Qiuyu was... Well one thing for sure was that he enjoyed himself- well, he enjoyed the group's company, less the 'tied up and carried around' thing. He'd take every opportunity to take a jab at Monkey to annoy him. Monkey at some point also tied a cloth around his head to gag him. Whenever the group would stop to eat, Monkey would give Qiuyu to one of his duplicates and the two of them would sit at a certain distance from the rest of the group.
"Just when you and Nian Zhen got on better terms..." (Y/n) sighed as they ate.
"Gotta say." said young demon whispered, leaning closer to her. "One thing I noticed is that, whenever Wukong meets someone new, he always starts off by hating their guts."
"Oh come on, he's not-" she stopped herself and thought for a moment. "...Maybe. We surely didn't start off on the right foot."
"You and him???" her and the Horse's eyes widen, baffled.
"Yeah..." she scratched her cheek. "In fact we... We'd get into arguments all the time." she chuckled, her eyebrows furrowed. "It was a loooong week let me tell you."
They laughed.
"Again!" the original Monkey frowned. "That guy's a completely different case!" he pointed at Qiuyu, who noticed and nodded since he couldn't wave.
"Can he at least be allowed to eat?" (Y/n) tilted her head.
Monkey looked over at the captured's well built body.
"He has meat to spare, he'll be fine." he turned back to his meal.
Her and the Horse exchanged a look.
"How are we supposed to know if he doesn't mean any harm if we don't even give him the opportunity to prove it to us?"
"Get creative, I dunno."
She heard laughter and looked back to see the duplicate taunt him with a fruit.
"Monkey! Leave him be!" she exclaimed, making him and the original flinch. "That's it, I'll share with him!" she stood up.
"(Y/n) no!" he quickly stood up and wrapped his arms around her waist from behind. "Don't let him get you with the pity card!" he sat back down, with her now on his lap. "What if he turns into a spider demon as soon as you get within eating range?" he whispered in her ear.
"O-okay! Okay!" she struggled, blushing. "Just let me go already!"
Although he couldn't see it, he could easily picture her embarrassed face with precise accuracy. Also her ears were red. He kissed one of them, then the other, then the back of her head.
"Monkey!" she blindly hit him.
He snickered and let her go. She quickly crawled away while glaring at him. The subject was dropped entirely and he made a mental note:
'Don't wanna talk? Kiss!' he nodded to himself, smirking.
Still (Y/n) would sometimes glance at Qiuyu. He didn't look like he minded this whole situation, but her eyebrows furrowed slightly.
The night has set, the fire has went out a while ago and Qiuyu was having difficulty finding a good sleeping position, on account of being tied up. He heard footsteps and quickly sat up, looking over to whoever was approaching. He relaxed when he saw (Y/n) and the Horse. The young woman was holding a ration of food.
"We're going to remove your gag." she whispered. "Please don't make any noise, or try anything. I'd hate for us to fight. Okay?"
He nodded. The Horse went behind him and munched the gag off.
"Also, I have to warn you," she continued as she sat in front of him. "the Horse is actually a very powerful dragon. Even Monkey had trouble dealing with him."
"Heh, figured he was no ordinary animal." he smiled.
The Horse huffed through his nose. (Y/n) began to feed Qiuyu, with the sound of crickets in the distance.
"So..." she spoke. "You said you've been traveling for centuries."
"Mmh." he munched, then swallowed. "Yep, pretty sure I went across the whole country by now."
"Where do you come from?"
He stayed silent, long enough for her to tilt her head. She was just about to ask if something was wrong when he suddenly spoke again.
"Oh boy." he rolled his head. "Seems like this old geezer can't even remember. But hey," he shrugged. "if I've forgotten, then it probably wasn't all that important."
"Ow, that's sad." she bluntly said. "Remembering where you come from is important."
"See, I disagree." he tilted his head, as if it became heavier all of a sudden. "If what you say is true, what about the ones who come from nowhere? Or from a hellhole?"
She blinked twice, taken aback.
"That's...a good point. I suppose."
She looked down, thinking. Not wanting her to, he changed the subject.
"Ah, but why are we talking about me for?"
'Maybe because you're the one we don't trust?'
"Tell me Boss-"
"Boss?!"
"Ssssh~."
The three of them looked over at Monkey, motionless. He just grunted and rolled over. (Y/n) silently sighed before her and Qiuyu faced each-other again.
"Why are you being so nice? Don't you trust your boyfriend's judgement?"
"I-I do." she nodded. "I do not trust you, that doesn't mean I think you're a bad guy." she handed him another piece of food. "...I just don't know you."
"Ah~ is that why you're here?" he leaned a bit closer, smiling.
"That, and obviously I want you to eat."
He took the food, careful not to bite her.
"It's fine you know." he said before swallowing. "I can go a week and a half before passing out from starvation."
"That's...Unfortunate that you know that." her eyebrows furrowed.
"Eh." he shrugged. "But do you know what I really can't not have?"
She leaned closer with a hum.
"Water."
"Shoot!" she gave herself a little hit on the forehead. "I forgot."
The Horse pressed his chin on the top of her head, reminding her to be quiet.
"Thanks Horse." she patted him.
Qiuyu chuckled as she stood up to go get some water, and he did it again when she apologized for forgetting. When she and the Horse went back to sleep, he stared at them for a little while, to make sure they weren't pretending, before laying down himself (a pretty tedious process when, again, your arms were tied behind your back).
As our protagonists were walking along the road, Monkey made sure Qiuyu walked in the middle of it, pushing him back in place whenever he'd step out of that invisible line. (Y/n), the Horse and Nian Zhen watched, the ladder of which found it ridiculously hilarious to see the Monkey King this paranoid. But when he stopped the whole group for the sixth time, she began to find this just plain ridiculous.
