Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“Great, GREAT! Of all the people I could have been stuck with, I’m stuck with you” 

“Pleasure to be stuck with you too”

Macaque sighed. This was not how he imagined the day. He was just going relax and chill, but no. He just had to be thrown into another battle with MK and The Monkey King, battles some low-tier demon who magically had some weapon that temporarily blocked both his and Wukong's magic and trapped them together into a cave. 

Beautiful day, no?

”This stupid cave or wherever we are stuck in is darker then my shadows!'' Macaque grit his teeth in frustration as he fruitlessly looked around, hope slowly sinking in his shoes as he realised he won't be able to see anything. ''I can’t see a single thing in this shithole”

Wukong huffed a laugh laced with mockery ”Did you fall on you head to hard? I can see perfectly fine, bud''

Macaque eye twitched as he snarled Wukong's, his frown deepening as Wukong laughs at his reaction. 

”No you idiot, you can see because of your stupid golden eyes of truth! I don’t have those!”

I don't even have two eyes...

''Oh yea'' The King dumbly replied, pissing off the shadow even more. 

''Well, what can you see?'' Macaque asked annoyance radiating off him has he could Wukong snicker in response. How he wished he could smack that stupid grin he just knew was on the other monkey's face. Instead, he kept his cool as he crossed his arms. He expectingly stared at The Monkey King who started to look around the cave, taking in everything he could see and possible exits. 

Macaque truly hated this situation. Had that moronic demon not taken both his and Wukong's power, they would have escaped this cave by long! Fate just loved to tease him in the most cruel ways, didn't she? Locking him up with Sun Wukong of all people, with no powers and no sight! It. could. not. get. any. worse. 

“Hmm, there are writing on the walls” Wukong concluded after an antagonizing minute of aimlessly looking around the small cave. Another thing he hated, the cave was small, like Wukong's living room small. Meaning he had to stay side by side with the Monkey King this entire time until they escape or someone somehow saved them. Great... great...! 

Macaque raised an eyebrow curiously. He supposed there were more mountains with ancient writing and carvings, but he hadn't expected this grey and dead mountain to be one of them. “What do they say?”

He could Wukong's clothing rustle as he shrugged with a small hum. ” Dunno, can’t recognise the writing”

Macaque eyes blew open in surprise ”It’s not Chinese?”

It could perfectly be Chinese. Macaque honestly believed that The Monkey King would be stupid not to recognise the characters. The thought was another reminder that Macaque was probably dying in this cursed caved surrounded by the most annoying, idiotic, impulsive, arrogant, impulsive monkey that was named Sun Wukong, The Great Sage Equaling Heaven, The Victorious Fighting Buddha. 

How did Wukong even earned those titles with that idiocy? It would remain a mystery in the dark-furred monkey's mind. Or not, maybe he knew why, maybe he knew how smart the King could be. No, The King had clearly gotten more stupid with each year that passed.

”No it is, but I can’t read it” Wukong's voice cut through his weird train on thoughts. Macaque shook his head slightly as he focused back on the golden monkey... in front of him (?)

Stupid darkness

”What do you mean ‘I can’t read it’??” He asked with a biting tone to it, not actually believing the King's words. How could one read, yet not read!? It didn't make any sense. Then again, a lot of things didn't make sense when it came to The Monkey King. He was a living mystery, had always been one, will always stay one. It annoyed Macaque to bits. It made the king incredibly hard to read, even though he has known him almost his entire two lives.

How did one who's entire life was documented in a book, read by thousands of people, maybe even millions, analysed and translated into lots of different languages, have still so many secrets and lies buried in his mind. It was truly an incredible thing. Sun Wukong was one of the most well-known figures in China, yet nobody seemed to actually know him. Something in his gut turned as Macaque admitted to himself that he himself didn't really know Wukong as well, at least not anymore. 

“I can’t read it” Wukong repeated, his voice remained unchanged as he slowly walked towards the wall, and away from Macaque. 

As his footsteps faded farther and farther away from him, slight fear gripped the dark monkey's heart as he quickly sprinted after the Celestial Monkey. Even though Wukong was the last person he wanted to be close with, he couldn't be alone in the dark, where he was weakened as he sight was darkened. He outstretched his arms as he followed the steady sound of Sun Wukong's beating heart. As soon as felt some sort of cloth touch his hand, he clenched his hand around it, determent to not let it slip out of his grip. Embarrassment heated his cheeks, but he blind. 

