During their break, (Y/n) asked Monkey if he could teach her meditation, for real this time.
"It's weird to me that you can conjure barriers yet you don't know how to meditate." he said. "It's the basic of basics"
"Maybe it's the perk of being Golden Cicada's reincarnation."
They both sat down face to face.
"So," he started. "when you use your powers, you have to concentrate all of your energy into this one spot. And meditation helps doing that. For example when I use my iron arm, I concentrate on my arm."
"What about when you transform? Or when you create an illusion?"
"That's next level. For now let's focus on your chi flow."
He extended a hand, gesturing towards her own. She gave it to him and he held it down, palm facing up.
"To start: try to feel your hand from the inside."
"From the inside?"
"M-hmm, close your eyes and try."
She closed her eyes as he let go. A moment passed.
"Yeah I feel it."
"What does it feel like?"
"...Fuzzy."
"Fuzzy?"
"I don't know," she opened her eyes. "it just feels like chi."
"Okay, now try to feel both of your hands at the same time. Transfer that feeling."
"Okay...?" she looked down at them.
"And now feel your legs...Then your whole being." he position himself and closed his eyes. "And as you concentrate on that feeling, start meditating. Let it sink in."
"Just like that?"
"Yeah. That's the first step."
She imitated him, forming a small circle with her hands and closing her eyes. Just as she did that, Monkey reopened his and just looked at her in total stillness and silence. The wind gently blew, a butterfly slowly flew by, the sun was blocked by a bird for a split second, still Monkey didn't move. It was only when (Y/n) cleared her throat that he realized what he was doing. Habits die hard after all. He frowned and stood up.
"How long do I have to do this exactly?" she asked after a while.
Hearing no response, she opened her eyes and saw Monkey laying down under the shades of a nearby tree, his hands behind his head.
"What the hell Monkey?!"
"Sorry, got bored." he casually said.
Now feeling like an idiot for just sitting there for ten whole minutes, she stood up and walked up to him.
"Geez, were you also acting like this when Tripitaka meditated-?"
"It doesn't matter!"
She was taken aback by his sudden shouting. He also seemed surprise by the volume of his own voice. He sighed and stood up.
"Can we go already?" he asked as he picked his ear. "I gotta get a move on or else I'll die of boredom. Man, is there no demons nearby? I could have a good ass-kicking workout right about now."
(Y/n) watched as he began walking away.
'Maybe he doesn't like it when other people use Tripitaka's name, especially against him.' she thought, following him. 'I can relate to that.'
The sun was starting to set, but there was no city and no village in sight. The two companions were ready to sleep outside when they stumbled upon a single house in the middle of nowhere. It looked old and abandoned. (Y/n) knocked a few times, even called out asking for shelter, but no response. They exchanged a look before Monkey let himself in.
"Stay close." he said as she followed him. "In case the floorboards collapse."
She briefly glanced down in panic.
"I wasn't worried about that before but now..."
The house seemed completely empty. There were old furniture, everything was very dusty and a bit rusty, it was clear this place has been here for a while. There was a pond in the backyard and any little creaky noise made her jump, which ticked off Monkey a bit. At some point, as they were exploring an office, a pile of books placed on top of each-other fell down, they probably finally lost their balance after being like this for years and years. She yelped and clung unto Monkey's arm, he flinched at the sudden move and glared at her.
"Could you not? Chill." he shook his arm to make her let go. "You're scared or something?"
"No!" she folded her arms. "I'm just being cautious."
He raised an eyebrow, skeptical.
"You're never too cautious - Especially in a place like this!" she added, gesturing around them.
He just sighed and went back to exploring.
Just then she noticed a little mouse in a corner of the room, disappearing into a hole in the wall as soon as it noticed her noticing it. It made her relieved that it wasn't anything supernatural that was making those noises.
"It sure seems empty." she said after they search almost the entire house.