"What is it now?!" she asked.
Qiuyu shrugged with a muffled hum.
"Don't act all innocent!" Monkey leaned closer to him, so that he doesn't look in (Y/n)'s general direction. "Don't think I didn't see you looking for a way to escape, not like that was going to work!"
"Oh my lord," Nian Zhen rubbed her face before glaring at him. "again?!"
She looked over at (Y/n), but she seemed to be in deep thoughts. The Horse nodded then gestured to his back.
"Nah man," Monkey shook his head. "what if he brainwashes you as soon as he's on your back?"
His eyes widen, neighing in surprise.
"Yeah, just by touch, than can happen! I respect the self sacrifice though." he gave him a thumb up.
The two of them nodded in recognition.
"Sacrifice?!" Nian Zhen frowned. "Pretty sure the guy just looked off to the side."
Qiuyu nodded.
"Don't make excuses for him!"
"(Y/n) please, stop this madness!" she turned to her with a pleading look.
The young woman stayed silent for a moment, then she let out an 'oh!'.
"I know!" she pointed at Monkey. "You know what you remind me of?"
Everyone just looked at her, confused.
"You remind me of Bao and his brigade, when we went on top of that mountain together."
Monkey scoffed, offended to no end.
"Oh I'm sooooorry!" he waved his hands. "You're right, it's silly of me to want to protect you from certain death!"
Nian Zhen and the Horse frowned.
"...You *guys*." he slowly said.
The young demon scoffed.
"You don't even care about us do you?!"
"Well excuse me for putting the love of my life on the pedestal she deserves!"
(Y/n) blushed as she silently gasped. Nian Zhen rolled her eyes.
"We get it! You're in love! When are you gonna act normal about it?!"
"The hell are you- Wait." he placed a hand on her shoulders. "Do you realize what is happening kid?"
"You're being a total jerk-"
"No!" he shook her and pointed at Qiuyu. "He's pinning us against each-other! Fiend!"
"He didn't do anything!" both her and (Y/n) exclaimed.
Qiuyu's shoulders dropped, even with the cloth covering his mouth, they could tell he had a deadpan expression on his face.
"It's mental powers guys." he rolled his eyes like they didn't notice the obvious. "You can't *see* those things."
"Monkey." (Y/n), looking into his eyes, went up to him. "I swear to the gods and Heaven above. If we don't get a move on, I will slap the soul out of you."
"Pffff. You couldn't do it even if you tried." he smirked. "My soul's *way* too powerful for that."
"Move!!!" the two women exclaimed.
"Uurh fine!" he took one of his hair out. "But I'm putting him in a box-"
"Nonono no!" (Y/n) waved an arm in front of him to stop him. "This is looking less and less like precautions and more and more like an actual kidnapping!"
"It's all about having control of the situation Peaches."
"Oh and I'm sure you hate not having that huh?" Nian Zhen rolled her eyes.
Monkey was about to argue some more but then the Horse started trotting ahead of everyone.
"Horse! Come on!"
"Thank you Horse!" (Y/n) exhaled in relief as they all followed him.
As the days went on, thankfully, Monkey became a bit more lax went it came to keeping Qiuyu 'in check'. He was still tied up and walked ahead of everyone, but at least they didn't stop every five minutes anymore. Though, gotta say, anytime they'd pass by other travellers or civilians, (Y/n) and Nian Zhen would feel embarrassed and avert their eyes, to not see the weird look they'd get.
Summer was coming to an end, the Sun wasn't as warm as before, but the real indicator of the passing season was the rain. (Y/n) and Qiuyu didn't mind, but Monkey turned one of his hair into an umbrella and another one into a coat for the Horse. He offered one to Nian Zhen, in response she took out a whole umbrella from one of her coat's inside pockets.
"How much space do you have in there?" he asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Lots." she said with a grin.
He rolled his eyes at her smug expression and just kept the umbrella for himself as the group went on.
"I didn't expect you to not like the rain Monkey." (Y/n) said.
"I like looking at it and listening to it, I don't like being drenched. Now get over here, you're gonna catch a cold!"
"No thanks." she spun around with a smile. "In my village, we always celebrate the first rain of Fall." she looked at Qiuyu. "What about you Qiuyu?"
As a response, he closed his eyes, turned his face towards the cloudy sky, and took a deep breath. She smiled and nodded with a hum, understanding what he meant.
"Your bag and everything inside is gonna be soaked." Monkey said.
"Shoot, you're right!" she quickly looked at it before extending a hand to him. "Give me one."
He sighed through his nose, a bit disappointed that she didn't think of sharing his umbrella, but he did give her another one.
"Thanks." she smiled.
She then stood behind Qiuyu and stuck the umbrella between his back and the rope. He flinched when she touched him, but then relaxed when he couldn't feel the rain on him anymore.
"There you go."
"Seriously?" Monkey frowned.
"Yes." she went to him and hugged his arm, standing close to him under his umbrella and resting her head on his shoulder. "Let's go."
"Alright. Finally!" he said, his expression stern, but his tail wagging.
"Oh!" she realized something and backed away. "I'm drenched, I'm sorry. I'll soak your clothes too-"
"Don't care." he gently pulled her closer and ran a hand through her hair, slicking them back. "You know, the wet hair look suits you."
She bashfully chuckled.
"Really?"
His smiled softened. He nodded with a hum before kissing her forehead. They both blushed as they looked into each-other's eyes.
"I love you, under any and every weather."
"Aww, I love you too."
This kept going for a while. Nian Zhen cringed. Qiuyu sent her a look and nodded towards them.
'Are they always like this?'
She mouthed 'always'. He lifted his eyebrows and glanced to the side.
"I know." she whispered, nodding.
