I woke up. My head hurt like crazy. I looked up, trying to find a certain black furred monkey. And I found him. He was sitting near my mattress, eyes closed. He lazily opened them when he noticed my stare on him.
"How did you sleep?" Macaque asked. I smashed my face against the mattress.
"Are you really ignoring what has happened yesterday?" I asked, my voice muffled against the mattress.
He was quiet for a while before clearing his throat. "Either way, I got you something."
I looked back at him, expecting breakfast, or maybe some sweets, or even a new shampoo or shower gel. Instead of anything like that, he was holding a small white box in his hands towards me.
"What is that?" I got up and walked closer, sitting in front of Macaque. He smirked and put the box in my hands.
"Open it." And so I did. Inside the box, a black screen held a reflection of me looking at it.
"You got me a... Phone?? Why?" I asked, looking at Macaque.
"Because I thought it'd come in handy for you. All your friends have phones so I though, huh, let's buy it to them too. Do you like it?"
"I- I don't know. Thank you! But why now?" I questioned, grabbing the phone.
"MK told me about how much you wanted to buy it yourself. However, since I had some extra money I've earned in the theatre, I thought it'd make a good gift." He shrugged. I was smiling before remembering everything that had happened yesterday.
"No. I don't... Thanks, but... No." I put the phone back and gave the box to him. He was looking at me, confused. "I'm just your student after all. I shouldn't expect or accept expensive gifts from you."
I got up and looked at the time. 8 AM. I should go to the shop. And so I did. I quickly changed, put my hair into a bun, bid the confused macaque a quick goodbye and by the time I got there, it was almost 9 AM.
I sighed, leaning against a wall of the shop. Pigsy should come to open it soon. Maybe I could visit MK? No. I don't wanna see him. I shook my head before sitting down. A few minutes passed before Pigsy came around.
"Huh? Hey there, kid. You're so eager to work you're here before the shop opens?" He asked, putting the key into the door. I stood up and nodded.
"Well, that's good! Mei was trying to find you yesterday. Where have you been?" He questioned, finally opening the door. We both came inside. And I shrugged.
"I was training with someone. You know, my wind powers and all." I said. Then, I grabbed my apron. "Will Mr. Tang come today?"
"Hm? Why you asking?" Pigsy asked, looking at me from his own job.
"I dunno, just... Thought I I'd ask him about some Monkey King stuff." I quickly replied before I sat down, since there wasn't really anything to do yet.
"He should come. I mean, he's always here." Pigsy shrugged and gave his attention to his work. I hummed.
The day was quite normal, a couple of customers came in before Mr. Tang showed up. He sat down on his usual seat and right before he could order anything, Pigsy stopped him.
"You will actually pay today, right?" He asked, raising skeptically an eyebrow at the man. Mr. Tang nodded with a very serious expression before his usual lazy smile appeared on his face.
"You know what I like." He shrugged and turned to me. "Hey. MK isn't here?"
I shook my head. "Nah. Don't really know where he is. Don't wanna think about it either."
"Hmm. Strange." Mr. Tang simply replied before Pigsy put a bowl of noodles in front of him.
"Hey, Mr. Tang?" I asked as he hummed, assuring me he's paying attention to what I'm about to ask. "There's the Way of Immortality, right? The one Monkey King learnt?... How many of these 'Ways' are there?"
"Hnmm. That's a good question. There's a Way of Silence, Way of the Magic Arts, Way of Sects, Way of Action... those are the ones Monkey King got offered to learn before learning the Way of Immortality." Mr. Tang explained and then slurping down some of the noodles.
"What about the Way of Shadows?" I asked. He looked at me, confused.
"Huh?"
"Is that a thing? Was he offered to learn it?" I questioned, more urgently. He looked like he was thinking for a bit.
A few more hours were uneventful, I was cleaning the dishes after Mr. Tang and talking with both him and Pigsy. I sighed before putting down the last dish down.
"Can I go outside for a second? I need some fresh air." Pigsy nodded at me and I quickly took the opportunity and left through the back door.
