Archive of Our Own ^beta

She did not plan to be alive after everything.

Her own doom, even if she did not recognize it until the moment the dragon had arched over her, had haunted her dreams since she first took up residence in her first cave. Back then, they had called her the White Bone Spirit. Simple. Nothing to it. But when she began to consider and study what the dream could’ve meant and how she could reach the nirvana that it supposedly promised her, they started calling her more than just a spirit.

White Bone Spirit. Ivory Lady. Lady Bone Demon.

It was the last she was called by when she passed out of awareness.

White Bone was not aware now. Simple as that. Her thoughts, what little she had now and then, were hazy, dream-like. What emotions drifted through her mind, again and again, were exhaustion and relief.

The universe was in good hands, she knew that. The Monkie Kid would make sure to keep it safe, even if it wasn’t in the state eternal purity she had planned. For thousands of years, she had worked and worked. Finally, she could rest.

Then something darted under her skin.

White Bone groaned, more awake than she had ever been. Once again, she felt the strange sensation under her skin, darting to and fro across her nerves. That felt strangely nice. The last time she was defeated, she had been locked in a tomb and left awake, screaming and pounding as her body rotted and fell apart, piece by piece.The pain had been agonizing.

But that did not help her confusion. She was dead. She should not be feeling anything .

Before White Bone could see what else she could feel, the atmosphere around her shifted. The light around her grew brighter and brighter, just as her throat grew tighter and tighter. Her eyes watered but she kept them open. She had to see where this was going.

She had to see-

A wooden ceiling. And three familiar, hated monkeys, staring down at her.

“Hey there, Sleeping Beauty.”

Face to face with Sun Wukong, his successor, and Macaque, the traitor, White Bone had only one reaction to the greeting.

She reared her fist back and slammed it into Macaque’s face.

“Are you feeling better?”

White Bone glared up at the Monkie Kid. Qi Xiaotian. The stupid simian. She wasn’t sure how to describe him at the moment without screaming and trying to punch him. They were alone in what looked like a living room on a boat, furniture pushed back to create what she recognized as a ritual circle. The scent of tea was strong in the air. A few dozen cats surrounded them, their eyes all focused on her. She was sitting on the floor, her back against the wall, her white gown spreading out across the floor. Nothing bound her but she knew that they weren’t required. She had no idea where she was and she was exhausted . Even if she tried to run anyway, there were three overpowered monkeys who could grab her before she sprinted out the door.

In another room, the rest of them were tending to one of those monkeys’ broken nose. She could hear Macaque let out yowls of pain along with a voice trying to soothe him with a “Quit yelling or this will go on longer!” If her memory served her right, it was the pig who she had shoved through a wall. Sun Wukong kept peeking in through the doorway, glaring at her. She glared back.

She was back. She was alive. She was back in her old body.

“How?” 

Her voice was creaky and her throat ached. The sensation of pain, something she had not been able to feel in centuries, was more pleasure than pain. However, she was not supposed to feel this. She stared down at her hands, flexing them and watching as smooth skin, unscarred by the passage of time, moved. The Monkie Kid blinked cluelessly. “How what?”

“How did you do this?”

“Uh…bringing you back? Or the body?” The Monkie Kid gave a nervous chuckle. “Well, you left your bones in the tomb. And there’s been some advances in technology…” He started to ramble about something called cloning, something about using one of her bones, but she did not hear it. Her eyes were located firmly on the small face that had joined Wukong’s.

Her little host turned her eyes away.

“-Anyway, the idea that being locked in a tomb would get you to see the error of your ways is pretty dumb. How are you supposed to learn all alone?” Monkie Kid’s voice interrupted her consideration of her former host. He had a point to that. She had years to consider it, to realize that the tomb was just a way to execute her without rubbing against the monk’s supposed pacifism. “So we made you a new body, did some research, and boom! You’re back in the mortal plane!”

“And you assumed I would not start my mission up again?” This child was ridiculous. There was so much he didn’t know. “The world is still filled with nothing but pain and grief.”

“Yes,” Monkie Kid said. “I know you won’t.” His smile had faded to be replaced with the same steely determination that he had worn when he had defeated her. He knelt so they were eye to eye. “Because you know when you’ve been beaten.”

The words stung.

White Bone knew those words. She had told him that herself. She hissed at one of her last words- or, not last words, apparently- before sighing. “Fair.”

“Also we made sure that you can’t access your powers.” Sun Wukong had finally gotten sick of just peeking in, it seemed. He loomed over them, those furious golden eyes firmly on her. There were streaks of gray in his fur and scars stretching up from the collar of his shirt to curl around his chin and cheek. She couldn’t help the pleased smile that formed at the sight of them and he growled, eyes narrowing. “Xiaotian set up a place for you but you can’t leave the building.”

Ah. So she was under home arrest as well. She shouldn’t be surprised.

“I see,” she said, trying her best to sound sweet. “Are you worried about being set on fire again?” It was cruel but dragging her back to life to deal with the torture of all of them was cruel as well.

Sun Wukong growled. Monkie Kid sighed, hand slapping against her face. White Bone laughed, leaning back. She was tired.

It was worth it.

Her new “home” was in a tall skyscraper, apparently near Pigsy’s Noodles. It was a fancier place than she expected. But still, when she stepped through the doors, she felt something settle around the building. White Bone glanced back in time to see a set of golden characters briefly form around the doorway before disappearing. Monkie Kid flashed her an apologetic look and she hissed, looking away.

It did not matter.

The door opened with “Here you go!”

The apartment was small. It was done in blue and white, white gauzy curtains framing wide windows, opened up so a gentle breeze blew the curtains. There was a set of glass doors that led to an outside balcony. The smell of lilies was in the air even though she couldn’t see any of the flowers. “I wasn’t sure what you would like,” Monkie Kid said, prattling on as he followed her into the apartment, closing the door. “So, I figured blue and white would work. We also boxed up some stuff from your old place to see if there was anything you wanted. Maybe to decorate?”