The rain became heavier with time, and (Y/n) was now thankful for the small shelter Monkey provided. She at some point even took her bag and pressed it against her chest. She worried that Qiuyu's umbrella would get blown away by the wind, but so far it has held on, only swaying back and forth a bit. Despite his captor being...distracted, he indeed never tried anything funny. It was relieving to her.
Then suddenly, his umbrella disappeared in a poof of smoke. The whole group stopped.
"What the he-?!"
Monkey didn't even had time to finish his sentence, as the rope around him also disappeared.
"Huh, about time." Qiuyu mumbled and rolled his now stiff-shoulders as he looked back with a smile, putting his blade of grass back in his mouth (it's been in his hand this whole time). "Thanks for letting me off the hook."
"You're very much still on the hook!" Monkey gave his umbrella to (Y/n) before stomping towards him. "Like a fish! And I'll gut you like one too if you don't- Huh?"
As he was approaching him, he took out a hair, to turn it into a cage. But the hair stayed a hair, and now a wet one at that. It even got stuck on his hand and he tried to shake it off, but to no avail. He groaned, getting frustrated.
"What did you do?" he glared at Qiuyu.
"Now now now," he raised his hands. "think of your blood pressure. I didn't do anythin'."
"What's happening?" (Y/n) walked towards them.
After just a few steps, her umbrella disappeared too. She gasped in surprise and Monkey quickly stood by her side and raised an arm over her head.
"Aw man..." she took out her blanket to cover herself. "This material takes so much time to dry."
Sensing that something was off, Monkey placed his other hand above his eyes and looked around. He gasped.
"Our powers, they're leaving!"
"What?!" (Y/n) looked at him before placing a hand on her chest. "Now that you mention it, I do feel a bit strange. But what do you mean they're leaving?"
He took a few steps back, then one forward before tracing a line in the mud.
"In this area," he pointed forward. "something's cancelling our powers and taking them away bit by bit."
"Now I don't have Wukong's vision." Nian Zhen said, her and the Horse staying on the other side of the line. "But it might have something to do with that." she pointed.
The group looked ahead, at the giant dark and gloomy castle. Its architecture was strange, it didn't have all the details showcasing the owner's wealth. It was as if it has been built in a rush, or without a lot of care. Just then, lightning stoke and the rain poured down even more.
"...Yeah no shit." Monkey raised an eyebrow. "Anyone could tell this place is shady." he squinted his eyes with a hum. "Looks like we're not the first ones they stole from."
"Either way, we should go there for shelter!" (Y/n) said, getting in a hurry to just get inside.
"Can't we walk around it?" Nian Zhen asked.
"It's a big area, it'd take us too long." Monkey hit his fist on the palm of his other hand with a smirk. "Better get in there and kick the ass of whoever think they can steal from *us*!"
"I'm with the Lady on this one, we should go in." Qiuyu nodded towards (Y/n), shielding his eyes. "The rain's gettin' worse. It'd be a pain to walk through. And if we permanently lose our powers, we'd be losing a very part of our soul."
(Y/n) and Nian Zhen gulped. Monkey frowned.
"I know that! You don't get to talk just 'cause you can! At least don't spell out the obvious!"
"Let's just go already!" (Y/n) whined, pushing him forward with her shoulder while she clutched her blanket. "I feel a cold coming!"
Monkey noticed the hint of desperation in her voice, and he was reminded of something: even though she never really said it, (Y/n) now hated being cold for too long. Not able to blame her for it, he wrapped an arm around her and told everyone to get a move on. Since the Horse would turn back into a dragon, he decided to stay here, Nian Zhen wanted to stay outside the area too.
"Kid, we don't care what you really look like!" Monkey exclaimed. "You could be an actual snake we wouldn't bat an eye! Get over here!"
"It's not that!"
'It totally is.' everyone (even (Y/n)) thought.
"But it's true that one of us should stay with the Horse." the human woman said. "In case something happens."
Monkey sighed. She had a point. He quickly walked to the other side of the line and turned one of his hair into a shade-house, a wooden roof with a bench attached under it. Even with his powers gone, the hair itself will remain in this form. (Y/n), Monkey and Qiuyu hurried inside the castle. Surprisingly, the door wasn't closed, and they didn't wait for permission to enter. There was no foyer, no furniture, just one large and long hallway, with only one candle on a candlestick attached to the wall every five meters, dimly lighting the place and a door in between two candles. Under each candle was a pedestal, and on the pedestal was a big crystal ball, each of a different color, some clear, some opaque, resting on a cushion. The two men shook their heads to quickly dry their wet hair, in case security comes by. Unlike them, (Y/n) didn't pick up on these very bad vibes and was just relieved to finally be inside. She exhaled loudly as she removed her blanket and shook it to get rid of the excess water. Each noise they made echoed in the empty space.
"Alright," she looked at Monkey. "where do we go now?"
"Uh... I'm gonna need a second." he looked around. "This place's *stacked* with powers of all sorts. To track ours, I need to focus."
"Wait what?"
"Yeah, I told you we weren't the only one they stole from."
With this, (Y/n) finally took a good look around her and realized how weird and creepy this place was, she became more nervous.
"Is it...Is it even safe to be here?"
"Don't you worry ma'am. We seem to be only ones here." Qiuyu smiled. "And even then, even without powers, we'll be able to take care of ourselves."
"Shush it you! Let me focus..." Monkey held his temples. "Okay, this one's mine."
He walked over to the closest crystal, orange in colour, and knocked it over its pedestal, it crashed into pieces on the stoned floor. The sudden movement and the loud noise it made upon crashing made (Y/n) flinch and gasp. Its color slowly faded as Monkey took a deep breath.
"Oh yeah. Way better!"
He turned around and immediately tied Qiuyu up again.
"Should've expected that." the man said under his breath while (Y/n) rolled her eyes and shook her head.