He hated being blind.

Wukong flinched as the Shadow Monkey suddenly grabbed the end of the scarf, not expecting the sudden movement, but he didn't mind. He shrugged it off as he continued his walk towards the wall where he could have a better sight at the characters decorating the ancient stone walls of the dark cave. Wukong took note of the tight grip of Macaque on his scarf, he probably wasn't feeling to well without his sight. Wukong wouldn't force him to unhand his scarf, not when his breath had gotten shallower, giving away the slight panic that plagued the dark-furred monkey

Wukong didn't also exactly mind the Dark Money holding on to him, even his they weren't touching hands, maybe that was for the better. 

”What?''' Macaque asked incredulously, shock colouring his voice even if did sound a bit out of breath ''Have you become stupider with the years? Did you get beat up too many times?”

The Monkey King snapped his head towards the frowning monkey, irritation suddenly bubbling under his skin as the other insulted him. ''Of course not! Nobody came even close to beating me!”

There was nothing that could beat him, except Buddha. 

Macaque should know...

Macaque did know...

''Then why can't you read the stupid text!?'' Macaque voice raised as irritation began to rise up in him as well. He glared at the Monkey with exasperation burning in his eyes. He was slowly but surely getting fed up with the vague answers of The Monkey King. Even if he was used to it, even if he was used to the golden monkey keeping secrets, spewing lies, strange behaviour, it still irritated him to no end.

He couldn't keep the anger out of his eyes as he glared towards where he knew Wukong was, and if he was able to see, he would have found Wukong glaring right back at him.

Macaque heavy breathing echoed through the small cave, the sound bouncing off the stone walls as Wukong stared into his violent purple eyes. Angry as ever, the dark monkey never had much patience with him ever since his resurrection. Wukong didn't blame him for that, as he himself began to get fed up with himself, but seeing the anger in those purple eyes sparked a fire of anger burning within his chest. 

”You-'' Macaque began before he huffed out a airy laugh. Wukong's own glare melted away as he stared down at the other monkey who suddenly started wheezing out of nowhere. Had he lost his mind...?

That quickly though? pff

''I--?'' Wukong queried sceptically

''You can't actually read, can you?” Macaque burst out laughing as he lost his grip on Wukong scarf to keep himself upright. Wukong's eyes widened and he thanked every god that he didn't piss off that Macaque couldn't see the blush of embarrassment that suddenly dusted his cheeks. Macaque's laughter only got louder as Wukong spluttered for an answer. 

”WHAT-! Of course I can-“

”The great sage equal to heaven can’t fucking read” Macaque wheezed out as his laughter bounded of the walls of the cave. Wukong glared down as Macaque seemed to struggle for breath as he laughed his stupid ass off. Wukong just stared at the wheezing monkey as if he was a madman, before a small smile creeped on his face. When was the last time he had heard his counterpart laugh so freely like that. Even if it hurt his pride, a lot, he couldn't lie to himself that he didn't feel something bloom in his chest as he saw the warrior monkey laugh again. 

Just a genuine, somewhat mocking, laugh. No poison, no venom, nothing sarcastic or cynical. 

Just a laugh

Wukong silently thanked the gods again that Macaque could not see the embarrassing smile that had crept up his face for a second. 

”Hey!'' Wukong called out offended, although no one could miss the smallest amount of amusement in his voice ''I bet I can read better than you ever will!''

''Sure Wukong-'' Macaque huffed, having regained his breath as that mocking smirk was back on his face once more, souring Wukong's mood. ''Sure...''

Monkey King eyebrows pinched together. ''I literally was a student of The Great Shifu Subodhi and I was a scripture pilgrim. I can read more languages than you, no question.''

''Do you actually think that I can’t read after all that? After dedicating a portion of my life to studying ancient texts?'' 

Does everyone honestly think that? 

”Perhaps...-'' Macaque shrugged as he closed his eyes, amused smirk never leaving never halting his teasing. ''I wouldn’t be surprised that’s all I’m saying”

He could practically sense the Monkey King's eyeroll as he snickered to himself. Oh how he thrived off annoying the Mighty King with simple teasing. He had always been so vulnerable to words, way too impulsive. It brought him great joy seeing, or in this case hearing, the irritation build itself up within the Great Sage. 