She was tempted to spit poison, claiming that the apartment was awful. But that would be a lie. She had seen more eye-gouging things in her time alive than this. “It will work,” White Bone said, tapping a finger against a blue-colored couch. A large black eyesore of a box caught her eye and she couldn’t help the curious tilt of her head. “What is that?”

“Oh, it’s a TV!” Monkie Kid grabbed a long black thing. “This is the remote and here’s the TV guidebook! You press buttons to turn the TV on,” It flipped on to reveal Sun Wukong’s smirking face. The look on her face must’ve been hideous based on Monkie Kid’s grin getting more awkward and him pressing another button, this time to a woman mixing something in a bowl. “And you flip these buttons to change the channel. And this-”

“I know what a book is.” The Mayor, or how she knew him, Shi’s first task, after picking her up and teaching her to use a bathtub, was to show her how scrolls had changed to books. White Bone had never gotten a chance to learn the new language of this world…Mandarin?

Monkie Kid nodded. “Oh, right.” He flipped it open. “But we got it translated into Middle Chinese for you! And the other books we got you!”

…that was surprisingly kind. “Thank you,” she said, trying her best to sound even. Her hopes in true kindness had died out a long time ago and this did not matter. “That is very kind of you. Anything else I should know?” Hopefully, he would say no and White Bone would finally be allowed alone. (If only in thought. She had no doubt that there were cameras or a certain king watching her in animal form.)

“Oh, one more thing!” Xiaotian pulled out a card and handed it to her. It was a small plastic card, the word KEYCARD printed across its face. “Here’s your mailbox key. I’ll be around with food later. Don’t worry about letting me in, I have a spare key. If you need anything, I moved in downstairs. ” Because of her? She quirked a brow in that silent question. Xiaotian let out another chuckle, this one sounding less nervous. “Red wanted some distance from his parents so Xiaojiao and I decided to get an apartment with him before we revived you.”

Shi had also told her about the difference between the present and the past she was used to about unmarried people living together. White Bone did not say a word but simply gave a practiced nod. “I see.” She gave a low bow. “Good night.”

Monkie Kid sounded a touch surprised by the sudden but polite end of the conversation. “Okay.” She did not look up from the floor even as his footsteps started up, heading to the door. “Uh…see you later.”

The door opened and closed.

White Bone straightened up and glanced at the boxes. On a guess, she snapped her fingers. Usually, ice would appear and do as she wished, including pushing those boxes out of eyesight and mind. She did not want to have to deal with the memories of her former glory.

A few sparks appeared around her fingers. No ice appeared.

She couldn’t even have this, could she?

White Bone turned away from the looming boxes and headed out of the living room, towards the two doors she had noticed earlier. One of these rooms had to be a bedroom, right? She opened a door and there it was.

Without pause, not even sparing a glance at whatever decor had been decided for her, White Bone headed over to the bed. Her collapse, face first, onto the plush surface without even moving the sheets or blankets, wasn’t elegant. But today has been a day where elegance went out the window.

She slept.

There was a haze over her mind when she awoke.

How long has it been since she last slept? It had been a while if she forgot how hazy she got when she slept. White Bone sat up, rubbing her eyes, looking around. The walls were a shade of pale blue with the same white gauzy curtains. Neon light drifted through the windows even though the sky was dark.

It was late.

There was an emptiness in her stomach. Hunger. That was hunger. Was there anything in the…what had Shi called it…fridge? White Bone stood and headed out of the bedroom and to the kitchen.

The kitchen seemed sparsely furnished with appliances here and there, just like the rest of the apartment. There was a cookbook and what looked like a manual propped up against a cabinet. She didn’t pay attention to any of these, instead choosing to head through a small door and into the fridge room, cracking the fridge open when she arrived. There was food already there, including a white bag with a piece of paper stuck to it.

Hey, White Bone Demon! Qi Xiaotian here, I just dropped by to give you some noodles. But you were asleep so I didn’t want to wake you up. Don’t worry, Pigsy makes noodles that taste just as good microwaved as they are fresh!  Put the microwave on low for 25 seconds and make sure to give them a good stir when they’re out. I’ll see you tomorrow BYE!

White Bone sighed, setting the bag back in. She wasn’t in the mood to deal with the Monkie Kid, even through little things like this. She grabbed an apple and slammed the fridge shut. The apple’s skin broke hard under her savage bite as she headed back to the bedroom. She yanked out a piece of its flesh as she set the apple on a dresser.

She headed to the set of double doors that, as she guessed, revealed a closet. Traditional blue and white hanfus and robes hung up next to blue jeans and white and blue shirts and white and blue sweaters. White and blue flats were stacked on a small set of shelves on the floor. Without pause, she grabbed at her collar and pulled off her dress. The nearest sweater was soft under her fingers as she yanked it off the hanger and pulled it over her head. The jeans felt a little stiff but she didn’t pause in yanking them up her legs.

Now dressed in a blue sweater and jeans, one softer than the other, White Bone stalked back into the living room with her apple. She was heading straight for the blue armchair and, without pause, she plopped down in it. She arranged herself comfortably and neatly before turning her eyes out.

The armchair was perched next to the window, the cityscape spread out in view. Hideous neon signs and bright lights blocked out the stars and constellations above. She could hear the sound of vehicles and human conversation through the glass instead of the chirp of crickets and the quiet chirps of night birds.

So ugly.

White Bone rested her forehead against the cool glass. Her eyes traced the neon signs and the streets below. So many people walked below her eyes, unaware of the danger she posed.

Or the danger she used to pose.

Her eyes watered as time dragged on and on, sleep demanding she fall back into her embrace, but she refused. White Bone was too angry and, ironically, too tired to sleep. She wanted to see how much worse the world had gotten, even if she only could study it from this window. 

She focused her eyes on the bright shiny thing in the distance. If the mental map she had developed thanks to Shi was right, that was the… Weather Station. A sign of human folly that would doom themselves in the world.