Monkey then turned to her.
"Yours..." he stared at her for a moment before following something invisible, his gaze fell upon another crystal ball, light blue. "That one."
He went to pick it up then tossed it towards her.
"Thanks." she smiled before letting go of it.
Just like the last one, it shattered on the floor. And as its color faded, (Y/n) felt whole again, refreshed even. She breathed a sigh of relief.
"Mine should be this one." Qiuyu nodded towards a pink one. "Matches my hair."
"So it is." Monkey picked it up and tucked it behind his arm. "Alright let's go!"
"Monkey!" (Y/n) glared at him.
"What?!" he raised his other arm. "At least until we get outta here! We can't have him take advantage of the situation." he explained in a hushed tone.
"And what about all these?" she gestured to the other crystal balls. "If they represent others' stolen powers then..." her face became a bit paler as she looked down the almost endless hallway.
"We're only here for our stuff, now let's go before- Woah!"
The other two looked over and (Y/n) let out a surprised 'huh?!' as Qiuyu's eyes widen. The door they came in through has disappeared. In front of them was now the continuation of the hallway. (Y/n) looked behind then in front of her a couple of times, panicked. As Monkey massages the bridge of his nose, Qiuyu walked towards one of the many doors. Since he couldn't move his arms, he kicked the door open.
"Hey!" Monkey quickly grabbed him by the color and pulled him away from it. "What were you trying do you huh?!"
"Just checkin' somethin'." he nodded towards the opened door.
Monkey looked over, on the other side of the door was another long and dim-lighted hallway, just like the one they were in.
"God dammit." he mumbled.
He let go of him and took out his staff, changing its size to be as long as his forearm.
"(Y/n), be a treat and bring me a candle."
She frowned at his choice of word, her cheeks a bit pinker, but in her curiosity, she did just that. He made her bring it close to the tip of the staff. He gently blew so the small flame would touch it, and suddenly the end of the staff ignited like a torch. He let out a long and heavy sigh.
"What's wrong?" (Y/n) asked, seeing his exasperated expression.
"Labyrinths. They're a pain in the ass."
"Man," Nian Zhen exhaled. "They sure are taking their sweet time. They didn't start fighting did they...?"
Her and the Horse kept looking at the weird castle, the rain has calmed down a bit since they left. With no response to her worries, she sighed.
"Once again, it's just you and me Horse."
He nodded a couple of times. He didn't seem bothered by this, and that touched her a little bit. She placed her elbows on her knees, resting her chin on the palms of her hands.
"If they are in trouble, how would we know?"
"Oh thank goodness!"
The duo looked over to see an old man rushing over to them, using his coat like (Y/n) used her blanket.
"This rain is such a bother!"
"Woawoawoa- Hey!" Nian Zhen stood up and pointed at him. "Not so fast sir! Who are you?"
"I'll tell you who I am!" he immediately said, like he's been waiting for someone to ask. "My name is Shuguang, and I am the one and only God!"
She blinked twice with a deep frown.
"No you're not."
"I will be! Once I gather enough power!"
The Horse, jumping to conclusion, quickly stood up and huffed, ready to fight. But Nian Zhen thought for a moment and decided to play dumb, to buy some time.
"What do you mean sir?" she sat back down and gestured to the bench.
"Well, you see, I- thank you -" the old man said as he sat down. "I used to be just a simpleton in a small town. A nobody that was cursed to die eventually, without the world even knowing. But! A few years ago, I've gotten my hands on an artefact that drains the chi of any power-using being."
'But he wasn't around when we came by. If he didn't activate it, and he doesn't have powers, that would mean...'
"Like... Automatically?" she slowly asked.
He nodded. She was dumbfounded. Powered artefacts could do some things on their own, if a charged crystal could be used as battery. But something like nullifying *and* stealing people's powers? That was just unheard of. This kind of thing has never been done before. It baffled her.
'That's just impossible!'
"How...How did you manage to make such a thing?"
"Oh I didn't, I bought it." he smiled.
"...You bought it?" she blinked a bunch of time, his casualness with something this big - given his lack of knowledge on the subject - offended her.
"Mh-hmm!" he nodded again. "From a second-hand store, when it was just as small as my hand."
'What kind of second-hand store sells stuff like this?!?!?!' she ran a hand through her short bangs. 'I *gotta* get my hands on that thing!'
She thought for a moment.
"So...you said you could become the 'one and only god' with it?"
"No, I *will*! I know I don't look like much right now, but once I'm within a certain distance, all the power the artefact absorbs is sent to me. And I become a whole other being, no longer human, no longer mortal." he sighed with a smile.
"How does the artefact know you're coming closer though?"
"It's all thanks to the mark."
He pulled back his robe's long sleeve to show her his hand. Nian Zhen's heart sunk, she felt a twist in her stomach. At the center of his palm was a deep black circular scar, all around it were black marks, as if they came out of a hole in his hand. The worse of it was that, although yes he was very old and so his skin was wrinkly, the skin covered by the black marks was decrepit, dried up.
'Maybe the artefact is taking his lifeforce...?'
She glanced at him, the man's carefree smile became all the more disturbing to her and the Horse. He didn't seem to be bothered or tired, and given his age, he should be. She gulped.
"I see..." she said under her breath.
"As much as I like talking about myself." he hopped off the bench. "I should get going, no need to stay in this useless body any longer." he laughed.
"Huh? B-but-" she quickly looked at the Horse, but figured he won't help much since he doesn't talk. "W-why don't you wait until the rain stops?"
"Don't you worry, as soon as I get my powers again, I'll be able to very easily deflect the rain away from me."
He started walking towards the castle. Though the line Monkey previously traced had long disappeared, Nian Zhen remembered its exact location. Before Shuguang could come closer to it, she grabbed her umbrella and rushed over to stand in front of him.