It was surprisingly quiet in the alleyway behind the shop, the only noise that I could hear were muffled cars. I leaned against a wall of the shop before slowly sliding down into a lazy squat, my head on the wall. I sighed in frustration. I wish I could see Mei now. Her energy is just... nice. She's nice to be around. A small butterfly landed on my knee, making me look at it. It looked very nice, its tricolored wings fluttering softly. Black, red and white, these colors were creating a really well-looking pattern of a monkey face.
...Monkey face??
"Are you done examining me?" The butterfly asked, making me scream out in shock and shooing the butterfly away from me with my hand.
"Ayo, kid, are you okay?!" I could hear Pigsy shout from the shop before seeing him coming through the back door to check if I'm alright. I took a deep breath.
"Yes, yes, I'm fine, just thought I saw a spider." I quickly said, looking at Pigsy.
"Okay? So no spiders in the view?" He asked. I shook my head and smiled a little, trying to assure him. He nodded. "Okay. If you see any spiders around, just yell."
Once he was gone, I looked back at the butterfly. "You can talk?!"
"Bud, can you not tell?" It asked. "I'm Monkey King!"
"Monkey King? You look... uh.." I looked at the butterfly in front of me. "You look good! Never better."
"I will take that as a compliment. Look, kid, MK was acting.... weird all day. And I think you have something to do with it." He accused.
"No I don't! I haven't seen him since yesterday!" I replied defensively.
"You don't have to act so defensive about it. Do you know where he could be?" I shrugged and looked away, frowning. "Hey, if you know where he is, it'd be great if you told me."
"I don't know where he is! I'm not his babysitter to know where he is." I told Monkey King. "If that was the only reason you are here, then you should go. I don't know anything important."
"I think you do. However, that wasn't the only reason I came here. I found something that might help with controlling your powers." He said before quickly transforming into his monkey form. It did take a few seconds however. He stood in front of me.
"What did you find?" I questioned, raising an eyebrow.
"Come with me." Monkey King said and reached out to grab my hand. He summoned his cloud and just as he was pulling me on it, I stopped.
"Wait, Pigsy's gonna kill me if I go somewhere without him knowing!" I exclaimed.
"Oh Heavens, are you serious? I just offered to hold mountains because of you and you are worried about some pig demon?" He scoffed. I was looking at him, confused for a bit before nodding. He sighed in frustration, letting go of my hand. "I'm giving you five minutes."
It took only two. I came back inside the shop and quickly took off my apron.
"Where do you think you're going?" Pigsy asked, irritation in his voice.
"Nothing. I just saw... my uncle. He needs to see me now. And he offered to pay for any work you'll do instead of me." I quickly said, pulling a hair tie out of my hair. Pigsy seemed like he thought for a moment before nodding.
"Fine." He sighed. "Take care, kid."
I nodded before walking out of the back door. Monkey King was there, hiding behind a trashcan.
"What are you doing?" I asked.
"I thought I saw someone who isn't you or MK. I can't risk being seen in public. You know how weird it'd be to explain?"
It was kind of surprising how fast we got on the Flower Fruit Mountain. It only took a few minutes at most. Monkey King let me go off the cloud before making it disappear, jumping next to me.
"So?" He took me by the arm and dragged me into his cave before letting me go in front of a room with lots and lots of stuff in it.
"I was looking through the stuff we collected during the journey. Or, more like I collected and I found a scroll I found when we were travelling through some small city." He said, walking away for a second and once he came back, he was holding the scroll he was talking about: it looked very old, almost ancient. "There's a legend written on it about some huge ancient sea snake that caused hurricanes in the city, being able to control wind and water. But then it suddenly disappeared, and then the balance got restored by a mysterious woman. It was kinda smudged at the end, but whatever. That's the main premise I guess. And I think... I think this sea snake could have something to do with your powers."
"Are you seriously trying to tell me that a sea serpent has something to do with me? I don't think so." I shook my head and crossed my arms. "Thanks though... I guess."
