Gensomaden Saiyuki Fan Fiction ❯ Sketchy Threads ❯ Chapter One ( Chapter 1 )

:: Sketchy Threads ::

Saiyuki Gaiden

Disclaimer: I don't own Saiyuki Gaiden, which rightfully belongs to Minekura Kazuya. Neither, obviously, do I own (or think up) the legend Journey to the West. All references to the story come from the book Monkey: A Journey to the West retold by David Kherdian.

Rating: PG

Pairings: very slight Konzen+Goku. Blink and you'll miss it.

Warnings: language, cheap and sketchy retellings of an old legend, possible OOCness, spoiler quotes from chapter 9 of Gaiden

Notes: Well, ever since I bought the first DVD of Saiyuki I've been wanting to write a fic about it. Of course the problems were thus: who and what to write about? Pairings? Plot? Originality?

Unfortunately, this will be seriously lacking in the originality department. I'm basically just taking a bunch of cliches and trying to make a story out of it. Part of it is because my newly acquired Goku muse refuses to shut the hell up... eh, what else is new?

*sweatdrop* Anyway, it's sort of like a fluff-fic mixed with the legend and stuff. Legends interest me, and the fact that one of my favourite animes is based off a popular legend means that I have to do research on it. Anyway, I was randomly thinking that it would be ironic of Goku heard the tale that spun off his own journey later on... and here we are with this fic.

There will be OOCness and things that are out of place. I, unfortunately, only have glimpses into the Gaiden timeline and am not completely familiar with it. I won't pretend to be comfortable with the characters, either, but I'm genuinely trying to keep them as much in character as possible. Anyway, this is sort of AU after chapter 9 in the Gaiden manga.

Maa... I talk to much. *smile* Sorry! Enough with my useless rambling. Constructive criticism encouraged. Don't be afraid to tear my fic apart! ^^

Boredom. It had settled into his bones long ago. It would be ridiculous to count the number of years; after all, a deity could live forever, given favorable conditions and circumstances. So far his life had been favorable.

Favorable... minus the sheer boredom and monotony it had been set in since the day he learned to speak. The moment his hands could figure out how to move, it seemed, he was pushed into boring paperwork, handling important documents that, really, he didn't give a damn about. That was how it was everyday; stone-faced, he would sit and pour through the work, hardly uttering a word. When he did speak, his voice would be clipped and hard, surprisingly dark and smooth considering that he rarely spoke.

To go back to that now would be... absolutely frightening.

That was what Konzen Douji was thinking before the loud crash! echoed throughout the room, of course. He started, dropping the brush he had been holding poised over a piece of paper. Ink spots decorated the document, soiling it. However, the deity's violet eyes weren't on the document, but on the mess in the left corner of the room.

Several books lay in a pile. Small limbs and a head flailed beneath them, buried beneath the bound paper. The squirming figure froze suddenly, as though feeling the cold stare upon him. Slowly he tipped his head back, brown hair brushing across the floor. A wide, boyish grin stretched his lips, a nervous laugh falling from his mouth.

Then there was dead silence.

Then the expected explosion.

"What the hell did you think you were doing?!"

"Uwaaah!" the boy cried, making an even bigger mess as he scrambled out of the pile and shot out the door, the golden-haired deity hot on his heels.

"You goddamned stupid monkey," Konzen snarled as he snagged a hold of the boy's shirt. The boy cried out loudly, cringing in his keeper's grasp. The boy's cries and Konzen's curses attracted few glances; the routine was very familiar by now and only those that were constantly amused by it glanced their way.

"I'm-sorry-really-I-didn't-mean-to-knock-them-I'll-pick-it-up-just-don' t-hit-me-again... please?" he added in a small voice, peering hesitantly at the deity with childishly wide, golden eyes.

"Damned right you will," Konzen growled irritably, delivering a relatively gentle knock to the boy's head with his knuckles. He was somewhat surprised he had actually caught up with the kid -- he slipped through his fingers more often than Konzen wanted to admit -- but he could think of a few reasons why. One was that being stuck beneath a pile of heavy books had slowed the boy's progress of escape. Another was that he had wanted Konzen to catch him... which was ridiculous, as the violet-eyed keeper knew the boy was just as afraid of as he was devoted to him.

