"Uh-"
(Y/n) was about to say something incoherent when the monkey raised his hand, stopping her. He turned back and walked towards the passed out wolf demon. He kneeled and grabbed her head. (Y/n) flinched when she heard a single crack, her face became paler as she realized that she just witnessed a murder. But hey, better be a demon than herself.
Just then, she noticed a golden snake going passed her. She remembered the stories telling that they were like messengers made of magic, the wolf demon must've summoned it before the monkey killed her. (Y/n) caught it but it easily slipped away from her grasp and suddenly picked up the pace, out of sight in a matter of seconds. She cursed to herself, who knows where it was going and what message was it sending, nothing good that was for sure.

"You're the one who got me out?"
She turned around, the monkey was now standing in front of her, frowning slightly.
"I-I think so? Maybe?" she said, not even sure herself.
He looked at her up and down, he opened his mouth but then shook his head and walked out of the mountain. (Y/n) stood there in shock before going after him.
"W-w-wait, wait!" she clumsily walked through the crystal shards of various sizes before exited the mountain as well. "Wait!"
"What?" he sternly asked as he faced her, clearly annoyed.

She hesitated, still baffled by the situation, but eventually spoke.
"A-are you...Sun Wukong? As in, the Monkey King Sun Wukong? As in the Great Sage equaling Heaven Sun Wukong? Sun Wukong the quintuple immortal? The one who-"
"Yes. I know, I'm amazing. Get to the point."
"Wha-what are you doing here?! Aren't you supposed to be a Bodhisattva with Tripitaka? Or back on Flower Fruit Mountain after your journey to the west?"
"Ha! Is that what the stories tell people nowadays? Telling lies and now they just invent endings?" he kept walking. "Sorry girl, welcome to the real world. Don't believe everything stories tell you."
She frowned and followed him.
"But you still have your crown stuck on your head, so there is at least some truth to the story. What were you doing stuck under a mountain? What happened? Where's Tripitaka and the others?"
"Oh for the love of-!" he suddenly turned around, stopping her. "They're gone! Okay?! Now will you shut up with the interrogation?! I literally just got out for the time in god knows how many years!"
"...Sorry." seeing the anger in his eyes, she decided to stop the questions, even though she really wanted him to develop.

He huffed and kept walking, with her not far behind. She looked down and held her chin.
"Why are you following me?" he asked.
"I'm thinking."
"That doesn't answer my question, stop following me!" he stopped again.
(Y/n) was silent for a moment before looking at him with a serious expression.
"I've decided."
"Huh?" he frowned, wondering what the hell this girl was going on about.

"I'm going to see the goddess Bodhisattva Guan Yin."
"Guan Yin? Why?"
"Because demons are after the new reincarnation of the Golden Cicada. Also it might maybe probably not but who knows be me." she quickly mumbled that last sentence.
He lifted an eyebrow.
"I-Listen! I got you out of that crystal didn't I?! But whatever, even if I wasn't, something is going on and I'm going to ask her for help."
"Uh-hu." he sighed. "Well good luck with that."
"What? No, you're coming with me!"
"What."
"I don't know where her island is, and there's no way I'm surviving on my own. I was lucky enough to travel in an area free of demons, but I know that won't last forever. Not after that last one sent a snake messenger probably to tell her boss where to find me, because I made her think I was the Golden Cicada-It's a long story."
"I'm sure it is, and I don't wanna hear it. Ask someone else."
"No. Because as far as I'm concerned, you are the only one who can help me right now."
"Well sorry to break it to you, but I'm done being someone's bodyguard. Toodles." with a flick of the wrist, he started to run.

"No! Don't go! Hey!" she ran after him, but of course, she was no match for him. "Stop!"
Suddenly, he fell over, grabbing his head and wriggling around in pain for a few moments. During which she caught up to him.
"Are you okay?" she asked in a panic, leaning over him.
Finally the pain stopped. Panting, he sat up and shook his head to regain his composure. His touched his crown.
'Even from beyond you bother me...' he thought.
"Did...Did I do that?" (Y/n) whispered to herself before clearing her throat. "Please, will you be my escort?"

He groaned.
"So you wanna get to Guan Yin's island." he stood up and folded his arms. "How do you plan on doing that exactly? 'Cause it's pretty much on the other side of China."
"What do you mean? Can't you just summon your somersault cloud? With it, we'll be there before sunset."
"First of all, only the divine can get on that cloud, you would just fall through. Second," he paused. "I can't."
"Why?"
"Because those damn demons engraved a seal on my back, preventing me from using any of my powers!"
Upon hearing this, (Y/n) was more impressed than anything.
'Even without powers he managed to kill a wolf demon?! I guess he naturally has superhuman strength."