"B-but I have so many questions, like... if you love these powers so much, what were you doing out of your house like this? In this weather no less!"
"Well, to be honest, one thing my powers can't recreate just yet are those delicious pastries at my hometown's cafe." he pointed to the small town far away in the distance. "But once I'm able to, then nothing will keep me from destroying them all."
She felt a chill. He chuckled at her shocked expression.
"Not all of them, just enough to make them understand the fullness of what I've become. Besides, they're all low lives down there, I'd be doing them a favor by making them do my bidding. Really, it's more charity work more than anything."
She clenched her fists, slowly nodding with her lips pursued. Something touched a nerve there.
"Are you alright strange young lady?" he waved a hand in front of her face.
She blinked twice and pushed him away, making him fall on the muddy ground. The Horse neighed in surprise.
"I panicked okay?!" she opened her arms.
Despite what she said, she looked quite irritated.
"What...How dare you?!" the old man clumsily but quickly stood up. "Don't you know who I am?!"
"You're a poor excuse of a person!"
"I don't want to be a person! I want to be a god!"
"I won't let you!"
"Why you little-!"
He ran towards her but the Horse grabbed the back of his collar with his mouth and pulled him back. Shuguang still attempted to kick her, which succeeded, got her right on the stomach. With a dry 'omph', she took a couple of steps back, dropping her umbrella, and gasped when she realized that she's stepped over the line. There was a moment where both the Horse and the old man looked at her with big eyes. Nian Zhen quickly covered her face with her hands, not wanting to be seen. Her breathing became heavier. She started to shake, hunching over.
"What?" Shuguang said under his breath. "You're-"
Before he could even describe what was in front of him, the Horse yanked him away. The scream the old man let out snapped Nian Zhen out of her spiraling thoughts before she could have a full on panic attack. She looked up to see the Horse, facing Shuguang and standing between him and her. She sniffed, then picked up her umbrella before quickly stepping out of the castle's area. She stood beside her friend.
"This is the second time we're left to take care of some annoying old guy." she said. "Next time, we take the creepy castle."
He nodded with a huff, she smiled. Then she took one of her pills.
"We just have to hold him off until they come back."
"They...?" the old man frowned, now enraged. "Have people broken into my house?!"
"Uh-ho."
"I'm not gonna waste my time with this!" Monkey exclaimed.
(Y/n) watched as he walked towards the nearest wall. He leaned back as he took a deep breath before smashing down the wall with his skull. Behind it was another corridor.
"Come on." he said as he walked through it. "If we keep going this one direction, we're bound the get to the edge of this maze!"
He repeated that process again and again. If it wasn't for the crystals being different colors, (Y/n) would've swore they were going through the exact same hallway.
"Monkey," she said at some point as the three of them walked through yet another wall. "I know you're indestructible, but I'm scared your brain will get damaged if you keep going."
"It clears my mind! But if you're worried, I will kick instead."
"Just stop already." Quiyu finally spoke. "I'm surprised the lady here isn't breaking up with you on the spot."
"Say that again." Monkey faced him. "Say that again, you pink bastard!"
"Okay," (Y/n) said. "stop it you two."
"Haven't you notice your handmade torch?"
"What are you even-"
He looked at it, his eyes widen when he saw that the flame was now significantly smaller. He taped his staff to try and fix it, but it didn't work; It even went out.
"It got worse, any time you'd bust down one of these." he nodded towards the wall. "Also," he moved his arms and the ropes easily ripped apart. "The rope got looser."
"But..." (Y/n) concentrated and made her hand glow. "I'm okay."
The couple thought for a moment, then they gasped.
"I see you've both figured it out." Quiyu looked around. "Whatever's taking our powers..." he placed a hand on the wall. "it's within the walls, all around us." feeling his powers being sucked away, he quickly removed his hand.
(Y/n) looked at her feet. Maybe she had to make direct contact with the stone for it to work. Thank gods they were all wearing shoes.
"The castle itself... Is it alive or something?!"
"If it is, all the more reason for us to destroy it!" Monkey exclaimed.
"Didn't do much so far." Qiuyu sighed. "Don't you know that, when you find yourself in a hole, the first thing to do is stop diggin'?"
"You got a better idea?!"
"Maybe. It won't help us get outta here but-"
"Then I don't wanna hear it!" he started to quickly walk away.
"Monkey!" they followed him. "Stop and think for a second!"
"Raaaah!" he ruffled his hair. "I hate mazes!!!"
'I think he's getting claustrophobic.' her eyebrow furrowed, not able to blame him for that.
Meanwhile, Quiyu sighed. He took the blade of grass out of his mouth and rubbed his hands with it in between, making it spin a few times. He then blew on it as he let it go. It started to float through a silent and non-existent breeze. It flew passed (Y/n), who stopped to look at it. Recognizing it, she looked at Quiyu, who smiled and nodded. She looked back at it, her eyes widen when it took a turn.
"Monkey!" she exclaimed, making him look at her. "That way!" she pointed before running.
He noticed what she was running after and glanced at Quiyu. For a moment, the two of them silently looked at each-other. He frowned, but followed her. The blade of grass would take turns, slip through the gaps around doors, all without even lowering in altitude or speed. It went on for a long while. In any other situations, Monkey would've carefully looked around, staying aware of his surroundings. But right now, he was in a hurry to get out of here. He ran faster too, so much so that he went ahead of the grass itself. (Y/n) had to give him direction, which he would follow without question, focused. But he was snapped out of his thoughts by Quiyu, running passed him. He at first jumped to conclusion and believed he was running away, but then the pink-haired man glanced back at him with a smirk. He knew that smirk all too well, he'd use it all the time.
That was a challenge.