When Wukong didn't respond, Macaque spoke once more. ”So, If you’re so confident you can read, read the flipping text so we may can get out of here”

Wukong groaned in annoyance as he threw his head back. ”I just told you can’t read this! The only word I understand of the entire stupid text is ‘exit’”

.

.

.

Macaque slowly turned his head towards the arm's crossed monkey with a 'wtf' expression on his face. His incredulous eyes kept staring at Wukong his mouth slightly opened in surprise. When Wukong could practically feel his eyes burning on the side of his head, he turned to Macaque only to find him with a strange expression on his face. 

''What?'' Wukong asked curtly, raising an eyebrow, his temper short.

Macaque just stared at him, not answering Wukong. Judgement was evident in his purple eyes as he kept staring skeptically at The Great Sage.  

''WHAT!?'' Wukong exclaimed as the Macaque kept staring at him. 

”… how is it possible you can read exit, but not the rest…?” The Six-eared Macaque finally muttered, his judgment of the The Monkey King as clear as the day evident in his voice. 

“Wukong groaned in annoyance ''BECAUSE..., it’s written on every. public. building. with an exit on those little signs, you know?”

Macaque just stared at him ”…. Why were you in the city, bro?”

”Is that the really the thing we should be focusing on?!” The Monkey King deadpanned

“But why tho?” Macaque muttered stupidly

“Fucking hell, can we focus!”

...

”What were you in the city for tho?” Macaque completely ignored the Monkey King's requested, amused at the rise in anger he seemed to have provoked. 

”FOR THE PEACH CHIPS, MAN!” Wukong exclaimed as he turned his back on the staring macaque 

Macaque let out a laugh, not believing his ears! ”YOU GET THOSE YOURSELF??? I THOUGHT YOU HAD THEM DELIVERED OR SOMETHING”

Wukong let out a gasp of offence as Macaque mockingly laughed at him again. Monkey King stared in annoyance as the Shadow Monkey burst into another fit of laughter. 

”Wha- WHAT COMPANY DELIVERS TO CHIPS TO FLOWER-FRUIT MOUNTAIN??!!” Wukong retorted throwing his hands in experation as the other kept laughing. His laugh sounded so beautiful, The Great Sage hadn't even noticed he had started laughing himself as well. 

”I DON'T KNOW'' Macaque exclaimed laughing. '' I THOUGHT..., MAYBE YOU SENT A MONKEY OR SOMETHING??''

Wukong slapped his hand on his chest as he gasped in mock offence. ''I would NEVER sent my little monkey's to get me peach chips!''

Wukong truly tried his hardest to keep up his act, but every now and then, a few laughs would bleed into his offended act before he gave up and joined the other monkey in laughter. How long had it been since he and Liu'er had last laughed like this? How long had it been since he felt this carefree with his counterpart? Childish joy was replaced with a melancholy feeling in his chest as it suddenly felt a lot heavier.

The smile slowly turned crooked as he thought about how the things used to be between them, and how they were now. Moments like these made the painful cravings of wanting it back, hurt so much more. Seeing Liu'er- Macaque being so joyous even though it were small snippers, made him realise how much he missed them being like this. Just playing and childish teasing, living on the mountain together alongside the other monkey's of the troop. 

Moments like these made the reality of how much he screwed up so much heavier. 

”Okay, Okay, fine” Macaque drawled out the fine as he slowly ceased his laughter as well giving in. The small moment of joy had now completely disappeared, replaced with the familiar tense air that hung around Macaque and Wukong. It was as if their little moment never happened. 

It was easier pretending it never happened...

Wukong bit his lip as his eyes started burning

Thank the gods Macaque was still blind for the time being... again. 

”So, you can read nothing but the word exit?” Macaque queried, his usual guarded voice placed back into place as he crossed his arm, looking around him but still seeing nothing. 

Wukong released the heavy breath stuck in his chest before answering. ”Basically, that means it probably tells us there even is an exit”

Macaque frowned as he listen to Wukong's overly calm voice. It had always sent shivered down his spine, because Wukong only spoke overly calm if something was wrong. Ever since he had known the Monkey King, he had been reluctant with sharing his real feelings, rather putting on a parade, speaking with fake bravado in his voice instead of opening up about the things that bothered him. 