"You know." she said. "Maybe I could...take a look at it? I've been living in a monastery my whole life, I've picked up on a few things."
"You?" he raised an eyebrow.
She jiggled her necklace.
"It's worth a shot."

He thought for a moment before taking off the top half of his tunic. Now shirtless, he then turned around and sat on the ground cross-legged. (Y/n) kneeled down and her eyes widen. The seal was spreading all over his back and even on the back of his neck and shoulders. Since it was engraved, the monkey's fur didn't cover it and (Y/n) couldn't help but trace down one of the bright red lines with her fingertip. (Meanwhile, he wondered if that was part of the process.) The seal was circular with about a dozen circles, each of them with a different design.
'One for each power probably.' she thought.
She took off her necklace, holding it in one hand and placing the other of the center of the seal where the character for 'suppress' was written. She closed her eyes and recited one of the spells she learned. The palm of her hand glowed a gentle blue. After a while, she felt her energy being drained drastically and stopped, removing her hand. The monkey glanced back at her, she shook her head, panting slightly.
"It's, *way* too powerful."
He sighed, looking almost disappointed.
"What did I expect?" he mumbled as he stood up and put his tunic back on.

"But hey," she stood up as well. "I'm sure Guan Yin could remove it like it's nothing! So you see our interests kinda align here." she gestured back and forth between him and herself. "And even if you say no, I'll just do the crown thing until you say yes anyway."
'Even though I have no idea how I did it.'
He glared at her and she had to force herself not to look down.
"Fine." he said through his pointy teeth.
"Don't worry, it's not like I enjoy the idea of travelling through China accompanied by a monkey with a bad attitude."
"Oh yeah, 'cause I am *thrilled* of the idea of spending months with a naive bossy girl who probably never left the house her entire life."
"I-Whatever! Let's just go!" she walked passed him.
He watched her go for a moment.
"It's that way." he pointed at another direction with his thumb.

He couldn't help but smirk when she stopped and stomped towards the right direction this time. He cackled when he saw her red cheeks as she went passed him again.
"Monkey, come on let's go."
"Monkey? I have a name!" he walked alongside her.
She looked at him with narrowed eyes and raised eyebrows.
"Sorry, but you don't look, sound, or act like *the* Sun Wukong. So until then, I'll just call you Monkey." she shrugged.
He clicked his tongue.
"Whatever you say you hero wannabe."
"Wha-hey, screw you!"
"What? Too close too soon?" he smirked.
She sent daggers at him.
"You know what? How about we walk at a certain distance?"
"Fine by me." he slightly picked up the pace.
"Nonono, I go first."
"Man, you have such an ego."
"It's nothing like that! What if a demon grabs me all sneaky-like? You wouldn't notice if I was behind you." she hurried up to be in front of him.
He sighed.

They haven't left the mountains yet. (Y/n) kept glancing around, all tense and nervous, and it was beginning to piss off Monkey.
"Stop being paranoid!" he finally said. "You're stressing *me* out!"
"I can't help it, I got demons after me!"
"You had *one* demon after you, and I killed her in seconds. So chill won't you?"
She finally faced forward.
"Still, what do we do when we encounter more powerful monsters?"
"We?"
"I just figured that, since you don't have your powers anymo-."
"That doesn't mean anything." he said with a grave voice. "I don't need powers to kick ass."
'Sheesh okay.' she thought, rolling her eyes.
Finally having some peace, Monkey sighed and looked up at the sky as they kept walking.

(Y/n) noticed something from the corner of her eyes and took a closer look at it.
"Uh...Monkey?"
"What is it again?" he looked at her.
"Can monsters and spirits take the form of a rock?"
"Land gods sometimes do to spy on people, why?"
She pointed at something on the side of the road, Monkey followed her gaze and became confused himself. A rock half as big as him was rolling past them. They both stopped in their tracks and watched it go, and as they did, they noticed more rolling stones going in the same direction.
"Okay this, this is weird." he finally said before they followed them.
They didn't have to go far thankfully. Only meters away, the rocks piled on top of each-other and soon took the form of a four-meters-tall stone titan.
"Oh boy." (Y/n) said in a little voice.