This escape mission has turned into a race, each taking their turn to get ahead of the other. With (Y/n) in the back giving them direction, and starting to get out of breath.
'These two get competitive in the weirdest moments!'
"Right!"
The two men turned right as soon as they reached the corner.
"Oopsie! It's left actually!"
"What?!" they both exclaimed and tried to quickly turn around but they bumped into each-other and fell, the crystal ball holding part of Qiuyu's powers almost broke but Monkey held on to it.
(Y/n) followed the blade of grass to the right direction, away from them. She looked back and stuck out her tongue before giggling.
'Now I get it!' she thought. 'This is hilarious!'
"You clever girl." Quiyu shook his head.
"She got it from *me*!" Monkey used the guy's head as leverage to quickly stand up and follow her.
Quiyu chuckled, ruffling his hair, before running after them. (Y/n) opened a door, sending them one last smile before entering the room- Room? She looked up and froze, her expression fell. Suddenly, Monkey burst through the door and hugged her from behind, wrapping his arm around her neck.
"You'll pay later for tricking me." he quietly told her with a mischievous grin. "Just you wait... Mmh?" he tilted his head when he saw that she wasn't reacting, staring forward.
He followed her gaze, his eyes widen and he let go of her. At this moment, Quiyu came in. He saw the blade of grass was still moving ahead, approaching that...thing. He rushed and leaned forward to grab it with his mouth.
"Well." he looked up. "This is certainly somethin'."
In the middle of a big room was a giant crystal ball, almost touching the ceiling, setting on a small but large pedestal. From all directions were trails of crystals, growing out of the tiled floor and stone walls, and into the pedestal. Although, it was most likely the other way around. It seemed to be two-third clear, the bottom third has a variation of colors.
"Like a giant barrel of booze." Monkey mumbled.
"Heh, couldn't have said it better myself." Qiuyu smiled.
"So..." he looked at the crystal trails. "The crystal is, what, growing? How's that possible?"
"Maybe it's all the power it absorbs." (Y/n) pointed at the artefact. "Maybe our powers were about to get sucked into that thing."
"I don't think so." Quiyu approached it to get a closer look.
"Woawoawoah." Monkey grabbed the back of his collar.
Quiyu's eyelid twitched ever so slightly. This was getting on his nerves.
"Sorry 'bout that sir." he stepped back with a smile. "Go right ahead and solve this one out for us lil folks."
Monkey glared at him before facing the artefact. He hummed in his thoughts as he stroke his chin.
"We've seen those colors before." (Y/n) said. "In the maze."
"I see." Monkey nodded, his eyes narrowing. "So this thing is taking its share."
"I'm...so confused." she placed a hand on her temple. "Is it sentient? Who is making it do this?"
"...I don't know." he narrowed his eyes even more. "And I hate not knowing things in general."
"Well however it works, we should probably destroy it."
"You sure?" Monkey smiled. "I'm sure Nian Zhen would get a kick out of this." he knocked on the crystal ball.
As soon as he came into contact with it, his hand glowed slightly, only for the orange glow to be sucked in, added with the other colors. The whole room started to shake and the tiles grew into pillars and walls. (Y/n) was on top of one of those tiles but she quickly moved back, only for the new wall to separate her and the other two.
"(Y/n)!" Monkey exclaimed.
"I'm okay!" she said. "Just destroy the crystal before we get crushed! But wait! Don't touch it, it'd only make it stronger!" she was also about to try and destroy the wall, but remember that her powers would be stolen if she did.
Monkey clicked his tongue.
"Give 'em back."
"Huh?"
He looked over to see Quiyu, extending a hand towards the crystal containing his powers, that Monkey was still keeping under his arm.
"I know how to stop it."
Monkey blinked twice, then frowned.
"Like hell I'm gonna give it back! You're just gonna escape!"
"Hey, I wanna get outta here as much as you guys."
"Step aside loser, I'll take care of it!"
He pointed his staff at the crystal, then suddenly made it longer so that it pierces it. But it only knocked on it with a echoed noise. He groaned and tried to hit it again from different angles. Each time, the room itself would get more and more agitated, as (Y/n) tried to dodge the moving walls.
"This thing's been harvesting powers for probably years now." Quiyu said. "It's not going down that easily."
"Shut up!"
"Monkey!" (Y/n) shouted. "For the love of Buddha, give him his powers back!"
"I don't trust this guy!"
"Right now, we have to!" she found a gap in between two pillars where they could look at each-other. "Scratch what I said earlier, you know who you're *actually* reminding me of? Tripitaka and Pigsy when they wouldn't believe you even though you were the expert of the group!"
His eyes widen.
"If he has a plan, let's give it a shot! It's not like what you're doing is effective!"
That hurt. He looked down and looked at the pink crystal in his hand before smashing it on the ground. Its color faded and Quiyu took a deep breath.
"Thanks Monkey." he smiled.
"Don't ever call me that ever again."
"Now, this might be a bit tricky." he intertwined his finger and stretched his arms, rolling his neck as he approached the crystal. "But I'll give it a shot."
He glanced back at Monkey, who was fixing him. He frowned slightly, has he not listened to (Y/n)? Speaking of which:
"Monkey!"
Hearing the distress in her voice, he quickly turned around and gasped when he saw that she was about to get crushed between two walls. She wanted to use her powers but she didn't want them to go away either. Monkey turned himself into a bat to slip between the small gaps and get to her. He held his staff horizontally and extended it to stop the two walls from moving any closer. (Y/n) stood close to him as he slowly but surely pushed them away. He looked towards Quiyu's direction, although he couldn't actually see him.
"Just hurry up already!"
"Okie dokie."
The pink-haired man rubbed his hands together before placing them on the giant crystal. He took a deep breath, his expression now more focused.
'This is risky...But it'll work.'