Strange... how had he gotten stuck in this mess again? Ah, of course. Kanzeon, his aunt... or uncle, depending on the person's point of view. Konzen personally didn't care to think about her from the waist down, as if he cared from the waist up... in any case, it was her fault, and he had every right to be resentful.

Which, naturally, did not explain why he grudgingly -- and silently -- thanked her for dropping this nuisance upon him.

Once back in his office (so to speak) Konzen dropped the mischievous boy to the ground, where he landed with an ungraceful thud. "Ahh," the brunette whined, glaring at him sullenly from beneath his raggedly cut bangs. "What'd you do that for?"

Konzen gave him a meaningful stare. "You're not going to pick that mess up to save your ass, then?"

No... he really could not imagine going back to life before the annoying monkey had come into his life.

Sleep... why did gods need sleep? It sounded ridiculous. Were they not supposed to be superior beings? Then again, they weren't exactly immortal, contrary to human belief. Oh, they didn't grow old unless they wished to, but they could be killed. It wasn't impossible. It had happened before, after all.

Even so, sleep seemed rather silly to Konzen. Granted, he preferred it to working all damned day long...

"Konzen..."

He growled softly into the darkness. The youthful whisper had interrupted his dull monologue, and he wasn't sure if he was grateful or not. "What?"

There was a shifting noise, then: "Can't sleep."

"Count."

"Tried it."

Konzen's eyebrow twitched; he rolled over on his side, violet eyes lapsing shut. "Just... think about things."

"I tried it," the boy insisted quietly.

That's right; there's not enough room in his mind for too many thoughts at once, Konzen thought dryly. Maybe if he ignored him he'd go away...

"Konzen."

Or maybe not.

The white-clad deity rolled to his other side, facing the direction of the room he knew the boy was -- should have been -- sleeping. "Well, what the hell do you expect me to do about it?" he demanded.

A long pause stretched into a few minutes of silence with that answer. Had the argument put the boy to sleep? Doubtful... it was also just as doubtful that the boy had given in to silence. It wouldn't be like him at all; the brat was active even in his sleep. Konzen knew this, because on the sole occasion the boy had insisted on sleeping in the same bed as his keeper, he had rolled and kicked and fidgeted so much in his sleep that Konzen, unable to fall even into a fitful rest, had ended up shoving him to the floor followed with a few well-chosen curses.

In any case, he wasn't surprised to hear him speak again, though he did grow more irritated with each syllable uttered.

"You could... tell me a story?"

"No." The denial was past his lips before he even had time to consider it.

"Why not?" Great; now the persistent tone was creeping into his voice. Pushing him toward Kenren and Tenpou was a bad idea, the deity thought grimly. Especially the former. "It can be boring if you want. Boring might actually be good; I may fall asleep faster..."

Konzen sat up, glaring at the slight form he could barely make out in the darkness. "No means no," he growled. "Do I need to come over there and beat that notion into you?"

"If you come over and beat the... the..."

"Notion," he said flatly.

"Yeah." He knew the boy was smiling. "If I let you beat it into me, would you tell me a story?"

Konzen glared toward the boy, expression stone cold. Surely the boy felt the sheer vibrations of the stare, as he tended to. However, no reluctant goodnights drifted across the room, nor any other indication that he had given up and gone to sleep.

Goddamnit. If it would get him to go to sleep...

Grudgingly, Konzen hitched over on the mattress. "Come here." He could sense the boy's hesitation, so he put forth more command into his tone. "I said come here, Goku." There was the scrambling noise as the small brunette recognized his tone and then the shifting weight of the mattress as another body added weight to what it was already supporting. With Goku closer, it was easier to see him, and Konzen could dimly make out a bit of the surprise and awe in the boy's wide eyes.

Never again, he swore to himself. After this night... never again... He repeated this aloud, and Goku seemed to understand. "Okay," was his meek but earnest reply.