One of Wukong's worst qualities

He always spoke so calmly if he felt overly upset of overwhelmed. It was a trick Wukong often used to convinced the one he was walking with that he felt calm and at easy, that everything was fine. Once a trickster, always a trickster...

Macaque really wished he could see Wukong's face, to be able to determine better what had caused the sudden mood swing. Not because he cared... Gods no, he was just curious, yes... 

Nonetheless, he didn't comment on the mood swing. 

”If that’s all you can read then why did you give me a whole backstory on why you are able to read if you can’t'' He asked instead, forcing back some annoyance in his voice even though he hardly felt any. It was strange, he usually felt annoyance or irritation whenever the Monkey King stood within a 10 mile radius of him. But he didn't feel anything heavy in his chest, his limbs also felt lighter, but he couldn't comprehend why. 

He was getting tired of this

“Because it’s modern Chinese!” Wukong explained, putting emphasis on 'modern'. 

Once again The Six-eared Macaque's brain short circuited. 

”You can't read modern Chinese…?”

The Great Sage shook his head “…nope, only traditional”

”This idiot can’t read Chinese'' Macaque jabbed at him, smirk back in place. ''What, was it too hard for your pea-sized brain that only good for eating peaches?” He mocked the Monkey King with a babying voice, pouting at Wukong before snickering at the exhausted breath he heard Wukong release. 

”Nah, I just never made an effort to” Wukong smooth voice answered, a bit robotic even.

Macaque stilled at the somewhat real answer. He had expected another job or joke from the golden monkey, not... whatever that was. 

”Why?'' Macaque asked genuinely, seeing that Wukong didn't rise to the bait of his teasing. Perhaps the subject was a lot heavier on Wukong than he originally thought. ''You had all the time in the world, why would you not want to learn how to read? Literally nobody uses traditional writing anymore!!”

”There are still places where they use it…” Wukong whispered pathetically

”Yea... like three!'' Macaque huffed ''Why wouldn’t you learn the writing the whole world uses?!” 

“I didn’t want to” defensiveness crept into Wukong voice as Macaque hear him taking a few steps away again, but he didn't back down. Macaque grabbed the red scarf that decorated the Monkey King's outfit before he could walk away again. He wouldn't let him walk away again. 

”Why. Not?”

”… I have my reasons”

Macaque snorted. 

”Oh yea, what reasons are those?”

An irritable breath left Wukong's lips.

”Can we please just focus on getting out of here…?!” He spoke as calmy as he could but even the dumbest person could tell how agitated the King was. But unlike all the other times when Wukong got irritated during the time they have been stuck in this godforsaken cave, Macaque didn't get a rise out of it. He wasn't exactly sure what he was feeling. He wasn't amused, but he wasn't annoyed either. He just felt... strange. 

“We can’t unless you read what on the stupid wall!” Macaque retorted fatigued

''Well I can’t, okay?!” Wukong snapped, before sighing and doing some movement Macaque couldn't see due to the everlasting darkness in the cave. Macaque, seeing the King wasn't going to do anything to help them escape this stupid prison, he was just trying to do so himself. He had been on his own for centuries, survived the most brutal battles you could ever imagine and he never needed anybody for that. This stupid cave was not where he would die. 

“Are the words carved in? Maybe I can just trace my hands over the characters and try to read it”

Wukong sighed softly, having calmed a bit. ”Unfortunately not, it’s written in ink” 

Macaque groaned as he tried something else. ''Well, could you maybe hold my hand and trace my hand in over the characters? That was I can still properly read them''

''No''

''What? Why not!?'' Macaque snapped back. He couldn't understand why the stubborn King would pass over the last thing that could possible get them out of this cursed cave! Macaque knew he wasn't the only one dying to get out of here, so why isn't he cooperating?!

''No'' Wukong stubbornly replied, adjusting his gaze. 