If she had known any better, she would’ve destroyed it first.

Famine and disease were still rampant, Shi had told her. More and more money was being hoarded. But now humanity had taken the reins of the weather and the land and sea, most likely angering the celestial realm. Those poor humans were suffering from their own pride, unaware of what they could and had brought upon their own head. What else was there? What else had she failed to save them all from?

Her eyes watered even more when she noticed a glow on the horizon, bringing orange and yellow and red to paint the sky and clouds. The sun was rising. Soon enough, she had a feeling a certain boy would arrive. He had said he would show his face soon. 

No matter if she wanted him there or not.

Like she suspected, not even a half-hour later, a door opened and closed. She didn’t say a word, preferring to aim her sulk out the window and towards the sight of the hideous city. The footsteps moved to the kitchen and farther, probably to the fridge room. Her ears caught the sound of the fridge door opening. There was a sigh as something plastic, probably the bag of noodles he had placed there originally, ruffled before the fridge door closed. Those footsteps headed to the living room.

She continued her stare.

There was a yelp and she glanced over her shoulder. Monkie Kid stumbled back, gripping the doorway. He took a deep breath as he straightened, revealing a bright but strained smile. “Oh my gods, you almost gave me a heart attack!”

Oh, if only. She snarled, glaring right back at him. “Good. Maybe you’ll fall down dead and I won’t have to deal with you.”

“Hahaha! What a funny joke!” His laughter was strained and the strain in his smile overcame the brightness, making his grin fake as the weather outside. White Bone turned her eyes away, back to the city. She studied the view, pretending to not hear the shuffle of movement or the creak as he rocked back and forth on his heels. There was an awkward cough behind her and then he spoke up, breaking her concentration on the sunshine-filled day. “So…enjoying the view?”

The answer was a resounding “No.”

The silence dragged on. She continued to stare out the window to the dying world outside. In the distance, she could see dark smoke, most likely pollution. The Weather Station practically glowed in the sunlight. Any natural noises were being blocked out by honks, horns, and human yells. Her gaze refocused. 

In the window, she could see the reflection of the Monkie Kid, looking around. He was biting his lip and once again rocking back and forth on his heels. There was some kind of internal debate going on in his head. She could practically see the gears going on in his mind. He brightened at whatever inane thought popped into his brain. “...do you like plants? I could get you some stuff to plant on the balcony!”

“No.”

“There’s cooking stuff if you want.”

“No.”

“...I can get you crafting supplies if you want!”

“No.” 

Monkie Kid made an awkward noise that sounded like he was trying his best to keep calm at her one-word answer. It didn’t really help when she could see his hands curl and uncurl into fists. He finally sighed, pushing his hair back. “Uh…do you need anything?”

Finally, he asked. The one thing she needed was this world to burn and be born anew and she couldn’t have it. She tried her best to not curl her own hands and grip the windowsill. If she still had her powers, White Bone was sure that ice would form over it. She settled for saying the one answer she had been sticking to.

“No.”

There was a sigh, tinged with annoyance. “You can’t sulk forever. I’m sorry, but you can’t.” A stupid, childish part of her snarled. She could try. “I’ll drop by later to see if you’re feeling better.” Good, he was going away. White Bone continued to stare out the window, not saying a word. Monkie Kid stared at her in the window, eyes looking around. Was he waiting for her to say something?

Fine. “Goodbye.” Anything to make him leave.

There was a sigh. “Bye.” 

White Bone did not watch him leave. The world drifted outside and she watched it go. Some version of peace settled over her as she did, musing about how much better everything

Knock knock!

White Bone gave up and let out an unladylike groan. Surely, the Monkie Kid wouldn’t do this to her right after he just left, would he? She turned her eyes back to the window and decided to ignore it. If it was important, he would use that key he told her he had.

Knock knock!

Knock knock knock!

Knock knock knock knock!

White Bone growled, pulling away from the armchair to storm to the door. It seemed he was intent on dragging this on, giving her the illusion of choice and privacy. Better to just answer him and make him leave. She threw it open with a snarl of “ What.”

Instead of Monkie Kid, another young man gave a start at the sudden slam of the door and her snarl. His shirt was an eyesore of blue and yellow ombre and she just hated the sight of him more. “Uh, hey there!” His grin was strained but he looked like he was trying to fix it. “I’m your neighbor-”

“Yes?”

“From 712. I, uh, heard you were moving in!” He held up a tray of what looked to be buns. “This is just a little something-something to welcome you to floor 7!” Right, a gift. He held it out, waiting for her reaction. White Bone took it.

She dropped the tray.

The buns splattered against the floor, sending crumbs and what looked to be red bean paste everywhere. Not a crumb or splatter landed on the floor that she supposed was now hers. The man gaped, tears budding in his eyes, at the sudden, harsh move. Without saying anything else, White Bone slammed the door shut.

Behind the door, she could hear the man let out a shocked, watery sob.

Who cares.

White Bone returned to her armchair and her stare at a world that grew only more awful.

The door slammed open.

White Bone did not startle at the sudden noise. She had eventually moved from her armchair to lie gracefully across the couch. Although the Monkie Kid’s sudden entrance had startled the golden bird she had been having a staring contest with. She could see that monkey tail shoot straight up as the bird flew straight up.

“Did you seriously make that guy cry?!”

“Yep, she did.”

She stiffened at the familiar, unwelcome voice.

No. Oh, no . How had he even come in?! She just saw him outside!

White Bone sat up, aiming a straight glare at Sun Wukong. He glared back, his eyes squeezing close at the smug grin that painted his face. “What is he doing here?” she managed to calmly hiss, nails digging into the fabric. He wasn’t welcome here and they all knew it.

“He was just checking in.” Monkie Kid said, arms crossed and an angry pout creasing his lips. “He saw what you pulled with that nice guy next door. I can’t believe you did that!”