Konzen closed his eyes, leaning back to rest against the wall. He was far from imaginative, and surely Goku knew this -- then again, given his child naivety, it was likely Goku didn't realize Konzen's lack of skill in that particular department -- but Goku hadn't requested a fantastic story. In fact, he said even a boring one may do... yet for some reason Konzen was determined to think of something different, something that would actually interest the boy.

Why did he care enough to do that?

He tucked those thoughts for later ponderings into the corner of his mind. Perhaps if he used bits and pieces of events he already knew... ah, but wasn't that how a lot of stories were made? Some fact mingled with fantasy...

"Konzen?"

Well, he could make up something on the spot. His voice came out dry and a bit flat, certainly very much unlike the voice of a storyteller. "There was a monkey."

"A monkey?" Goku's voice was a bit skeptical. Konzen shot him a glare.

"Yes," he said, deadpan. "A monkey, just like you. Born from a rock on the mountain. Stupid, too."

"Konzen!"

The deity smirked at the indignation in the boy's voice. "Will you shut up and listen, then?"

Goku sighed and shifted on the mattress, one knobby knee bumping Konzen's thigh beneath the covers. "Okay," he agreed.

Konzen doubted he'd be able to keep his mouth shut, but he went on anyway. "He was born from a mountain. Using the essence and energy from magical plants, the mountain formed a stone egg. When the egg was released from the mountain into the world, the wind changed its shape to form a stone monkey, breathing life into it and making it just as alive as any other living being."

"Did the monkey have a name?" Goku asked. Konzen suppressed a sigh. Great; he sounded interested in the story. That might keep him awake longer... but it would be worse to stop now and listen to the brat's whining.

"He doesn't need a name," was Konzen's barely patient answer.

"But if the story's about the monkey, and the monkey was like me, and--"

"His name is Monkey," Konzen snapped, unable to think up anything more creative at the moment. "Are you going to listen or not?"

"Okay..." As he spoke, Goku wriggled closer to his keeper, half lying down on the bed. Konzen shoved the boy's arms off his legs, where Goku had the audacity to place them in the first place.

"Brat." He sighed, thinking briefly. "Monkey was moving from the moment he took his first breath. One day his eyes directed toward the Palace of the Pole Star and twin beams of light shot from him, startling the Celestial Jade Emperor..."

At once the emperor ordered two of his subordinates to go to the Southern Gate and report their sightings. They came back to say, "Your Majesty, the light has come from the borderline of Ao-lai, set east from the Exalted Continent. From the Mountains of Flower and Fruit came such light, where we just now sighted a monkey bowing to the four quarters, came such light. But now he is eating, and the light fades."

Once learning that this particular monkey had been composed of the Earthly and Heavenly elements, the emperor declared that it was nothing startling. Anything could happen with a being created of those elements.

Monkey was left alone, and he continued to climb trees and eat, making friends with the carnivores and, of course, monkeys like himself.

"Konzen?"

"What?"

Goku seemed to be struggling with his words. "What's a car... carni..."

"A carnivore is an animal that eats meat," Konzen replied impatiently. His chin was resting in the palm of his hand, his elbow digging into the sensitive flesh of his thigh. His eyes were adjusting to the dark the more he stayed awake, and not once had his gaze strayed from the boy's face.

"Ah..." Goku squirmed again, resting himself comfortably in Konzen's lap. His feet dangled over the edge of the mattress, and his eyes peered up at the deity. Konzen suppressed another annoyed sigh, but didn't move to push the boy away. "Why didn't they eat him, then?"

"The hell if I know. Shut up and listen."

Surprisingly, Goku was more than willing to comply.

During the day Monkey and his fellow companions would play by the green stream that flowed down the mountain. One day they followed that very stream to discover its source. There they found a magnificent waterfall. Excited, Monkey called for his friends to look, proclaiming the shimmering falls to be a noble cascade of a curtain, treating it akin to a godsend. "Marvelous water!" the other monkeys called it. They declared that the one who was bravest to break through the curtain of water and discover its source, coming back unharmed, would become their king.