A harsh but tired breath forced itself out of Macaque's lungs as he flopped down to the floor, feeling to tired to even give a shit about escaping. He wanted to try, but the King was draining his energy with his infuriating behaviour. Macaque closed his eyes as he leaned his head on the wall breathing softly as he tried to overcome his irritation. But he found it extremely hard to do so when the source of his irritations was sitting mere inches away from him. 

And he still couldn't see! It was becoming a bit overwhelming

“Great, that means we’re going die here. Unbelievable that my last moments will be with you”

’again’

”I can’t die, so you’ll die alone, buddy” Wukong said numbly, not sparing the shadow a mere glance.

”Fantastic” Macaque smiled though gritting teeth as he hugged himself tightly, trying to calm himself from the soft thought in the back of his mind that he was going to die here. 

Alone

Chapter Text

’Grandpa Sun! Grandpa Sun! You must see this!’’ A small monkey ran up to the King who was playing around with the little ones who had come to visit him, with a book. King perked up at the little one that ran towards him with a small smile. He loved it when the little ones visited him during the day, it made his day so much less lonely.

‘’Hm, what is it that you want to show me, my child?’’ Wukong softly asked as they little monkey panted from exhaustion before jumping up and down excitedly as he waved the book in his face. Wukong let out a little laugh as they other monkey who he was surrounded suddenly began to share the excitement the monkey the book had.

‘’Oh yes Grandpa Sun!’’ One monkey spoke from his shoulders as he excitedly pointed his little finger to the book. ‘’It surely is something that you must read!’’

Wukong looked around with a confused smile as all the little ones laughed before he shook his head with a laugh.

‘’What is it that makes this book so special that I must read it, little ones?’’ Wukong asked as he gently took the book that was in front of him in his worn-out hands from battle. He felt the other monkey jump on his head and shoulders as he stared at the book with a curious look.

‘’It’s a book written in honour of you and your companions, Grandpa!’’ One monkey screeched excitedly as the other cheered with. A book about him and his companions?

‘’Is it true what you’re telling me, children?’’ Wukong asked excitedly as he smiled widely at the book. A book about him that documented their travels to the West? There were so many memories he created on his travels, so many good moments of camaraderie. It would be a delight to read about those!

Had he also become popular amongst the humans?

‘’Yes! Yes!’’ One Monkey clapped her hands excitedly. ‘’The book is written in honour of you! The Great Monk and the Great Companion!’’

‘’The Journey to the west it is titled, Grandpa!’’ One monkey pointed out to the title on the book.

Wukong laughed as he shared his excitement with his little ones. ‘’Shall I read it out loud for us, children of mine?’’

The Monkey King laughed joyously as his little ones jumped up and down around him in excitement, playing and running around as they could not contain the great excitement they had in their little bodies.

‘’Alright then, gather around!’’ Wukong called out as he opened the first page of the book. All the monkey abruptly ceased their cheering as they huddled close to their king, oo’ing at the book in curiosity.

‘’Grandpa! Grandpa! What is written on this page! And there? And there-‘’

The children all began pointing to the strange words on the pages they could not read, pulling at the clothes of The Monkey King to get him to read the words their little brains were so curious to know the meaning of.

‘’Ow-! Slow down, have patience.’’ Wukong laughed as he patted the head of one monkey while grabbing the pulling little hands out of his hair. ‘’I will tell you what is written down.’’

And so, he began reading the first page. The eyes of the little monkey’s sparkled as they listen attentively to their King. They awe’d and oo’d as they got to hear about the birth of their King, how he had found the Water-Curtain Cave, and became the king of their troop!

Wukong eyes sparkled along with the eyes of his subjects. He didn’t have the slightest clue how the human’s had gathered information about his birth in such great detail, but he was proud at the way it was written and eternalized in the records. So far, he was enjoying the book as he continued reading it with joy in his voice.

He moved on to the next chapters about his time with Shifu Subodhi. The voice of the Monkey King noticeably faltered as he read about moments in his life that were harder on him. He read about the other’s students that had discriminated him, how they had pressured him to show them how he had learned the magical technique of the 72-transformation, how it had led to him being banished by his first Shifu after living with him for years.

It was a hard pill to swallow to remember those distant memories his brain had purposely tried to block out. Don’t get him wrong, he still loved his first shifu and held great respect for him! But something ached in his heart reading about him again, knowing he shan’t ever see him again.