"Yeah, but it's weird." Monkey narrowed his eyes. "If it's been abandoned for a while, passerby's would've surely taken some furniture. But it doesn't look like anything's missing."
"Not everyone's a thief you know."
"Or maybe..." he slowly looked back at her. "Someone, or some*thing* is already in this house."
She tensed up but soon frowned when he snickered at her reaction.
"Ah~." he sighed. "Come on now, let's check out the basement."
"Huh?! Why the basement?"
"Because that's where all the spooky stuff happens, and there's no attic so~." he opened a door leading to a set of stairs descending into darkness. "Ladies first." he bowed with a large smile.
"Okay." she waited for a moment. "...You're not going?"
"I-Mmh! You know what?!" he pointed at her. "I'll take that as a compliment." he said before walking in as (Y/n) shook her head and followed him.
"Can you see in the dark?" she asked, as he seemed unbothered by the growing darkness while she had to put a hand on the wall and walk carefully so as to not trip.
"Kinda, better than humans at least."
"Alright." she reached and wanted to take a hold of his tunic but grabbed his tail instead.
"Wha-Hey!" he suddenly turned around and grabbed her wrist, making her let go. "You don't just grab somebody's tail. That's rude." he sternly said as he leaned a bit closer.
"Sorry! I was going for your clothes."
She could see Monkey's glowing red eyes narrow before he let go of her.
"You can just go back upstairs if you're not comfortable in the dark."
"Says you?! Are you sure *you* won't be uncomfortable being alone in the dark?!"
He glared at her.
"Go back upstairs already!" he huffed and turned around. "I don't want you clinging unto me out of nowhere again!"
"It wasn't not out of nowhere!"
He just ignored her and kept going down the stairs. She hesitated before going back upstairs.
"Do you see anything?" she called out, looking down by the doorway.
"Nothing much." she heard him say. "Except maybe... Wait..." she leaned closer as he paused. "Oh my lord what is that?!?!?!"
"What?! What?!"
Monkey cackled and she realized he was messing around yet again. She frowned and planned on punching him when he comes back. Finally he sighed.
"There is something there though." he said.
A moment passed.
"Oh damn!" he exclaimed in delight.
"What?"
"Yes! Finally!"
"What?!"
Instead of answering, Monkey hopped back up the stairs holding a big barrel and with a big smile on his face.
"Alcohol~!" he said, happily balancing the barrel on his head.
She sighed in front of his childishness, but she was also relieved it wasn't anything serious.
Now that they've inspected the whole house, they picked a room to sleep in.
"We're partying tonight!" Monkey opened the barrel and filled two glasses he picked up on the way. "I haven't had alcohol in ages!"
"I haven't had alcohol ever."
"Never?!" he looked at her with big eyes.
"I mean, I was raised in a monastery." she shrugged.
"Yeah but you're not a monk. You poor poor woman!"
"You don't have to say it twice." she mumbled.
"Worry not." he smirked and handed her a glass. "Sun Wukong, Monkey King, King of Partying, will show the ways of having a blast."
"Kinda weird to have a party with only two people." she took it.
"As long as you're having a blast, it's a party, period!"
She smiled and watched as he drank his glass in one go.
"Oh yeah~!" he exhaled. "That's some fine wine right there!" he looked at the ceiling. "Thank you old owners of this house for leaving us your booze!"
He turned towards (Y/n) to see her inspecting the wine and smelling it.
"Don't hesitate," he said. "just go for it. And don't mind the smell."
"Okay..."
She pinched her nose and drank a few sips before coughing. Monkey laughed.
"Bah~!" she sticked her tongue out.
"It is stronger than most wine I've drank." he smiled. "But I do believe you're overreacting there."
"Wait." she held up her hand and waited a moment. "The aftertaste is pretty good." she smiled.
"That's what I'm talking about!" he lightly slapped his knee. "Now it's time to game!"
"Game?"
"Drinking games!"
"Is it going to be rock-paper-scissors again?"