"Hm. You're welcome." He smirked before shrugging and giving me the scroll. "You can have it. The serpent was able to control the wind, just like you. Doesn't matter if it means something or not, it's still something."
"Oh! Thank you!" I said and quickly opened the scroll, looking at what's inside. It didn't resemble Mandarin of today, and Monkey King did say it's a very old scroll. Or at least he implied it when he said he collected it during his journey. He's old as hell. "Hmm. I understand just a few words. Can you read it, exactly?"
He sighed and took the scroll. "Just for your information, you're letting a monkey read you something. That's a new low."
"Oh shut up." I mumbled and let him read it.
"The great serpent, death of many, rose with every morning. Its control over the sea created waves bigger than the city and its control over the wind tore buildings down. Only once the woman appeared, the sea serpent vanished. And just like that, both were gone. Rumors spreading through the city, that the woman wasn't from this world. Not many have seen her face, but it is told she was one of a kind." He stopped reading and looked at me. "The woman could be a demon. And she could still be alive somewhere. Just like the sea serpent."
"Hmm." I replied, deep in thought. "Like she wasn't from this world, huh?"
"Yeah. The rest is kinda smudged, like I've said before. Like the person who wrote it was in a hurry."
"Strange." I muttered. "Thanks anyway. This might be helpful."
"Hmh." He looked away. "Hey. I know you already said you don't know where MK is, but I love that kid more than anything now. If you have anything to where he might be, please tell me."
I shook my head. "He's not in danger. I promise. He's with my-... Dad. My dad used to be great at martial arts so.. He's teaching him some of the tricks."
"Oh, your dad. I see."
During another few days, we became closer. Not really close close, but at least he wasn't constantly talking about me wanting to hurt MK. He even let me pet his baby monkeys. They were the cutest monkeys I've ever seen.
"Huh, they already like you better than me! Why?" Monkey King asked, trying to act grumpy about the fact there were baby monkeys hanging on only me.
I laughed a little. "I wouldn't say that! You're their king! I'm just an attraction."
Then he showed me his video game, and he let me play the game. I found it quite boring, but hey, it's an opportunity to spend some time with the great Monkey King, who wouldn't want that? I wouldn't. He was, in fact, a horrible person when it came to supporting others during video games. He was mostly just laughing every time I've lost. I was this close to just throw it at him. But I didn't. What a great person I was.
After a few days we've spent together, Monkey King asked once again, "Where is MK?", "Why hasn't he visited me in a week?" , looking almost hurt. I just shrugged. Maybe he was an immortal, but he still had a beating heart. I actually kinda felt him. His worst fear is losing people he loves the most after all.
"I don't know. But, he isn't in any danger. I trust my uncle with my whole heart." I said quickly, trying to comfort him. Maybe it will help somehow.
"Oh. You said he was with your dad. How is he suddenly with your uncle?" I stopped breathing for a bit. I can't just say I know another magical monkey. That'd be extremely weird. Not to mention MK being with another magical creature.
"W-well-" Before I could answer, I could feel Monkey King's breathing stop before taking a deep breath.
"You know something more. Why did you lie the first time? What's the name of your.. whatever?!" He quickly asked, coming closer to me. I walked away from him backwards, trying to keep some distance between us. I really didn't want to get attacked by an all-powerful monkey. "I knew it! I knew your smell is similiar."
"What are you talking about?! Stop talking about me smelling weird, I smell normal! What is up with you monkeys and insulting how I smell?" I mumbled and crossed my arms.
"Monkeys? Unless some of my baby monkeys can talk, it could only mean..." His eyes widened up in horror. "Oh no.."
"What do you mean 'oh no'?" I asked, panicked. "MK is safe! He's alright!"
"Are you acting dumb?! Seriously?!" He yelled at me. "He's in danger! Because of you!"
We've arrived near the dojo, more specifically in the mountains behind it. Monkey King was a ball of nerves, looking around frantically before finding what he wanted: a shadowy monster, same from what we've seen with MK and co. last week.