Meanwhile, after a moment, Monkey suddenly looked up. He lost focus and the walls were caving in once again. A pillar swung by and (Y/n) barely dodged it.
"Monkey, what's wro-?!"
And then, she felt it too. An immense power, concentrated, in the direction of the crystal. The air felt heavier for a moment. Then suddenly, the stone stopped moving, everything was silent, and the tension came back to normal. They heard a long sigh.
"A'ight, all done."
Monkey used his staff to smash the wall and get to the center of the room. The giant crystal was now empty. Quiyu stood there with his hands on his hips. The couple just looked at him for a moment.
"...What the hell was that?"
"How did you do it?" (Y/n) blinked twice, bewildered.
"I figured that if I gave it some of my powers, the rest would be more accessible. And it was, I just had to reach for it and drag it out."
"And that...thing, this power?"
"Well yeah, this bad boy contained years of power harvesting into one place." he tapped the crystal. "I felt weird too when I released it."
"And where is it now?" she looked around.
"Probably vanished or somethin'?" he rubbed the back of his neck. "Not sure, but at least it's not in here anymore."
"You didn't take all that power for yourself did you?" Monkey asked.
They both looked at him, noting his choice of words. He was giving him the benefice of the doubt.
"If I could I certainly would." Quiyu chuckled. "But hey, you can see I'm no different, with your demon eyes 'n all."
Indeed, he looked the same. Still, he had to ask, if only just to see his reaction. And he responded casually, as he always did.
"Right..." Monkey mumbled.
(Y/n) lightly nudged him, getting his attention.
"If the maze was some kind of security system, then we can leave now."
"Ha! Finally!"
He stepped ahead and swung his staff, cutting through the giant crystal ball like a knife through butter. The top half fell on the floor, but it was still sturdy enough to not shatter. Monkey then proceeded to small the crystal into pieces.
"Screw you crystal! You've wasted hours of our lives with your stupid maze! Stupid, stupid!"
(Y/n) chuckled with her eyebrows furrowed.
"Man," Quiyu stood beside her. "this guy's really-"
But before he could passively make fun of him, she rushed to join Monkey in his crystal-smashing and stress-relieving. She made her hands glow and proceeded to punch the pillars that were still standing.
"You damn thing! That's what you get for making my boyfriend claustrophobic!"
"I wasn't! I was just annoyed as hell! You'll pay for this!"
"I think it already had." she laughed.
"Your owner will pay for this!"
"Well we did just destroy a good part of their castle."
The couple looked at each-other and started to laugh before they ket going. Although Quiyu wasn't a part of this conversation, he smiled. Their enthusiasm was contagious. He looked down and realized that he took a step towards them, to join them on the fun. He stepped back.
'Is it even fun?' he tilted his head. 'They're not actually doing anything, the crystal's out of juice.'
He sighed through his nose and stayed in his corner, waiting for (Y/n) and Monkey to finish whatever they were doing.
Now, a fight between a nineteen-year-old, a horse and an old man wasn't all that impressive to watch, but to them, from the inside, it was very intense. Nian Zhen's umbrella has been dropped for a while, but she was too focused to care. Her and the Horse were standing their ground, the problem was that Shuguang seemed to never get tired, unlike them. Nian Zhen has taken another energy pill, but knew she couldn't take any more. The Horse was superior in speed and strength, but there was only so much he could do as a horse. He became more and more frustrated each time the old man nearly went passed him. Nian Zhen noticed his mane hair stand up.
"Keep your cool dude!" she said as she held the old man back by his arms. "You can't let him get to you, he's not worth it!"
"Unworthy?!" said man exclaimed.
"That's not even how I phrased it!"
"You green aberration!" he hit her with his elbow.
This plus the insult caught her off and it allowed him to push her away. At the same time, her small box fell from her pocket, she gasped and let out a 'no!' before quickly grabbing it off the ground. As she made sure it didn't open mid-dall, Shuguang took this opportunity to run towards his castle. The Horse faced him, ready to stop him, but the old man made a feint, making it seem like he'd go to the right then suddenly went left. The Horse slipped on the mud and fell. Shuguang turned to look at them.
"If I'm not worth anything here in this world, it's only because I am above and beyond!" he said before taking two steps back, crossing the line.
He started convulsing, his body began changing, growing from the inside, his skin expanded, becoming smooth and lighter. What made it more disturbing was his laugh. He glowed a bright yellow color as he slowly floated up. The raindrops stopped in mid-air and the ground beneath him began to be torn appart. Nian Zhen looked on in horror, paralyzed by fear when he looked at them with glowing white eyes.
"Rejoice lower beings." he spoke, his voice lower but clearer and with an echo to it. "For you will witness the one true self of the one true god of this new world!"
The Horse frowned and, ripping off his coat, turned back into his original form.
"Horse no!" Nian Zhen pulled on his tail. "We gotta get the hell outta here! Come on!"
He only roared at the 'god', who laughed and raised a hand towards him. A ball of energy formed in front of his palm. Nian Zhen kept pulling, growing desperate.
"Don't be stupid! Let's go!"
The Horse glanced at her and pushed her out of the way. He was ready to take it head on, if it could buy her and the others some time. Shuguang laughed harder, the power getting to his head and making him ecstatic to a hysterical level. Then suddenly, his powers were gone and he fell on the ground, along with the rain which started pouring again. He turned back into an old man and all three of them were confused. Nian Zhen looked towards the castle but she quickly went back to the Horse.
"Turn back! Turn back!" she said in a panic.
Startled, he did just that. Fumbling, she took out the lens she made and looked through it. Her face got paler.
"The parasite's egg... It grew."
The Horse's eyes widen. They looked at each-other in silence with grave expressions. Shuguang's loud coughing made them look at him.
"Wha...What?" he looked at his marked hand, shaking. "What is going on? Where are my powers?"