She sighed, trying her best not to snap. If she did snap at his successor, she didn’t trust Sun Wukong to not try and snap her neck in response. He had snapped at other things she had done in the past, after all. (She still had scars from their first and last run-in.) “I did not ask for that gift.”

“It was still a nice gesture!”

“Bud, she’s a bitch. She doesn’t know the meaning of “nice gesture.” White Bone glared even harder at the annoying simian. She couldn’t break the couch, not yet. It had only been a day. She didn’t like it but the couch was a comfortable piece of furniture. “Look, this clearly isn’t going to work out. Let’s just get rid of her-”

“It’s only been a day!” Monkie Kid protested, losing the angry pout at her to instead stare up at his mentor. “We can’t decide to kill her in one day! She just needs time!”

“I don’t need time.”

Sun Wukong gestured triumphantly at her, tail swishing eagerly. “See! Even she agrees with me!” That was not what she had been doing. At the idiot’s presumption that she agreed with him, her nails dug further into the couch. A prickly feeling shot up her hand.

Monkie Kid’s eyes widened.

“Okay!” The Monkie Kid gently but firmly grabbed Sun Wukong’s arm and turned him around. “Out the door, out the door, you two are just making each other mad.”

“Hey!” The golden monkey didn’t even sound upset at the accusation. “I’m not mad. She’s the mad one.”

The Monkie Kid’s response was startling and made her look down. “She’s also the one icing the couch so if you don’t want a chunk of ice thrown at your head, let me remove you from the situation!” As he said, a thin layer of frost was spreading across the blue fabric of the couch, right under her fingers. The chill of it was what was making her skin prickle. She stared down at it, entranced. It was the first glimpse of her power she had for a long, long time.

(At least, for as long she had been alive again.)

The door slamming shut made White Bone look up. Monkie Kid had a sheepish grin as he leaned against the door. The door shifted and he nearly fell forward before leaning even further back. Seems he was trying to keep Sun Wukong from bothering her even further.

The gesture would almost be sweet…if he wasn’t sweating and staring at the frost.

“Are we done?” White Bone said, trying her best to sound polite instead of impatient. She was a lady, after all, and her recent behavior had not been ladylike. “I am a busy lady, after all. Considering how the world is rotting away and such.” That was the truth of all existence at this point. “It’s best done alone to wonder how things got so far.”

Monkie Kid tried for a grin. “I mean, we did have a discussion about how thinking like that leads to pain, right?” Ah. Right. What were supposed to be her final words. White Bone narrowed her eyes and he gave a nervous chuckle, right when there was a knock against the door and he nearly fell over. He straightened, bearly backed up into the door, and waved. “Right. Sorry. Please don’t make your neighbors cry. I’ll see you later. Bye!”

The door opened and closed on “See, she’s not-” Sun Wukong’s annoying voice was cut off before she could hear the rest of it.

White Bone turned her eyes away from her door and back to the window, where she could barely see the skyscrapers blocking the sun.

How painful it was.

It had been a week and White Bone was finally out of her apartment and poking around the rest of the building. Or at least the lobby.

The lobby was well-kept.

White Bone couldn’t protest that. The carpet was brightly patterned and there was no sign of trash. It smelled like lemons and, behind the desk, was nobody besides a sign saying Out for Lunch. The mailboxes were arranged in neat rows against the far wall, all gray with no sign of personality, and some part of her protested that. But she swallowed it down and found hers, marked 714. There was a scanner and, on a guess, she held her keycard up to it. There was a beep and click and she pulled open the door. There was probably nothing, she just needed an excuse to get out-

There was a magazine.

Huh.

“Oh no!” Before White Bone could try and figure out if the magazine was really hers or not, a woman’s voice interrupted her thoughts. A young woman, dressed in a lavender suit, was looking around. She seemed entirely unaware that there was someone else in the room as she dropped to her knees and started to crawl around. “My keys! I was so sure I had them-”

White Bone blinked and turned her own gaze to the floor. She was tired and just wanted to leave. But the woman looked pitiful, crawling around on the floor with no clue to the social cue. White Bone let out a groan and slammed her mailbox with its unexpected contents shut.

Well, someone had to save her from embarrassment.

She made a little sign with her finger. Much to her delight, a small spell circle appeared. Something in her eyes pulsed and her gaze froze over in blue. She chuckled, glad that some of her self-created spells were still accessible to her. Much like Sun Wukong’s gold vision, something lit up in that blue.

It was a set of keys with a silly little lizard plush hanging off it.

White Bone headed past the crawling woman, right to the keys by the door that led to the stairs. It looked like they had fallen off her purse. She plucked them up. “Excuse me,” she called. The woman looked up, eyes wide. “Are these your keys?”

“Yes!” The woman scrambled to her feet, a grin forming at the sight of the keys. “Thank you so much!” She practically snatched them out of White Bone’s hand. “I was so worried I was going to be late for work! Thank you so much!” After that rant, without pause, she sprinted out the door.

…that was exhausting.

White Bone sighed and headed back to her mailbox. Now, to figure out this magazine. It was probably a mistake She pulled it out, ready to see who it was for-

It was a cooking magazine. With her name on it.

Monkie Kid had probably done this.

With a groan and a shuffle of paper, White Bone slammed the mailbox shut. 

As she passed the paper recycling she threw the magazine in.

The evening visit started with “Did you like the magazine?”

“I don’t cook. I have no interest in cooking.”

“...so, no?”

“What is the point?”

“Well, there are better hobbies in life besides staring into the void. Or…whatever you do. Sulking?”

“I mourn.”

“That’s still not a hobby. And kind of concerning, actually.”

“...Does the world not deserve mourning?”

“...So, no cooking magazines.”

“No magazines.”

“I’ll get you a birdwatching manual!”

“If you feel the need.”

The next day was laundry day. It had to be done. White Bone was usually on top of chores like this, but her life had gotten more complicated over time and then she was having someone else do laundry. Now it was just her again.

