment.
"You know what?" he pointed at her as he slowly leaned back. "I don't think I wanna turn back to my old self anymore."
"Come on, you don't mean that."
"Yes I do! Because I've realized that all these years has made him *soft*." he pressed on the word as if it was the harshest insult he could ever say to someone. "Or maybe it's your fault! You're his master! You're not meant to be friends, you're meant to lead!" he pushed her shoulder. "And instead you're taking on this journey like it's a field trip!" he pushed her again. "Fawning over babies and waiting in lines like a diligent child!" he pushed her again, this time with both hands.
"Cut it out!" she exclaimed, holding her shoulder in pain.
"And now you're whining! Why don't you just use that curse like before huh?!" he pushed her again.
"I didn't mean to do it!"
"So you're unwillingly punishing me?! That's almost laughable! Where's the authority?! Where's the control?!"
He pushed her one last time, making her fall on the ground. She looked at him as he looked down at her. There was no hatred in his eyes, just frustration and disappointment.
"You're weak. You're soft."
Even though he wasn't yelling anymore, these final words echoed in her mind.
"Soft...?" she gritted her teeth, feeling a fire growing in her chest. "Soft?!"
She kicked him in the calve, as he lost his balance she stood up and punched him in the face. But he was unfazed by that, he let her hit him so he could grab her wrist and throw her on the ground once again. Laying on her back, he sat on her stomach, preventing her from moving, and grabbed her by the collar, bringing her face closer to his.
"Look at you!" he shook her. "You can't even control your emotions you struck the Monkey King himself! And for what huh?! For what?!" he slowly raised his fist. "Well I hope your nerves are feeling better now."
Her face became as pale as a sheet and she felt her blood freeze. But she forced herself to look him in the eyes with a glare, refusing to show any fear, although her shaking body was giving her away. She held her breath, braising herself for an impact that will surely leave her without a jaw. But really, this would be the best case scenario. Truth was: she won't survive that punch. Begging for mercy would've been the preferable option right about now, but not only was her pride not letting her do that, but her voice was also stuck in her throat. Tears started forming in her eyes, but she didn't blink so that they wouldn't flow down as she still looked Monkey in the eyes. Meanwhile, he still hasn't moved. They were so engulfed in the moment, neither of them realized how much time has passed.
Finally, he let her go, and he stood up.
"Go on. But don't expect me to help you." he said with a cold voice and expression.
She watched as he left, jumping from roof to roof. When he was out of sight, she let her head fall back on the ground and looked up at the sky, panting slightly. She bit her lower lip.
"What am I supposed to do now?" she said with a little voice.