They didn't answer, not like he was paying attention to them. He was as pale as a sheet, drops of cold sweat running down his face.
"I'm supposed to become the one true god of this world. Like I was promised. I gave everything. That was the price. Then why?"
Before they could even wonder what he was talking about, the castle started to crumble. Shuguang shouted a long 'no' that sounded like it took all of his strength to scream out, until his lungs were completely empty. He extended a hand towards it, but didn't seem to be able to even stand up. In the end, he hit the ground with his fist. It stopped raining. Nian Zhen and the Horse felt their heart twist as they watched the castle collapse, but they relaxed once they spotted three people jumping out a window and running over to them. (Y/n), Monkey and Quiyu all ran back to them.
"Oh hey," (Y/n) looked up with a smile, panting. "it stopped raining."
"G-guys! You're back!" Nian Zhen exclaimed.
"Yeah, we- Oh my lord!" she noticed the old man crying on the ground and rushed up to him. "Sir, are you okay?!"
"It's over." he whispered between two sobs, out of breath. "Everything is over."
"What did you two do?" she looked at her and the Horse with a look of concern.
"Wha- *He's* the asshole here!" she pointed at him while the Horse shook his head.
"Sir, can you stand?" she then noticed his marked hand and gasped, placing a hand on his back. "What happened to your-"
"You! Go away!" he violently swung his other arm, making her back away with a 'woah!'. "Away with you! Away! This is all your fault!"
"Hey." Monkey stepped up to him. "Chill."
"I am the one true god of this world! You're not supposed to look down on me-!"
Monkey grabbed his face and lifted him up, his feet now dangling above the ground.
"Get off your high horse old man." he said in a clear voice before letting go of him.
Instead of standing, Shuguang let himself fall back down, or maybe, his legs couldn't even hold him up.
"'The one true god'." Monkey clicked his tongue. "This guy's delirious. Come on, let's go." he held (Y/n) hand and walked away.
"But- wait, we can't leave him like this." she looked back.
"No~ let's go let's go." Nian Zhen held her shoulders from behind and pushed her forward, the Horse not far behind. "I'll explain later."
Quiyu took one last look at the old man, who was silently crying and staring at what was once his home. He noticed his decrepit, almost pitch black hand.
"Mmh..." he frowned before walking away with the others.
"Oh wow." (Y/n) blinked twice, a bit disturbed by Nian Zhen's tale.
"Yeah." she exhaled.
"What an asshole!" Monkey frowned.
"Exactly!
"Then I'm glad we left him." (Y/n) nodded. "He probably needs some time to get his senses back."
"If he ever gets 'em back." Qiuyu sighed. "He looked old enough to be losin' his mind, that plus power-drunkenness is not a good concoction."
"Sheesh, being old sounds like it sucks." Monkey put his hands behind his head.
"Hey now." (Y/n) nudged him with a smile. "I'll be old too someday."
"Also, you are *literally* centuries old!" Nian Zhen gave him a nasty look.
He just rolled his eyes.
"And anyway," she looked at the young woman. "so what happened in there?"
"Oh my lord, it was crazy! And I don't mean that in a positive way, I didn't like it one bit." she shook her head.
"I kinda did." Quiyu shrugged.
"Only 'cause you got your lil moment of smartass glory!" Monkey frowned, but smirked too. "Next time, I won't even give you time to get a one-liner out, I'll just finish the job within seconds. With a classic punch through the face!"
"Not everything can be solved by just punching Monkey, you know this."
"And that's the real tragedy here."
"Honestly, I agree." Qiuyu nodded. "A darn shame."
(Y/n) chuckled. As the group walked, Nian Zhen nudged her to get her attention, and nodded towards the two men once she got it. (Y/n) looked at realized that Qiuyu was walking freely and Monkey wasn't complaining about him as much anymore. Her face lit up and she smiled, happy with this development.
"What?! No!!!" the young demon shouted once (Y/n) got to the part of the story when they destroyed the power-stealing artefact. "I wanted it!"
"We're sorry Nian Zhen..."
"I'm not." Monkey shook his head, his arms folded. "That thing was annoying as hell!"
"It had to be done missy." Qiuyu shrugged.
"*Please* tell me you at least got a sample." she joined her hands together.
"Well..." she scratched her cheek. "It's true that I didn't want to leave all these charged crystals behind. They did belong to other people, though I know we couldn't give them all back to whoever they belonged."
"I tried eating one of them. Didn't work." Monkey glanced to the side.
"Yeah, it was gross to watch." she rolled her eyes before continuing. "But before we could even think of something, the castle started to collapse. I guess the artefact was what was holding it together this whole time."
Nian Zhen looked devastated, ruffling her hair in frustration.
"All that mystery, and zero answers! And zero clues thanks to you guys! We might never even find out what the deal was with this guy!"
"Sorry..." (Y/n) looked down.
That made the young demon stop. She took a deep breath.
"It's...It's fine, you couldn't have known."
"Let that be a lesson." Monkey kept walking. "Next time, get in the creepy castle with the gang."
"I very much intend to!!!" she followed. "Next time, *you* stay outside in the rain!"
(Y/n) laughed. And the group continued on.
[Update on the book!
I'm on the last step before printing the second prototype, which is drawing a lil illustration for each chapter! Cause my copy of Journey to the West has illustration in that same format (by that I mean the frame and small text at the bottom) tho they had two/three for each chapter, and I'm just not doing that x) I consider myself more of a writer than an artist, so this step is taking me more time and energy than anything, but it's because of that that I want to give it my all! ð¤ð
I've finished three out of eleven so far, so that's exciting!
Check this shit out!
And look at that! That took me SO LONG and I'm so proud of it! ðð
And that's where we're at right now
Okay byeeee ð]