After three calls, Monkey strode forth, declaring he would go. Without so much as a second word or thought, he leapt through the waterfall. Beyond did not lie the the continuous water he had expected, but a beautiful scene too enticing to resist. There was a house, and a bridge leading to that house; flowers creeped like vines over a marble bench and dragon pearls were strung over the archway. Monkey approached the bridge and read the sign that read:

This Cave Curtained by Water, Hidden Within the Blessed Land of Flower Mountain, Leads to Heaven

Monkey was excited to see such words. He leapt back through the waterfall and was met with a barrage of questions. "What is it like?" the other monkeys cried. "How deep is the water?"

"There is no water! Just a house, a bridge..."

The other monkeys stammered in disbelief. Monkey described the glorious place that could only be second to Heaven itself. Caught up in his excitement, his fellow companions cried for him to lead the way. Once they were through the waterfall, they were surprised, but soon overjoyed.

Monkey wanted to know if they were as good as their word; would they not revere him as king, as they had promised? Immediately the monkeys prostrated themselves before their king. From that moment on Monkey was to be called the Handsome Monkey King.

"A bridge to heaven?" Goku inquired.

"Yes," Konzen said simply. He was surprised to find himself slowly relaxing, and even more surprised to find that Goku was beginning to listen longer without interrupting with his questions. It would be impossible to make up a story without the boy interrupting at least once. The interruptions could be irritating, but it also gave Konzen a bit of extra time to quickly think of what should happen next.

"That place sounds nice," the brunette said a bit dreamily. "Prettier than here, right? Heaven isn't so great, is it? You say so all the time."

Konzen snorted softly. "That's right."

"Someone should tell Monkey that," Goku said, perfectly serious.

"Stupid," Konzen admonished, though there was no bite to his voice. "It's just a story."

"Why Handsome Monkey King?"

"... in any case," Konzen continued, ignoring the question, "the monkeys had banquets every day. They were all overjoyed to have such glorious living conditions. However, one day their king became abruptly sad in the middle of a feast, several hundred years after their discovery of the land closest to Heaven..."

"Why are you so sad, your Majesty?" Monkey's loyal followers asked, gathering around their king.

Monkey explained his worries. One day, he said, they would all die. When the time came, then what? What would become of them? The monkeys begged their leader not to think such sad thoughts; after all, did they not have banquets every day? Were they not undisturbed by the carnivores about them in their safe haven? This was true, replied Monkey, but one day they would die. And then what? To be reincarnated and live a new life in torture in comparison to this lovely one?

The other monkeys were struck with the truth of this statement, and they began to weep. To everyone's surprise, one of the gibbons leapt up and proclaimed that if this was what his Majesty was worried about, why not find a solution to their problem? Of the five groups of living beings, only three were free of Death. "What are they?" asked Monkey.

"They are the Buddhists, the immortals, and the holy sages," was the gibbon's reply. But where were they to be found, Monkey wanted to know. In the holy mountains and the ancient caves. And so Monkey ventured forth to seek the immortality they desired.

Monkey traveled for ten years across oceans and continents, finally reaching the land of Jambudvipa, where he learned the human ways. He traveled for several years in disguise of an ordinary human, but found only people swamped with the glory of fame and money. He crossed the Western Ocean and to the Western Continent, where he heard a human voice reciting a song fit for the immortals.

However, what he found wasn't an immortal, but an ordinary woodsman. After some bantering, Monkey found that the woodsman had learnt the song from an Immortal that was the woodsman's neighbor. He left the woodsman and followed his directions until he found a cave. However, upon reaching his destination, he was afraid to knock on the tightly shut doors. So he climbed the pine tree and ate seeds, jumping from branch to branch. At last a boy came out, demanding to know who was making such a commotion.

Monkey was soon invited inside, where he met the Patriarch. He was thought to be lying when he claimed to come from Ao-lai, but he soon convinced the Patriarch that he told the truth. The Patriarch learnt that he was borne of the Heaven and Earth, and he was pleased. There were twelve divisions of his years and teachings, and because Monkey fell in the tenth division, his name had to include awareness.