‘’Well, shall we end here for now, little ones?’’ The Monkey King asked his little ones with a wobbly smile, slightly overwhelmed by the sudden rush of memories running around his head.

‘’Oh, please Grandpa Sun! Please grant us this wish and read us another chapter!’’ The children begged him clapping their little hands as they made little bows. Sun Wukong’s soft heart not being able to resist their loveable childish spirit, caved in and reopened to book.

He read about his ill-mannered ways as he broke into Ao Guang’s palace, demanding he’d show him a weapon. How frightened the Dragon King had been by his unmannerly behaviour as he gathered his brothers just to be able to please the Monkey King.

Wukong’s heart felt heavy as he read about his past, luckily his little ones didn’t share his sentiment as still listened to him with wide smiles.

He continued reading about his brotherhood that he had formed. Brother he never even talked to anymore. His time in heaven, how he had been assigned the position of bimawen. How he had felt when he came to know it was the lowest possible rank. How he had demanded the title: The Great Sage Equal to Heaven in response.

It was jarring to read about his past self, in a way. Wukong felt like was reading about a completely other identity. He almost didn’t recognise himself as he continued reading. He still could feel the feeling the character in the book felt, as he once felt them as well, and perhaps still did, but it felt so far away from the person he was now. The Jounrey indeed had changed him a lot...

He read how he stole the heavenly peaches, how he battled the Great Devaraja Li, The Third Lotus prince Nezha, The Second Lotus Prince Muzha, disciple of the Bodhisattva Guanyin and last but not least the warrior god Erlang Shen, the nephew of the Jade emperor himself, the one who had trapped him with a diamond snare at took him to the Heavenly palace.

How he had been bound to a pole, as they tried every possible technique to kill him but remained unsuccessful. How they threw him within the Trigram Furnace, to be locked away for 49 celestial days, 49 earthly years.

The little monkey’s noticed how the voice of the Great Sage was beginning to waver as he read about those chapters, his eyes becoming glassy as he sometimes even stopped reading as he crossed a particularly painful memory.

The monkey looked at each other in worry as one of them pulled gently at the sleeve of the stuttering king. ‘’Grandpa Sun… are you alright?’’

Wukong snapped his head to the soft voice of one of his subject, only now noticing how they were looking at him with worry in their little eyes. It was also only then that he noticed how his eyes were wet, his cheeks glistening in the late evening sun.

He quickly wiped away the embarrassing display of emotion’s as he plastered as small smile of his face as he gently rubbed the head of the monkey who had pulled his sleeve. He had discarded the book as his little ones hugged him tightly.

‘’Old Sun is alright’’ Wukong said softly. ‘’My burdens are not something that you must bear as well, my children ‘’

Before the little ones could respond, other voices interrupted theirs.

‘’My King!’’ One of the approaching mothers exclaimed. ‘’Please forgive us for the ill manners of our children’’ One mother bowed as she expressed her apology while other mothers were ushering their little ones to step down from the shoulders and head of the king.

Wukong merely laughed as he gently helped the mother back on her two feet. ‘’No need to apologise, mother. I love having them around.’’

‘’It was ill-mannered of them to use your grace as a seat, my King.’’ Another mother spoke as she picked up the whining monkey’s from his head.

‘’Do not fret, mother monkeys’’ Wukong reassured. ‘’It is not a burden to me to carry the children around. I quite enjoy having them around, in fact.’’

‘’Thank you, my King’’ The mothers smiled as they took their children away from the King. Wukong supposed that it was right, it was bedtime for the little ones.

‘’Goodnight, Grandpa Sun! It was lovely of you to read to us!’’ The monkey’s cheered as they waved their goodbye’s. Wukong chuckled as he waved back before also getting up to retreat to his own hut, taking the book with him.

The next days and night, he spent most of his time reading the book in private. Heavy waves of emotion washing over him every time he read. He felt anger, joy, pain, shame, grief, and nostalgia as he read about his brothers, about the other demons, about his best moments, and his worst.

It caught him in a trance, as he hyperventilated when he read about the Six-eared macaque. It was something he had yet to fully come to terms with. He hadn’t truly moved on from the tragedies that he himself caused, and it showed. He always discarded the book by throwing it away as his breath picked up rapidly from the panic.