After a few confused minutes of looking at the washing machine, White Bone had to check the manual. After making sure she understood and finding the nets used to keep the clothes from tangling up in each other, she headed out to grab the laundry basket. At least there wasn’t some drying machine, so she had to air dry clothes like she was used to. Although, last she checked, there hadn’t been a clothesline on the balcony…

She paused next to the balcony door. As thought, no line.

The door slammed open mid-thought. “Hey, my lady! I brought food! And that birdwatching manual. I also got you some gardening books and seeds! We would need to get pots though…”

White Bone turned in time to see the Monkie Kid burst in, shoulders shaking to whatever music was playing in his headphones, like whenever he dropped by. “Where’s the clothesline?” she asked, interrupting his dancing. He paused and pulled away his headphones to stare at her blankly. “I’m doing laundry,” she said, hefting up the basket in emphasis. “I need the clothesline and I wasn’t sure where it was or if there was even one.”

“Oh!” Monkie Kid set down the noodles and bag of other stuff on the nearby counter. “It’s supposed to be on the balcony, you just haven’t installed it yet.” She raised a brow as he headed to a drawer and pulled out a thin piece of rope. “I can do that, you just get to washing.”

White Bone nodded, unable to help a small smile. The help was a surprise but it was a welcome surprise. “Thank you,” she said before scooping up her basket and heading to the laundry room with her load.

Soon enough, the apartment was full of the sound of the washing machine, the music pounding from Monkie Kid’s phone, and the loud singing along from the balcony. White Bone wasn’t sure what type of music he was playing but it made her roll her eyes. What strange music.

What a strange young man.

Soon, the clothes were out of the washer. The nets had worked as promised and everything was apart, if wet and cold. White Bone headed out of the laundry room with the basket and paused.

A nice new clothesline was stretched across the balcony, just waiting for a fresh load of clothes. “Ta-da!” The brunette held out his hands in a dramatic gesture with a silly grin. “It took a few minutes but here it is!”

She felt her smile grow bigger. “Thank you, Qi Xiaotian,” He gasped at the use of his name, eyes growing wide and sparkly. White Bone allowed it before gently moving past him. “Also…thank you for the books.” She was in a good mood. “Now, run off and go have fun at sports or whatever you do.”

Qi Xiaotian nodded. “Okay! Hooray for sports!” He ran away, still grinning broadly. The door slammed shut behind him and White Bone sighed.

What a strange man.

Despite it, she found herself humming along to the music stuck in her head.

She hadn’t intended on speaking to any more of her neighbors after what she pulled with the housewarming man. The woman with her keys had been a fluke. No more talking to anyone besides the one person who tried to force conversation.

But that didn’t mean others didn’t get the message.

“Hey there.” White Bone looked up from her mailbox- just a catalog and a home decor magazine this time, Qi Xiaotian was getting more suggestive about opening those boxes- at the voice. The person next to her pushed vivid purple hair out of their face, revealing a sharp grin that made their eyes crinkle. Something about them reminded her of Macaque’s human form before his death. “You’re the lady that lived up in 714, right?”

White Bone raised a brow, not sure how to respond to that. “Yes.” she finally settled on. Why did they ask?

“Oh!” They leaned forward in her space, grinning even bigger. “I heard you singing the other day.” Oh. White Bone had not meant to be heard as she hung up laundry. Especially considering she had picked up the habit from Qi Xiaotian, who could be heard humming and dancing to the music in his headphones as he went through the building. “You have a beautiful voice.”

“Thank you…” Had they even mentioned their name?

Their eyes widened in realization and they gave a quick bow. “Sorry, I’m Song Susu. From 614, I live below you.”

White Bone recognized that room from the days she dared to open her window. “You’re the person who keeps screeching.” It was harsh but it was the truth.

Susu gave a nervous chuckle, looking away and fiddling with their shirt’s end. “Yeah, I’m sorry. My parents want me to be a musician so I started singing lessons a bit ago. I probably sound pretty awful.” 

For some reason, the self-dislike rubbed against White Bone’s nerves. They had just said they started practice. Why did they look down at something that they just started? Especially since the worst singer she had ever heard was an emperor’s second wife, trying to impress the emperor to become the primary wife. 

It hadn’t worked.

“It is not that bad, despite my use of “screech.” She shut her mailbox door and eyed Susu up, wondering how best to word this. White Bone didn’t want to make another person cry and have Qi Xiaotian knock down her door with Sun Wukong again. “I have heard much worse singing than yours. Besides, you said that you had just begun.” The other person blinked, eyes widening with surprise. “Keep practicing and I’m sure you will be better in no time.” White Bone bowed, not sure how else to end the conversation. “I will see you later, Susu.”

They blinked. “Uh, yeah, you too.” They glanced at her mailbox, their mouth opening and closing. “Thanks.”

She gave a nod of acceptance. White Bone headed to the door and up the stairs. She paused and glanced back into the entrance hall, just to make sure she hadn’t made someone else cry.

Susu wasn’t crying. Instead, they had a small, goofy grin as they opened their mailbox. A look of determination had filled their eyes.

Interesting.

“So, uh, I wanted to ask you about something.”

After the meeting with Susu, White Bone had no idea what came over her. But she had requested that Qi Xiaotian bring her a pipa. Back when she was younger, bright and hopeful, thinking that peace was a way to bring change, she had played. Her fingers were rusty but her memory was clear.

“Yes?” White Bone said, eyes never looking away from the practice book Qi Xiaotian had also gotten her. “What is it, child?”

“It’s about the Mayor…uh, Shi?” She straightened at the use of his name, something she hadn’t heard for a long time. Qi Xiaotian tapped his fingers together as his eyes glanced back and forth. He looked like he was debating what to say about Shi. “Bai He-”

She scoffed, unable to help it. “Is that what you call her?”