"From now on, your holy name shall be Aware-of-Vacuity," proclaimed the Patriarch. Monkey was pleased, and he agreed.

A yawn slipped from Goku's mouth; Konzen felt his lips twitch, though they didn't quite form a smile. "What were the other words?" the boy asked.

"Does it matter?"

"I guess not..."

"Well, then."

Goku sighed and pouted a bit, rolling over. Strands of brown brushed Konzen's legs, causing him to shiver involuntarily. He briefly considered dumping the child to the floor, but once again reluctantly allowed him to stay. "Konzen?" The blonde stared at him blankly, waiting for the boy to continue. "What is 'vacuity'?"

Konzen smirked. "It suits you perfectly."

"What is it?" Goku asked eagerly, one of his small hands somehow grasping a handful of Konzen's long hair. Even when sleeping, the blonde deity kept his hair bound back.

"Without thought. An absence of a mind, basically."

Goku took a moment to absorb these words, then he growled. "Konzen!" he whined, tugging at his keeper's hair.

Konzen snarled, partially in pain. "Do that again and I'll throw you out the goddamn window, you stupid monkey!"

"Sorry," Goku mumbled, though he didn't release the golden strands. He continued to toy with them, fascinated. The first time they had met, Goku had been awestruck by the deity's hair, saying it was just like the sun before he had reached out and taken a handful of golden locks. It had ended with him ripping out some of Konzen's hair, an action that had stunned the deity before he realized what he had happened.

"That's neat! It shines... just like the sun!"

"--WHAT ARE YOU DOING, YOU STUPID MONKEY?!"

"I said I was sorry!"

Hmph, Konzen thought with vague amusement. And to think... somehow it turned out like this...

Goku had once told him that he thought Konzen was pretty; he had thought so since the beginning. He had said that once he believed that seeing Konzen smile would make him prettier... but that it didn't suit him. Strange child...

"Konzen? Is there more?" There was a pleading note to Goku's voice, indicating that he didn't just hope there was more, he believed there was more. Konzen couldn't leave the story unfinished like that, was basically what he was saying. Strange, since the deity doubted that Goku understood half of the words that were spilling from his mouth.

Well, Konzen couldn't see either of them going to sleep anytime soon. He sighed and thought briefly before he resumed the story.

From the very beginning Monkey learnt the ways of deportment. He had his studies and his duties; neither was more or less important than the other. The years slipped by, and he hardly noticed, busy as he was. One day the Patriarch sat upon his dais, lecturing on the Way. Monkey was entranced, and his excitement got the better of him. He began to fidget until he was jumping around, too excited to sit still. The Patriarch demanded to know how he could learn if he was going to act like a madman, and Monkey simply replied that the Patriarch's words had brought such happiness that he couldn't contain his joy. He apologized.

The Patriarch said that Monkey truly understood the spirit of the Way. He asked how long Monkey had been with them; Monkey replied that he didn't know, for time had been lost in his duties and lessons. But once a year Monkey had eaten of the peaches that grew outside each time he had gone to gather firewood. Because of this, the Patriarch explained, he had been there one year for each consumed peach. Monkey had eaten seven of the fruits.

"What method of the Way would you like to learn from?" the Patriarch asked.

"That is up to you," said Monkey.

The Patriarch explained that there were three-hundred sixty divisions. He offered four of the teachings: the Magic Arts, the Way of Ways, the Way of Silence, and the Way of Action. Because none of these offered true Immortality, Monkey refused them all. In the end, the Patriarch leapt up, claiming that Monkey was there for nothing. Three times he struck Monkey on the head before he turned his back on his students, dismissing them. He locked the doors behind him.

The pupils cried out, calling Monkey selfish and worthless. But even as they scolded him, Monkey was overfilled with joy. He believed that when the Patriarch had whacked him three times on the head, he had appointed him at the third watch. By turning his back and locking the doors, he was telling Monkey to come learn in secret.

Monkey snuck into the Patriarch's chamber through the rear doors that night. He knelt at his master's bedside, proclaiming that he was ready to be taught.