It ended every time this way as he read the book. It was capturing his mind as he began closing himself off from his subject, either sulking or crying in the private space of his room. He was losing his mind, he was aware, but his emotion’s and memories had a strong hold on him.

He kept rereading the ridiculously thick book again and again, constantly wallowing in his memories. He didn’t know why he kept rereading. Perhaps he hoped this was a way to finally begin to progress his embarrassingly strong emotion, to finally overcome them. But it didn’t work like that.

He had mood swings, began to sleep less due to night terrors that shook him awake. He was destroying his mind by constantly forcing himself to relive memories he hadn’t come to terms with. To relive memories with those that were either now dead or hated him. To relive memories that showed him in the darkest lights. To relive memories he held dearest, crushing his heart with grief each time as he read them, his soul aching for it to come back.

It had gotten to the point that he had snapped at one of the little monkey's who had jumped on him while he was reading. They always jumped on him, hugging and laughing with him as he always hugged them back.

But not that time… he had hurt an innocent child in his anger as he was reading the chapter about the White Bone Spirit. It was a moment in his life that he still felt strong feelings of anger with. But with in instable mind, he had unjustly injured one of his children as he threw the little monkey off him.

His heart-breaking cry was the thing that snapped Sun Wukong out of his psychosis, immediately dropping the book from the fingers that had turned white due to the tight grip they previously had on the book as he ran towards the small monkey.

He picked up the small one as he whispered apology’s in his ears. He rocked the little one as he walked around in circles while apologizing over and over again. What had he done? What had he done? Was his mind truly that far lost that he did the most absurd thing and injured one small child?

Wukong began crying with the little one as the horror of his deed dawned upon him. Sure, the child wasn’t terribly injured, it would perhaps leave a small bruise but nothing more. But that wasn’t what shook the Monkey King’s core. It was the fact that he had raised his hand to such an innocent being.

After calming down the child and spending his time to make it up to him by plucking fresh peaches out of the trees and a personal grooming session. Wukong retreated back to his place where the book still laid on the cold ground with the pages open.

Wukong didn’t spare the characters on the pages another glance as he picked up the book and shut it close immediately. He summoned his nimbus cloud and travelled to the volcanic ring that surrounded his paradise on earth.

His eyes were cold, his heart made of steel as he stared at the book. His hands were burning as he held the book over the lava while they trembled. 

Just let it go...

His eyes darkened as he dropped the book in the hot lava, burning it. The bright light of the lava and fire reflected on his face painting it red, his eyes watering slightly from the smoke that escaped the volcano. His burning eyes kept looking at the hot pool of lava under him until he nothing left of the book. 

Never again would he read that book again.

Over the years, the number of studies and books on him and his companions increased. Wukong as always, couldn’t resist the temptation as read them. Some of them were truly interesting and didn’t set him off as much as that first book. Those that did, he burned immediately.

Wukong was luckily that as time progressed, the writing style the humans used changed. It changed and kept changing, until he wasn’t able to read it anymore. Maybe that was for the best, the more recent adaptations were painfully good at capturing his emotions, setting him off.

Although the elders of the mountain constantly tried to push Wukong into learning the new writing style, Wukong wouldn’t budge. He wouldn’t risk it, what had happened should never happen again. Never should the mind of the Monkey King be that fragile, it was too dangerous. The Great Sage felt embarrassment that something so simple as emotions hindered him from learning an essential skill, but he pushed that feeling away. Embarrassment was something that someone like him shouldn't feel as well. 

One would perhaps say that Wukong needed a therapist to deal with his memories in a healthy way, instead of either torturing himself with them, or completely ignore them. Completely refusing to read was a bit of an extreme reaction, no? Wukong didn’t agree, stubborn as ever. He was perfectly fine as long he managed to keep his outburst of emotion under control..

That was the whole point of therapy anyway, right? Pff, he didn't need it, he managed to do it by himself just fine! 

So, it was left unspoken about. Wukong sometimes did explore the series and movies that were made about him, but quickly discarded those too. He preferred series that just used his character, but not his story. Series such as Monkey Cop!

He continued living his life as ruler of his mountain. Nothing strange happened, he and the monkey lived peacefully. He even managed to find himself an successor! His life was great, nothing to be worried about. 

He just didn't like reading.