"Oh dear Heavens.. Don't let it be late.."
Once we were near them, we hid behind some rock. I looked at MK, trying to stay unseen. He was walking towards the monster, while Macaque was looking at him and smiling from the distance. I felt my breath hitch from seeing it. He looked so proud. He never looked this proud of me.
I'd almost start tearing up, but before I could, Monkey King made me stop thinking.
"Stay right here. No more people should get involved in this." After he said that, he started going closer, still carefully watching what is about to happen.
I shuddered when MK attacked the shadow monster. Something bad was about to happen. Because of my bad feelings, the wind was getting a bit stronger. Not that much, but it was visibly different than the warm and gentle breeze.
Once MK was in the air, the shadow monster suddenly turned into... Macaque? My eyes widened, my hands starting to shake again. He punched the surprised MK in the stomach and then let him fall on the hard ground in front of some.. Clone of Macaque and the real Macaque slowly landing behind MK with some light gold fire softly flickering in his hand. I was looking at it in pure shock, I had no idea why didn't Monkey King intervene yet.
"You know, you really are a good kid," Macaque said with a smirk before disappearing into the shadows. "Super nice!"
Just as he said that, he appeared again and the shadow monster appeared behind him. He somehow... Absorbed MK's power?? I was just looking at it, confusion mixed with shock, eyes wide open. Where is Monkey King?
The sudden source of power threw MK away into a rock I was hiding behind, his staff right after him before trapping him there. I properly hid behind the rock again, my back on it. I tried to calm down, but how could I? My friend was in danger because of... Me.
"Thank you for giving me all of Monkey King's powers." Macaque said and I could hear the smirk he had on his face. MK was meanwhile struggling against his own staff, trying to put it away. Macaque laughed. "Ooh, noo!! Can't you hold the magic staff anymore? Well you know what that means! There really isn't anything special about you."
Macaque pressed harder against the staff, trapping MK even more. "You're just some kid with a heavy stick!"
"He's not!" I let out and after realizing I've revealed myself, I covered my mouth with my hands.
"Didn't expect ya here, Morro!" Macaque replied, probably getting some distance between him and MK. "You can come out!"
I took a deep breath and walked out of my hideaway, right in front of MK. "Why are you doing this? What is happening? Why? What.."
"Oh don't be so surprised. I mean, really? I've never showed up in the city before to save it and now suddenly I would decide to save it from something of my own kind?" He smirked at me and I could hear MK's breath behind me hitch. "I thought you were smarter than MK. Turns out you are not."
"That is enough!" We could all hear Monkey King's voice say before jumping in front of me and MK, Macaque quickly getting a little bit away from him. Oh good he's finally decided to come, I thought
I looked at MK and made sure he wouldn't say anything that wouldn't upset his master even further, with a death threatening glare. He looked nervous.
"Monkey King! It's good to see ya, BUD!" Macaque mockingly said before snorting.
"Are you ever gonna get sick of living in my shadow?!" Monkey King replied, pointing at Macaque. "It's time to get back what you've stole."
"What is going on?!" I yelled out. I was tense. Very tense. The wind around me was only getting stronger and colder and I couldn't control it. If Macaque noticed it, he decided not to care. I know that MK did notice it though. He tried to calm me down by gently saying my name.
"You are such a gem." Macaque said to Monkey King. "It's gonna be soo satisfying killing you with your own powers!"
I decided I couldn't care less about some monkey ex business. What was more important was MK.
I rushed to him, quickly examining if he was okay. "Are you hurt?" I asked him.
"I don't think so, no. But I feel so.. Empty." He said before trying to lift up the staff, sighing in defeat after a few seconds. I tried it on my own, without any luck.
"It's so... So heavy!" I said, huffing a little.
"It's a magic staff!" He replied in misery. "I'm so sorry I brought everyone into this mess! If I just... wasn't so greedy none of this would've happened!"
"Don't blame yourself! It's not your fault! We'll get you out of there, okay?" I tried to calm him down, which was very hard since I myself was a wrecking ball
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