The Patriarch bolted up, demanding to know what Monkey was doing. Monkey explained his interpretation of the language of signs, and the Patriarch believed he was truly the predestined. He recited the formula, and Monkey memorized it immediately. He would practice in secret.

"Monkey doesn't sound as stupid as you said earlier," Goku murmured, still lazily twisting the blonde hair in his fingers.

"Right," Konzen agreed, his monotone ever steady. "You're the stupid monkey."

"Konzen..." It was more of a sigh than a whine; the blonde deity suspected the boy was finally growing tired.

Konzen found his hand hesitantly tracing the diadem on Goku's head. Strange... and unnerving how just speaking to the boy -- not yelling, not cursing, not insulting, just speaking -- was almost... soothing. There was comfort in it.

Goku called Konzen his sun... but really, wasn't it the other way around?

Wasn't it?

He didn't have time to think more over the subject. "Konzen, what happened next?"

"Brat," he muttered. "You don't even understand what's going on."

"I understand a little bit," Goku insisted. "Tell me what happens to Monkey."

"Stupid..." The whisper was hardly heard, and the tone was more affectionate than berating. Konzen shook his head, moving onward with the story.

Three years passed swiftly. One day, during his preaching to his disciples, the Patriarch suddenly looked down and asked for Monkey. Monkey came forth and kowtowed, and the Patriarch asked what he had been practicing lately. Monkey replied that he had learnt much, and that he was beginning to see the One in the All. The Patriarch decided that Monkey must then be aware of the Three Calamities.

However, Monkey admitted to not understanding; was he not to receive immortality now? But no. The Patriarch replied that he would keep his youthful appearance and energy, but in five hundred years he could be struck by the Calamity of Thunder. If he did not have a way to protect himself from it, Monkey would die. If he survived, Heaven would send down the Calamity of Fire after another five hundred years. If he avoided that as well, it would be another five hundred years before the Calamity of Wind struck. If and after he avoided all of these, then yes, Monkey would then achieve immortality.

Monkey asked if there was a way to avoid these that the Patriarch could teach him. There was the Art of Heavenly Ladle, which consisted of thirty-six transformations, and the Art of Earthly Multitude, which consisted of seventy-two transformations. Naturally, Monkey chose the seventy-two transformations.

The Patriarch whispered the formula into Monkey's ear. One evening the Patriarch asked Monkey how his lessons were proceeding, and Monkey claimed to have achieved near perfection. However, his methods of flying were a bit imperfect. The Patriarch whispered into Monkey's ear, told him to recite that formula, and he would achieve the ability to fly 108,000 miles. Monkey did, and then he was in bliss. He had finally achieved immortality.

One day the disciples asked to see some proof of Monkey's training. Eager to show off, he obliged and transformed into a pine tree. There was much commotion, which alerted the Patriarch. "What is going on?" he demanded. The students revealed what Monkey had done, much to Patriarch's shame.

He dismissed them all, except for Monkey. "Did you acquire these powers to show off?" he asked. "Now the students will want the same! You have abused your position!" Monkey begged for forgiveness. The Patriarch did not punish him, but told Monkey he could no longer stay. Monkey was to go back from where he came, and should he utter a single letter of the Patriarch's name, he would live to regret it. Saddened and weeping, Monkey rode on a cloud to the Eastern Ocean.

Konzen had to pause. He wasn't sure what to say next, and he was fully aware of Goku's wakefulness. The boy's breathing was too shallow for someone that should have been asleep, and his golden eyes were wide and staring at the blonde deity.

Finally, he said, "That is sad."

Konzen rolled his eyes. "I suppose."

"But," Goku continued, smiling a bit. "If I were him, I'd want to show people neat powers like that! Hey, Konzen, what kind of tree would you turn into?"

"You stupid monkey," Konzen muttered. "Why would you want to know something like that?"

"I'm just curious."

And that summed up Goku's personality-- or at least a good portion of it. Curious, wondering, always asking questions... it constantly grated Konzen's nerves, like so many of the boy's other habits, but it was a feeling that, while annoying and almost painful, Konzen found himself reluctant to want to get rid of.