"Mmh..." he scratched his chin, thinking. "Rock-paper-scissors drinking game. Not a bad idea." he pointed at her, smiling. "I'll submit that to the council later."
"Council?" she blinked twice, confused at the idea of a game/drinking game/rock-paper-scissors council, she already had a lot of questions but Monkey continued.
"You must know this one." he grabbed (Y/n)'s bag and took out the little salt box, then he placed it on the floor between the two of them. "The one where we each tap the box to the rhythm and it goes faster and faster and if you grab the box I have to close my fist?"
"Yeah I know it." she nodded.
"Well it's the exact same, but if you lose, you drink." he refilled their glasses. "Ready?"
"Ready to win."
He chuckled.
"Come on. Five, six, seven, eight."
And so, they played a dozen rounds of this. The score was pretty even, with (Y/n) winning by only two points. The two of them were already getting tipsy. Monkey of course would never accept defeat and proposed some other game, which he won this time. But (Y/n) would never accept defeat and proposed some other game. Suddenly, they heard a noise. Sounded like a furniture being pushed.
"What~?!" Monkey put his hand to his ear like he was an old man.
"Monkey!" she hit him on the arm. "Something is moving!"
"What?! Let's go check it out!" he stood up and rushed out of the room.
"Hey! Wait fo' me!" she clumsily followed him.
It was clear here which one could hold alcohol and which one was struggling. He could still speak clearly while she was starting to become a mumbling mess.
They followed the sound to the kitchen, which stopped as soon as they walked in. The table, before against the wall, was now at the center of the room. Monkey looked around as (Y/n) walked closer and placed a hand on the table.
"It wasn' there befo' right?" she turned towards him.
"Huh." he put his hands on his hips. "Guess I was right."
"What you mean?"
"We're not alone here."
Before she could ask what he meant, they heard noise again. Monkey smiled.
"Come on!" he said as he ran out.
"Monkey~!" she followed him and almost stumbled on her own feet.
They arrived in their room again. The barrel has moved and was a lot closer to the wall now. He laughed while (Y/n) panted with her hand on her knees.
"I knew it!"
"But we..." she stood straight, taking one last deep breath before speaking. "But we searched the whole house, they were no demons."
"I'm not talking about demons." he smirked. "I'm talking about...ghosts~!"
She suddenly tensed up, bringing her hands close to her chest. He snickered.
"It's not funny!"
"It is kinda funny. You're scared of ghosts."
"Am not~!"
'I see she's the kind of people that turns into a kid when they're drunk.' he thought.
"It's not so bad." he walked over to get the barrel for himself. "I'm just curious why they're not joining us. Hey!" he exclaimed as he looked around. "If you want to drink, you can join us and we'll share with you!"
"Don't talk to it!"
"It? That's rude (Y/n). Ghosts are people too."
"No they're not! Not anymore, that's the whole point!"
"Don't mind her ghost!" he turned away. "She's drunk and she doesn't go out much!"
For a moment, they didn't talk and waiting for some kind of response. But there was only silence.
"Ooo~," he looked at her. "you made 'em angry."
"Don't say that!"
"Do you know how to pacify ghosts?"
"No." she looked down.
"Isn't it something you learn at monasteries?"
"We didn't have ghosts, why would I go to that class?"
"You skipped class?! (Y/n)! You were a bad kid?!"
"I wasn' even a real student!"
"Well maybe you'll do it by accident like Tripitaka did once." he laughed, a hand on his forehead. "On accident, can you believe it?! How do you even do that!" he laughed some more and sighed. "Anyway, ghost! Please reveal your name to us! My name is Sun Wukong, the Great the Amazing the Mighty the Handsome. Uh...and that's (Y/n)."
She just hummed in distress.
"Tell us ghost, what is your name? Are you mad? Are you sad? Are you glad, what's your deal?"
Silence. (Y/n) slightly hunched over, ready to cling unto Monkey at any sudden fourniture mouvement.
"Geez, take your time why don't you." he frowned.