"Sun Wukong." it spoke. "I am the guardian created to make sure you never leave these mountains. Prepare to die."
"Oh please." Monkey waved his hand. "You can't kill me and you know it, you pebble pile."
"I know that, but you can't kill me either."
"Oh~hoho! You shouldn't have said that!" he smiled widely. "Now it's a challenge!"
He ran up to the titan, jumped up to its head and smashed the stone into pieces. Its body stood there and soon fell on its rocky knees. Monkey cackled and smacked his hands together.
"And~ done. Now let's get out of-GUH!" a rock suddenly smacked him behind the head, reuniting itself with the titan's body.

"See what I mean?" it asked when its head was formed again. "We will fight until my lord and his army come and get you. And you, Golden Cicada." it looked at (Y/n). "I saw everything, the golden snake as been sent and soon enough it will reach my lord. So I won't come after you, you can even go now if you want. Doesn't matter since you're not part of my mission and it's only a matter of time befor-" suddenly, Monkey kicked its leg off.
"If that's the case I'll just break you over and over until you turn to dust!" Monkey exclaimed, jumping lightly in a fighting stand.
"Oh but you're forgetting something Monkey King: we're in the mountains, in my element! I can regenerate anytime and as much as I need!"
The titan swung a fist at him, Monkey easily blocked it but suddenly the fist changed into an open hand and grabbed him. Monkey broke free and tried a different attack, but it was useless again. The two opponents just went back and forth with no clear winner. But just as the titan said, what mattered was gaining time, or wasting time depending on who you asked, before the demon army shows up.
'Is there nothing to stop that thing?' (Y/n) thought as she watched. 'Is there nothing I can-?!'
"Huh?" she was about to continue with the self-pity but then her eyes widen.
In a moment where the two fighters were pushing each-other, trying to make the other fall, the titan had its back facing her, in the middle was a piece of paper.
'A seal! Must be what's keeping it together!'

She moved to the side and swung her arms, catching Monkey's attention.
"Hold him off." she mouthed, articulating to make sure he gets the message.
He frowned but quickly focused back on his fight. She ran and jumped on the back of the titan's leg. It flinched and started to rotated its head but Monkey took the opportunity to headbutt it.
"Hey pebble pile! I'm right here!" he shouted.
The titan groaned and picked him up, Monkey struggled and was about to broke free like last time but then the monster started to shake. Soon enough, it fell apart, now returning to its normal rock state. Monkey easily landed on his feet, unlike (Y/n) who fell over with a yelp.

Rubbing her back, she stood up and ripped the seal to pieces. She looked at Monkey as he walked towards her.
"See how easier it is when we combine forces and work together?" she asked.
"I will admit," he nonchalantly shrugged as he walked past her. "It would have taken me longer if I was alone."
She smiled, just then, her stomach loudly rumbled. They looked at each-other.
"Um..." she placed a hand on it. "You mind if we take a break before moving on? All this climbing and life threatening stuff made me hungry."
"Sure." he smiled. "Haven't had a meal in decades."
Monkey set up some of the titans remains so they'd have a table to place their food on and chairs to sit on. (Y/n) proposed to share but he declined.
"I can tell you don't even have a lot for yourself. I'll just pick up some fruits from those trees there."
'Man, he can be considerate when he wants to.' she thought.

"By the way," she asked as they started to dig in. "you said you were in there for decades. Do you remember how many years exactly?"
"Mmh." he suck on his fingertips were a bit of peach juice were. "No idea, I stop counting after a while. What years is it anyway?"
"XXXX."
"Damn okay!" his eyes widen. "Time really flies by when you're immortal. Hey, you got some salt?"
"For peaches?" she sent him a weird look.
"Yeah, everything tastes better with salt."
"...sure." she went back to her food. "Check in my bag it should be in there."
'I bet the monastery chef put it there, that dork.' she smiled as Monkey picked up the bag on the side of the table.
"Ah-." she heard him say.

She looked up and frozen in horror. Monkey was staring at her old monkey doll he was holding in his hand, he slowly turned his head to look at her, both of them with big eyes. (Y/n)'s face turned as red as a tomato. Then Monkey burst out laughing.
"You..." he tried to say between two loud 'ha's. "You were a fan?!?!?!" he pointed at her, holding his stomach.
"Not anymore that's for sure!!!" she yelled.
"That makes so much sense!" he ignored her and kept laughing.
"Shut up! I didn't keep it because it's you!" she snatched the doll away and gently put it away. "Someone very dear to me made it when I was a kid."
"Oh man!" he sighed, wiping his teary eyes. "Sure, keep digging yourself into a hole."
"It's true!"
"Sure~." he smirked before going back to his food.
(Y/n) huffed.

She didn't know how this journey will go with him, she really hoped they will eventually come to an understanding and be on good terms. Because right now, she just wanted to punch him in his stupid face with his stupid smirk.