Well... completely, anyway. It certainly wouldn't hurt for the boy to pester him less!

"I'm not the sun... I suppose once I decided I wasn't involved, I just let myself go on with my lukewarm boring life. I'm not strong, and I don't have a talent for living like Tenpou and Kenren. But I've started to think about what I cando, and it's all thanks to you."

All of that had spilled from his mouth, an odd confession of sorts. It wasn't the first time Goku had been upset with him, and it wasn't the first time he had accidentally sent the deity sprawling on the floor, but it was certainly the first time that reality had crashed hard on Konzen.

Of course, Goku hadn't and still didn't understand a word he had said. He had even said so, saying Konzen was acting weird. Konzen knew the boy wouldn't be able to comprehend his thoughts, so why had he spoken them aloud?

Because, somehow, Goku made him say and do things he wouldn't normally do. Somehow he touched a part of Konzen that no one else had been able to reach before. Just by being a child, by being innocent and carefree, by caring, he had done this.

It was all too confusing and frightening. Konzen could only deal with so much at one time, and he was reaching his limit for today. He roughly shoved those thoughts aside, jerking to awareness when Goku tugged on his shirt. "Konzen? Is there more?"

Konzen scowled. "I'm trying to think. Making this up isn't as easy as you'd think."

"Well, Monkey was going back to the mountains he was born in, right?" Goku asked. "So what happened when he got there?"

It took Monkey no longer than an hour to fly back to the Mountain of Flowers and Fruit. He was greeted by joyous followers, who asked where he had been so long. Since he had left, an evil demon had constantly terrorized them and stolen their children. Apparently he called himself the Demon King of Havoc.

Monkey was outraged. He went off to face the Demon King. When Monkey approached his lair, his subjects scurried off to inform him of the intruder. Hearing the intruder was barehanded and without weapons, the demon laughed with scorn. His armor and weapons were brought to him, and he went out to meet Monkey.

The Demon King scorned Monkey for his size. Monkey warned him against judging his appearance, but the demon would have none of it. He swung at Monkey, only to have him dodge. He grew furious.

Seeing this, Monkey tried the Body Outside of Body trick. He pulled out several of his own hairs, chewed on them, and then spit them out. Several Monkeys suddenly swarmed the place, attacking the Demon King of Havoc. He swung furiously at them, always missing. They pulled at his hair and clothes, kicking and punching him. None of his attacks landed, and he grew all the more agitated and dropped his sword, swinging his spear wildly and aimlessly.

Monkey seized the opportunity. He grabbed the demon's sword and attacked swiftly, splitting his head in two almost effortlessly. When all was over, Monkey called back his stolen imps. Then he set fire to the demon's cave, and it burned to ashes.

Back at the Flower Mountain, a festival was held in honour of both the return of their king and their king's impressive defeat of the demon that had terrorized them for so long.

"Tell us, Handsome Monkey King," the monkeys pleaded. "We had no idea you would come to possess such impressive powers... how did you attain them?"

And so Monkey told them about his journey, not leaving out a single detail except for the Patriarch's name and location, as he had promised.His followers were far from disappointed, and they rejoiced. "All hail our mighty protector, the Handsome Monkey King!" For luck such as his was not often to be had.

Trailing off there felt incomplete, but Konzen was honestly stuck, unsure what to say next. He glanced down and was mildly surprised to see that he needn't have worried; Goku had fallen asleep, though exactly when in the past few minutes was hard to tell.

The dumb monkey fell asleep on me, though, he thought, frowning. He'd rather not have to sleep with the child draped over him, but unless he wanted to wake the boy up by pushing him off...

There was no helping it. Konzen sighed and carefully shifted to lie back down. Goku stirred but thankfully didn't wake, his breathing deep and peaceful; even. There would be no waking him until morning, if Konzen was fortunate. But at least he was finally finished.

Despite himself, he couldn't help but wonder if Goku was going to have him finish the story. Not that it was much of a story... hopefully, the boy would just forget about it.

Yet he couldn't help but wonder if it was possible to extend this tale just a bit further...