“She doesn’t remember what her real name is.” Qi Xiaotian said, sounding slightly impatient at the sudden change. “And she likes it.” White Bone sighed, deciding to give up on the matter. She could correct them on her little host’s name later. “Anyway, she’s trying to fix his brain but she’s not sure what to do. What did you-”

“I did nothing.” And that was the truth, no matter what many people thought. “Shi ended up like that out of grief, no magic required.” White Bone glanced back and Qi Xiaotian’s face was filled with doubt. She sighed and set the pipa back in its case. “I’m going to make some tea. I’ll need some to tell this story.”

It would help with the fresh grief rising up in her chest.

The kitchen was quiet, at least of conversation. All the sound was concentrated in the tea-making, from the rush of hot water over the teapot to the click of the container of tea leaves opening and the swish of leaves set in the teapot, to the trickle of hot water filling it up, to the pour of the tea into the teacups. She had made white tea and the scent soothed her as she passed one cup over to Qi Xiaotian.

She sighed and wondered when to begin.

“When I first met Shi, he was a very clever but lonely man.” She remembered first meeting him in her introduction to the court, bowing to each other before she saw the small face next to him. “His parents had passed on soon before. His wife passed away years ago. This left only him and his daughter.” The girl had been bright and cheerful, chattering about whatever had come to her mind as she sat with her father, with her nanny, with White Bone. “One day, the city came under siege. After months of battle, it looked like we were ready to win.” There had been hundreds of soldiers, dead or wounded, and she had tried her best to help them all, even as they threw up on her beautiful dresses and blood worked its way into her hair. Even so, her heart had been light, at the sight of so many others helping her. “Then they did one last thing.”

“Threw the bodies of the dead in?” White Bone raised a brow at the interruption and Qi Xiaotian flushed. “Sorry. Tang has a colleague of his who’s really into ancient battles. They told me all about flinging the dead in.”

“And they were right.” She sipped her tea and tried not to notice how her hands shook. The memories were coming back and, in the past, they had fed her. Now she had to swallow back the vomit clawing up her throat. “If you know about that, you would know how quickly plague formed.” She knew. She knew all too well. Qi Xiaotian nodded. “Shi’s daughter was one of many who caught the plague.” 

That small child, laying in bed, among many other children whimpering and coughing in their disease. The walls of the main palace were firmly shut to keep the disease and the wails out. Shi’s clothing became stained with blood as he tried his best to help his daughter sip some water, some medicine, and what little food she could keep down. Her own dresses became stained as she tried to help as many as she could, the only two nobles to try and help.

“She died. As well as many other children. At the time, mourning was supposed to take over a year. Shi barely had a week to mourn and bury her before he was ordered back to work. The emperor had an empire to expand. And by that time-”

“He snapped.” Qi Xiaotian stared at his cup, eyes watering. From what she knew, he was a sensitive soul. This must’ve been a bitter pill to swallow. “And so did you.”

“Yes.” 

How could she not? She had been there when the light finally faded from Shi’s daughter’s eyes. Had been there when the girl had been buried. Had been there when Shi had been ordered back to work. How else was she supposed to react besides realizing the world was much further broken than she thought?

She had only been nine.

“So…Bai He can’t fix him.” Qi Xiaotian said, tapping his fingers against the teacup. There was a sniffle. White Bone tried to not let her surprise show on her face at the noise, the clear display of sympathy that showed how much of a bleeding heart Xiaotian truly was. “Okay. I’m sorry.” He straightened and rubbed his eyes. “I’ll tell Bai He.”

“Be sure you do.” There was no need for her to waste her time and energy for something that could be fixed with therapy. “Thank you for your visit.”

Xiaotian nodded. “See you later,” he whispered.

Her eyes watered when she heard the door close. White Bone allowed it to hunch over and sob, give herself a moment for the grief. She straightened and rubbed at her eyes, just like Xiaotian had, and her eyes landed on the boxes. They were still there, waiting to be opened.

Maybe there was something there that Shi would take comfort in. She couldn’t remember what token of his daughter she had. White Bone headed to the stack of boxes. She paused before taking a deep breath. It was easy to be angry, hard to move on. 

Despite her internal struggle, it was easy to pop off the lids. There was paper and plastic, wrapped around things. She dug in, finding old scrolls carefully packed, old hanfus that she had feared had been destroyed by time, bits of art pieces she forgot she had, and various other odds and ends. There was also a blue and white jar that she had never seen before.

She raised a brow. “What is this?” White Bone pulled it out, noting how cold it was under her skin. She opened the jar and took a peek inside.

Oh.

She closed the lid. She set down the jar. She pushed away the jar.

“I’ll deal with those later.”

How else should a person react to seeing their own bones?

White Bone took a deep breath and reached into the box to pull out the next thing. First off, she should figure out what she wanted to keep.

“So…” Sun Wukong looked around the apartment, a brow raised. “I see you finally decorated. Got sick of nothing but bones?” Behind his mentor, Xiaotian sighed and facepalmed.

White Bone had not been expecting Sun Wukong to drop by as well today. She was fully prepared for the sharp sting of annoyance to run through her. But, for some reason, the jab at her didn’t send her into a fury. Instead, bemusement swirled through her, just as the tea swirled through the cup as she poured from the teapot. “I did, in fact.”

Now her apartment was decorated. It wasn’t very much, just a few scrolls taking up space on her bookshelves, forget-me-nots and white lilies placed in vases, and a few pieces of art placed here and there. The urn containing her original bones had been wrapped back in the packing paper and the box and then shoved into her closet, but the rest had been arranged as she pleased. It wasn’t much but it was more than she had before.

“I did,” White Bone said, taking a sip from the teacup she had decided was hers. Xiaotian stepped forward and took a cup, looking like he needed something much stronger as he sipped it. “Maybe I should take advice from you though.” Sun Wukong raised a brow. Xiaotian made a questioning noise into his tea. “With rooms of stuff all stacked up. The mess would fill up the empty space where I usually have the skulls.” 

It wasn’t her usual sharp wit but Xiaotian still snorted into his tea.

“Ahahahaha…” The Monkey King’s laughter was as fake as his grin and his spotless golden fur. “Funny. Who told you about my treasure room?”