In his growing impatience, he took his glass and dug into the barrel to serve himself a full glass. Just then, they heard something falling.
"That was from office!" he exclaimed and ran out as he drank his glass, taking the barrel with him.
(Y/n) just power-walked her way through, feeling that running would upset her stomach. When she walked in, she could tell Monkey didn't get to see the ghost since he clicked his tongue and looked ticked off. Looking around, she noticed a few books knocked off the shelf, and one of them was placed open on top of the desk. She took a closer look.
"Look!" she pointed at it. "Weird specific stuff!"
He stood beside her and leaned over. He moved her hand out of the way first, since instead of pointing, it was simply covering almost the whole page. Now with a clear view, he saw that there were a few scratches throughout the page. He scratched his chin and picked up the book. Those scratches were way too tiny and specific to have just been formed with time, they were covering specific letters. Taking a quick look, there were no scratches in the rest of the book.
"Here." he handed the book (opened at the right page) back to (Y/n) try to figure out which letters were there."
"Wha'?! Why me~?!" she whined.
"Because I have better things to do." he said as he sat beside the barrel and filled his glass. "Besides, puzzles and word stuff were always Tripitaka's thing. Like he knows I can easily do it yet he insists on doing it. He says it's for making himself useful but I'm no idiot, I know he's a sucker for that stuff." he cackled. "So, for once, I'll be letting someone else do it. Especially with this baby right here there's no way I'm doing anything else." he drank his wine in one go.
(Y/n) whined some more for a while but since Monkey was completely unfazed, she eventually gave in. This exercise, though very simple, was giving her a headache. But the pain soon turned into horror when she deciphered this puzzle.
"Monkey! Monkey! Monkey~!" she clung unto him.
"Rah~! You almost made me spill my drink!" he pushed her away with his foot. "What?!"
She gestured towards the book in a panic.
"It's our names!"
"Really?" he removed his foot and took the book to look at the scratches, a moment passed. "Oh yeah. But why didn't the ghost..." he trailed off as he noticed he hasn't read all the letters yet.
"I think they started to say their name but then you interuptupte-mmh~." she held her temples.
Indeed, there was just only letter appart from the ones that formed their names: T. Monkey let his mind wander for a moment of hope but then he shook his head and stood up.
"Come on ghost-with-a-name-that-starts-with-a-T, we can't call you that! That's way too long!"
'And there's no way I can pronounce it right right now...' (Y/n) thought.
"Give us an actual name!"
Silence again, he groaned.
"Maybe they're shy...?" she said.
He groaned and placed the book back on the desk.
"Fine!" he took his barrel and (Y/n), dragging her behind him. "We will wait in the hallway for you to write your response! Give us a sign when you're done!"
They walked out and he closed the door behind them. Then they both sat down, facing each-other with their backs pressed on the opposite walls.
"God this is the most stubborn ghost I've ever seen! He better have a really cool name!"
"Stop screaming..." she quietly said and pressed a hand on his cheek, pushing it away while holding her head with her other hand.
"Right, sorry 'bout that. Here have some wine for your headache."
"No thanks. Don' think that'll help."
"I'll drink it for you then." he said as he chugged it in one go.
"Ohmylord, how's your stomach so strong~?"
He giggled for a bit too long. His drunkenness must've finally started to show.
"That's just who I am, I came out of the rock strong...It's not me who's strong, it's you who's weak."
"That's two differen' answers."
"Well, I am the word guy."
"I thought tha' was, uh...the other guy."
"We can share, it's cool."
She smiled.
"Say...Do you dislike him?"
"Huh?"
"When you talk abou' him, it's eithe' neutral or you make fun of 'im. And the stories do tell about how he'd use the cursed crown against you all the time. So I was wonderin'."
