Incarnate

I Dream A Day Away...

Sun Wukong stood back up, wincing slightly, "Thank you, MK. That was...well, not the best, but..."

"HOW COULD YOU!" The yowls were heartfelt and raw. "YOU BETRAYED ME! WAS I NEVER ENOUGH?! IS THAT IT?!" Wukong denied softly with his eyes, ignoring the pain blooming against his ribs. "HOW COULD YOU-! HOW COULD YOU?!" Wukong inhaled softly, his eyes never leaving the other's face.

MK nodded, placing a firm hand against his mentor's shoulder, "I get it, Baba. You don't need to know how you feel right now." He then grinned, squatting down to meet the other's eyes, "And who knows! Maybe you'll be really close again, like a do over!" Wukong felt a small bloom of hope bubble up.

They were different people, just as how his Qi Xiaotian was each century that passed. The same soul, the same mind, but different beings with time.

"Thank you, dì di."

He truly was the embodiment of hope.

---

There was something MK had never told anyone. Not even Mei, and at the time, he'd simply forgotten it. But when they'd had the skeleton key, before Spider Queen's big attack, he'd held it up to his head.

Not that he's sure why, just that he felt like he needed to.

And he saw the universe, the stars, his form becoming part of them. His mind had buzzed, empty, and his dreams amplified from past memories into something new. Someone visited him, everytime he shut his eyes and let go of the world.

She seemed to know him, every part of him. Maybe she was just a part of his mind, somehow he knew she was something, someone, more. Imagination could only do so much. And tonight, MK felt a chill run through his bones, and he knew something was wrong. Maybe that explained the dream that night.

---

"Hello, my son." Soft hands caressed his hair, and the boy opened his eyes.

Small. He was small, with an oversized shirt and socks that didn't quite fit. Small. He was much too small. Why was he so small?

"Oh, how you have grown...are you happy?" A smiling woman beamed down at him as soon as he opened his eyes. The world was tinted golden, and yet, her jade ring gleamed brilliantly. Clouds with hues like sunlight reflected across the world around them. Were they floating?

"Who are you?" MK whispered, his voice much too young. He was too small. Why was he so small?

"My child, you are in terrible danger. The world needs a savior, you need to lead." The woman cradled him, warmth radiating from her body. MK frowned, chubby cheeks forming into a pout, "What danger? We beat Spider Queen."

"But there is a great evil that has been released." Clouds swirled, forming into an artifact he'd seen once before. "The Skeleton Key the Demon Bull Family forcefully took from you has been used to open a tomb."

MK sat up, turning his head to examine the woman, "...What do I do? Am I strong enough?" The woman smiled, nodding with confidence, "Of course."

---

"I have to go, bud. I, uh, can't really say why--"

"I know." MK smiled warily, ignoring the buzzing of his phone, "I had a dream. Someone told me." Wukong stared at him for a moment before slowly nodding, "I see. I...I just don't want to worry you. You deserve to continue living a life without the end of the world crashing down on you."

"I know." MK felt himself repeat that phrase much too often. How many times have people forgotten he was beyond his years? Beyond what a mortal lived? He might not know everything, but he knew enough. The dreams told him the rest. Was that the key's fault, or his own?