“You mean your junk room?” Xiaotian spoke up before taking another sip of his tea. “You should really get that cleaned out. I nearly died to a giant dumpling before I found the magic vase I used.”

Sun Wukong raised a brow. “...what magic vase?”

“Guanyin’s vase. Mr. Tang suggested it because it held a whole ocean’s worth of water.”

It was her turn to snort into her tea at the king’s horrified face. “Are you alright there, Sun Wukong?” He wasn’t. She knew why he wasn’t. White Bone leaned forward, meeting his frantic, wide eyes. She raised a brow with a smirk. “Everything alright?”

“...I think I need to return that vase. And clean it out first.”

Before she or Xiaotian could say anything, Sun Wukong was sprinting out of the room. The door audibly slammed against the wall before slamming shut. There was dead silence as they listened to frantic footsteps running down the stairs.

White Bone glanced over at Xiaotian.

They both burst into laughter.

“Sorry, sorry, sorry…” Xiaotian finally wheezed, wiping away a tear. “It’s just…I think a lot of people were ready to point out the mess in there.

“Nice to see you again!”

White Bone looked up from her mailbox at the familiar voice. “Ah, hello, Susu.” The amateur singer had been making a habit, it seemed, of trying to get their mail the same time she did. Which, for some reason, had made Xiaotian grin. White Bone wasn’t sure why. All she really knew was that, true to the encouragement she had given them, Susu’s singing had gotten better. “How are you?”

“I’m good- oh!” Susu was looking over her shoulder with wide eyes and a grin. “It’s that guy from 418. And that lady from 417.” White Bone glanced over her shoulder to see a man, dressed in a fancy Tang suit and holding a briefcase, walk through the building doors. Coming from the stairs, a woman in paint-splattered clothes hopped out. Susu leaned in close to her ear. “Did you know that they’ve never met? Everyone else has met them both. It’s ridiculous and we’ve all been trying to set them up for years.”

“Why?” They were neighbors. How had they never met?

Susu had confused her question, it seemed. “He’s a big art fan and she’s an artist. They both like the same streamer and rainy days. Believe me, they’re perfect for each other.” Those seemed to be narrow reasons why, but similar interests were a good starting point.

White Bone glanced at Susu. Their eyes were locked firmly on the man and woman, not paying attention to anything else. Behind the latter, Xiaotian was hopping out of the doors. Their eyes met and she made a shushing gesture. He raised a brow in confusion before she tapped her foot against the floor.

Ice spread out under her foot.

It spread, covering the entire tile floor in a sheet of thin ice, barely visible to the eye unless you knew it was there. Xiaotian’s eyes went wide. 

Behind them, the woman’s foot slipped and she began to skid. “Whoa, whoah, whoah!” 

She slipped and spun on the floor, arms windmilling as she tried to keep her balance. The man yelped as she fell back towards him, dropping his briefcase. She slammed back and landed in his arms. The man fell back with a yelp, landing on his butt. The moment he landed, the ice retreated, only leaving a vague wetness.

“I gotcha!” he panted out. The woman glanced back and their eyes met. The man let out a nervous laugh as he stood, helping the woman up onto her feet “I guess the janitor forgot to put up a wet floor sign.”

The woman chuckled as she pushed some loose, red paint-stained hair behind her ear. “Oh, yeah. I love your suit!”

“Thanks…”

Susu blinked. “Huh,” they said as they released White Bone’s shoulders. “What do you know?”

White Bone chuckled as she closed her mailbox’s door. “Destiny works in mysterious ways, my dear.”

Xiaotian’s eyes widened.

Fuck. She had said the word.

“Have a nice day,” she said, trying her best to not sound strained. 

Susu let out a confused “Goodbye?” but she was already charging past them.

She had said destiny. How long had that word haunted her? She did not know but that word had been said long enough to her that it barely sounded like a word anymore. It was just something wonderful she had believed was for her.

Until Long Xiaojiao, wielder of the Samadhi fire, had loomed over in that vision of her true dragon form.

“Hey!” Xiaotian was standing in front of her, holding out his hands. “Wait, hang on-” White Bone grabbed his collar and yanked him around and out of the general floor, dragging him along up the steps. “Okay wow you’re strong-”

The stairs seemed to drag on forever.

Finally, the door to floor 7 appeared. White Bone didn’t even pause as she threw it open and shoved Xiaotian through. She slammed the door behind her and froze, mind working.

It was too much. The sensation was too much.

She should’ve stayed dead.

“Uh… Lady Bone Demon?”

She looked up at the Monkie Kid’s worried face. His concerned eyes went wide at whatever hideous look must’ve been on her face. She couldn’t help what she snarled next. “You should’ve let me stay dead when you had the chance.”

“Wait-”

She did not wait. White Bone stormed past him, straight to the door that was hers, and wrenched it open. The door slammed shut against her. To make sure he wouldn’t get in, White Bone pressed a hand against the lock. Prickles formed under her fingers as ice formed and clamped tight on the lock.

Now that she was alone, all the energy seemed to escape her at once.

White Bone collapsed to her knees. Something long, silky, and dark curled around her shoulders. Her ponytail must’ve come undone.

It was so…small. So stupid. But it had tears beading up in her eyes.

So many people she had loved had been dead and gone for a long time. There was no grand destiny for her. She was stuck in a small apartment for however long she was living now. Her ponytail was undone. Everything was building up and up, pent up for far too long.

For the first time in a long while, White Bone sobbed.

Kneeling over on the floor, gripping her hair which was undone from her ponytail, she cried. Sobbed. Howls of grief for a life wasted waiting for what was supposed to be a grand future escaped her.

She had wasted every second of her life.

How could a person move on from that?

She was unsure how long she sobbed. White Bone didn’t take the time to move to the couch or her armchair. She knew only that eventually the world darkened and she found herself curling up tight.