"No, I can never hate him." he looked down, smiling. "Yeah he would sometimes act illogically, but he was truly the kindest person I've ever known, either it'd be for the best or to a fault - Like sometimes you want to just yell at him for being so gullible, but then he looks at you and smiles like nothing's going on in the world and you're like 'god...dammit!'" he paused. "I bet my peaches he knows! He knows and he used it with those merchants that one time to get a discount!" he huffed and folded his arms.
With this little monologue, (Y/n) didn't really know what to say. It was like when she asked him to describe Tripitaka with one word, but this time it was different. He wasn't just some funny venting. Before she could say anything, Monkey turned towards the door.
"Taking his sweet time huh." he stood up and gently knocked on the door. "Ghost~ you done yet?"
No response. Monkey glanced at (Y/n), who was massaging her temple, before opening the door.
"The hell?!"
"Wha'?" she looked up at him.
"The book's gone!" he walked in.
"Waiwaiwait Monkey!" she quickly stood up, almost falling in the process, and followed him inside. "Don't leave me alone with the ghost!"
She was about to hug his arm but refrained herself, she learned her lesson now. Monkey looked around and gagged.
"This jerk put it back on the shelf!" he exclaimed. "You know what?! Screw it!" he threw his arms in the air. "You wanna stay in your corner? Fine, just don't bother us anymore with your noise. It's getting late anyway, we're done ghost hunting. We'll deal with you after we're hungover tomorrow." they both walked out and Monkey picked up the barrel and balanced it on his head again. "I'm taking this with me it's open we gotta finish it it's mine now."
"Is uh...Is i' really okay?" (Y/n) asked, playing with her fingers. "Sleepin' with a ghost?"
"In what way? What do you mean?"
"Wha-The way where this place's haunted of course!"
"It'll be fine~," he waved his hand. "ghosts can't do much."
"But like...They can infiltrate your dreams."
"Then don't have dreams."
"Don' say it like that~ it's sad!" she whined.
Once they entered their room, they both froze, their expression fell and Monkey almost dropped the barrel as they both stared at the wall with big eyes.
'TRIPITAKA' was written in black letters, a bottle of ink was placed on the floor right below it. The ghost must've taken it from the office.
"Oooohohohokay!" (Y/n) broke the silence, smiling out of her feeling of freaking the hell out.
Monkey walked up to the writing on the wall and carefully set the barrel down.
"...Master?" he quietly said before a large smile formed on his face. "Master~! I had a feeling it was you! Thought you could play tricks on your disciple! Haha! That's great! 'Cause since you're not the chosen one or whatever, you don't have to stick to all those pointless rules anymore! You can finally relax and wind down with me! Come on," he sat down and filled both of the glasses, chugging his own in one go yet again. "let's share a drink together and talk about the good ol' days! Like our meditation sessions together! I still think it's pretty pointless but I didn't want to leave you alone Master - Oh! Remember that one time you caught me staring at you? But like come on, why would I keep my eyes closed? You could be gone just like that if I kept my guard down!"
(Y/n) walked closer, she stood beside him as he laughed to himself and kept talking, ignoring her. She couldn't help but believe that he was reaching a little bit throughout his monologue, like he was convinced that if he stopped talking, the ghost of his master would go away.
With her current state, the question just slipped out.
"Did you have feelings for Tripitaka?"
Monkey stopped talking. He stopped moving too. He slowly turned his head to look at her, an expression of complete disbelief on his face.
"...what?" he asked under his breath.
Just then did (Y/n) realize what she asked. She was taken aback by his sudden change of behavior. She's never seen him like this.
"N-no I-" he shook his head and looked down, putting down his glass. "He's my master of course I'd- I'm not-what?" he sighed sharply, he was clearly confused himself.
He placed his hands on his head and hunched over. (Y/n) was speechless, regretting to have asked.
"I'll...I'll go wash my face." she said and walked away.
She figured that Monkey needed some alone time right now.
She sat by the pond in the backyard and splashed her face with the cold water. Looking at the stars' reflection, she hoped Monkey would be okay. But she could feel her heart fill with a sad empathy for him.