The dreams, and she knew they were dreams, no prophecy of a perfect world to come, were vague. Formless. Some, she knew, were of the cave, hovering over the furnace, unknowingly creating the thing that would not save her. Some were of her floating, watching, always watching. Some were of the tomb. Some of those had the monk’s frown and Wukong’s glare while some of her were pounding, pounding, pounding-

Knock knock.

“Hey, Lady Bone Demon? Are you okay?”

The knock and the question startled her from sleep. The first thing she saw was her hand, extended in a claw. She closed the claw into a fist and pushed up. She found herself peeling her cheek away from the carpet in front of her door, blinking blearily. Her cheeks felt dry with tear tracks and the carpet’s pattern was imprinted on her cheek. The floor wasn’t the most elegant place to sleep, but who cared?

Nothing mattered and nobody cared.

There was another knock on the door, breaking the loop inside her mind. “Just tell me if you’re alive, okay?” Monkie Kid sounded worried but the ice around the lock was undisturbed. He hadn’t tried to use his key, it seemed.

How long had she been asleep?

White Bone pushed herself fully off the floor and managed, with a grip on the wall, to shakily stand. Wiping at her imprinted cheek, she gripped the lock. The ice retreated and soon enough the lock moved. The door swung open, revealing Qi Xiaotian. His face split into a grin the moment he saw her, although his eyes were still scrunched up in worry. “Hey.”

“Hello.” she said, her voice croaky and tired. “Are you alright?”

“Are you alright?” he asked right back.

She shrugged, not sure what to say. This was more emotion than she had felt in a long while. Most of her plotting, after her realization that the world had to be remade, has been spent in a state veering between annoyance, patience, or joy. Her throat still acted from the joyous, bordering on maniacal, laughter she had let out when she took control of Sun Wukong. Xiaotian nodded.

“Okay,” Gently pushing her out of the way, he moved into her apartment. He at least paused to kick off his shoes and close the door behind him. “I’m making tea. Go sit on the couch.”

White Bone followed the command, not sure what else to do.

Some part of her sighed in relief when she settled onto the comfort of the couch. There was an ache she didn’t realize she had from her short nap on the floor. When she glanced out the window, it was dark. Ah, so she had spent longer on the floor than she thought.

The sounds of tea were a dull background noise as she leaned back.

Xiaotian’s presence was warm when she looked up, holding two cups of tea. He offered a cup and White Bone took it, taking a sip as he sat down. It was oolong, made a bit too strong, and the heat stung her tongue, but it made her feel slightly better.

Warmer, at least. A little less dull.

“I think you forgot.” Xiaotian’s voice broke the silence. White Bone glanced at him and he was staring at his tea cup like it held the secrets to life. “Who you were doing this for.” he explained. “Shi, his daughter, everyone…you wanted everyone to stop hurting. But…all you did was make things hurt worse.”

She took a sip of her tea. “I supposed I did.”

“...wasn’t anyone there to remind you? Shi?” He let out a laugh that sounded more like a sob. “Sorry, that was a stupid one. Shi…wasn’t all there, was he.”

“He wasn’t. Liu’ Er wasn’t there either.” The first hurt and the second stung. Xiaotian opened his mouth and she held up a hand. “Do not ask me to go into our history, monkey. There are reasons I brought him back and none I wish to recount now.” More grief was welling up and she took a bigger, longer, sip of tea in hopes it would leave. It didn’t. “I suppose you’re right.”

“Yeah?”

“Being alone is scary. It’s terrifying.” She had been terrified, all alone in that tomb. She could still feel herself, frantically scraping against the lid of the sarcophagus, feeling flesh and blood raking off her fingers, feeling as her body decomposed but she was still there, trapped and entwined in her bones. “How much it can transform you. I suppose that’s why I took Hu Meijuan.”

“Hu…” Realization lit up Xiaotian’s eyes. He smiled as he leaned back, clearly thinking of her little host’s reaction to learning her real name. “Meijuan. That’s a pretty name.”

“It is.” She sighed, thoughts drawing back. “But it does not matter. Your wisdom matters little now. Now that everything has been said and done.” She knew now that the destiny she had clung so hard to had not come to pass, had never even existed. Strangely…she felt better. Like a weight was gone.

“...I know.”

They sat in silence, the tea cooling in their hands.

But a little lighter now.

Lunar New Year approached faster than she expected.

It felt like she blinked and then Xiaotian was bringing decorations. They had decorated together, her blue and white being overtaken by traditional red and gold. Xiaotian talked a mile a minute about Lunar New Year plans. It turned out the building had been planning a rooftop party that Pigsy had been convinced to cater. “I know Susu would love to see you there especially!” Xiaotian said happily.

Right now, however, she wasn’t at the party yet. She was considering the view outside her window.

What began as annoyance had dulled down to recognition. It was beautiful, in its own way. White Bone took a deep breath in and let it out.

“It’s a nice view, isn’t it?” Xiaotian had arrived, it seemed. He was grinning brightly, his red and gold outfit already ruffled. It seemed he couldn’t keep an outfit neat no matter how much he tried. “What are you thinking about?”

“The world isn’t quite as far gone as I thought.” The admittance was soft and White Bone felt soft. It was the same softness she felt when Shi and his daughter had her for dinner, when she watched the stars gleam from her small cave, watching as the artist grinned in pride at the beautiful mural over her throne. It was what remained of her love.

In the mirror’s reflection, Xiaotian’s smile softened. He approached, squeezing onto the armchair. Fitting them both on the small chair had him knocking their elbows together and pressing their cheeks together, sending shockwaves up her spine. She wanted to protest at the touch, but she was in too good of a mood to ruin this. “I get why you became so closed off,” he started. “The amount of suffering in the world is enormous. It can hurt you.” She was. She had been hurt and heartbroken by it. “But you can help it without some grand plan.”

White Bone hummed. There was an explosion of red in the sky. The fireworks were starting.

“Thank you, Qi Xiaotian.”

She wasn’t ready to fully call him a friend, but his advice was very needed.