After all, Tripitaka was a monk, monks aren't allowed to be in a relationship. So not only did Monkey lost someone very close to him, but he never figured out his own feelings for him, and even if he did, it would've been in vain. How tragic.
"It's so sad~." she quietly said, feeling a tear in the corner of her eye.
Just then, she heard someone groaning and mumbling to themselves, but it didn't sound like Monkey. Wiping her tear away, she stood up and walked up to a window where the voice came from. In a room stood a mouse demon, and he looked angry.
"They're still drinking my wine!" he said to himself, bitting his nails in frustration. "Well at least I have Sun Wukong in the pocket. Kukuku~ who knew he'd become such a weak emotional monkey? I'll just keep pretending to be his master and tell him to leave the barrel alone. The human...?" he thought for a second. "Well if everything else fails I guess I'll just eat her. I'm sure she'll go well with the wine."
(Y/n) didn't waste any second and ran back to Monkey. He calmed down, but now he just looked sad, still drinking. That is, until he jumped in surprise when she busted in.
"Monkey!" she ran up to him but then stumbled on her own foot and fell down.
"What?" he asked, his back facing her.
"There's...There's no ghost!" she raised her head to look at him. "It was the mouse all along! It's a demon!"
Monkey crushing his glass his hand. He took one deep breath before standing up.
"Monkey...?" she sat up.
He didn't respond. Without looking at her, we walked out in the backyard. She followed him and watched and he found a rock that was as big as her, picked it up, and head-butted it, crushing it into pieces.
He'd do that sometimes whenever he was drunk and needed a clear mind. He turned towards her.
"Step away from the house." he spoke with a clear voice.
She didn't question him and did as he say. He walked in, closing the back door behind him. Now alone and at a safe distance, she sat on the grass, hoping he won't take too long. She knew it wasn't going to be pretty.
After retrieving her bag and putting it around his shoulder, Monkey started right away and destroyed everything he came across. Even though the house was very easy to break down, he put all his energy into his attacks, shouting from the top of his lungs. Incoherent screams of rage. Nothing was spared: no plank was left intact, no pillar was left standing, no roof was left to cast a shadow, everything must become dust. This was the most uneven battle he's ever fought and yet to him, this was a complete and utter defeat. And the fact that a simple mouse demon made him like this only fueled this crushing feeling of anger and shame. And it was fueled even more when he finally saw that demon, turned into a mouse, trying desperately to flee. He grabbed him with so much force that he turned back into his original form. A rotent, dirt beneath his feet, a piece of trash that no one will ever cry for. Everything must become dust.
Monkey walked back to (Y/n). He handed her her bag, thankfully the blood he was covered in didn't stain it. With shaky hands, she took it back. They looked at each-other, he had a stoic, almost cold expression while she was obviously overwhelmed.
"Monkey...you-" she started to say but then puked on the ground.
Monkey sighed through his nose and held up her hair.
"Don't hold back, it'd be worst for your stomach."
After a while, she passed out from both the alcohol and her tiredness. After washing the blood away, he picked her up and laid her down with her blanket.
The next day, (Y/n) was woken up by the sunlight shining in her face. She groaned and rubbed her face, feeling her first hungover. She came to a conclusion that she will never do this again. She sat up and saw Monkey eating his breakfast, behind him was what remained of the house. He noticed her and paused in his meal.
"Hey...about last night-"
"Woah! What happened to the house?!" she exclaimed.
He blinked twice.
"You...don't remember?"
"Uh..." she held her head. "I remember winning at those drinking games..." she paused, expecting a witty response, even just a laugh, nothing. "And there was a ghost I think? Was there a ghost or did I just dream that part?"
"...Not a ghost." he kept eating. "Just a stupid demon doing a tasteless joke."
She didn't question him further.
After their breakfast, they went back to the road once again. Walking being him, (Y/n)'s expression changed to one of sadness. She looked down at his hand and started to slowly reach for it, but she stopped herself and quietly sighed.