MISTY MEMORIES

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Chapter Twenty
Moving On...
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❝My body will remember that anger that will not leave me until I die.❞

BOTH MACAQUE AND Mk went through endless memories to look for Wukong. They had saw variety of events that occurred in his life in the past. However and as the cracks got worse, the two of them knew that Wukong was trying to find his out.

Thankfully, they managed to find him yet he looked really down. Monkey King felt the presence of Macaque and Mk and turned around, "Kid. You found me." He said with a forced sad smile, but it quickly disappeared and he turned around as Mk approached him, " I couldn't, I— I... I just wanted to protect the people I cared about. To be strong enough. I lost sight of why I was doing any of it. I know I've made a few lifetimes worth of mistakes but living them over and over again like this, I..." He trailed off, keeping his gaze away from Mk.

Meanwhile, Macaque was watching memories of him an Wukong sitting together and eating peaches without any care to the world.

Mk smiled assuringly, "Well. Good thing you're immortal, right?" He asked him and puzzled Wukong.

"What?"

"There's plenty of times to do things over."

"Kid, I—"

Wukong was cut off when Mk put his hands on his shoulder, "You told me something that I thought was just a-a weird Monkey King thing but... you were right. We can't fix everything. We just need to leave it a little better than we found it. As long as we stay true to that, we can deal with whatever comes next." Mk started just as Macaque joined them. Wukong stared at him with hurt in his eyes, an unpleasant memories flashing in his head, "Monkey King, I'm not ready to not have a mentor. Azure needs to be stopped, but... we need you. I need you..." The boy added, summoning his staff.

"... to be the Monkey King."

Wukong looked up at Macaque and his eyes widened slightly when he saw the shadow monkey give him a small yet assuring smile. Monkey King smiled and nodded his head, grabbing the staff as well. Mk was relieved that Wukong finally returned to his normal self once again, "Alright, we only need to get Y/N back and we're smooth sailing." He confronted with a confident smile.

With that being said, the three of them moved to look for you.

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The three males were walking through the foreign forest, searching for any trace of you. However, they found none. They had been looking for you for a while now.

Mk whined loudly, "Where's Y/N? They couldn't just disappear like that." He complained and huffed again. Macaque rolled his eyes while Wukong petted Mk's back, "Don't worry, bud. We will find them soon... hopefully." He tried his best to assure his student to keep him motivated. Suddenly, Macaque halted his steps which made the other two stop in place, "Why would you stop?" Mk asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Someone's coming." That was all he said before a figure walked up head, carrying wood on their back. Mk squinted his eyes to get a better look, "Wait... Is that Y/N? It's them! Let's go!" He exclaimed with excitement and was about to run to you, but Wukong stopped him just in time, "No, this in not them. Look closely." Wukong pointed out. Mk took a better look at you, noticing that you were much more younger and grumpy. For sure, this wasn't you... probably your younger self, but even this was wrong.

When Mk was confirmed that this wasn't you, someone else that looked identical to you followed behind you, "Huh? Y/N can duplicate?" He asked with utter shock. Macaque groaned and shook his head, "No, they're a human. If anything, this could be a twin sibling or something." He explained before they proceeding to follow your past self and brother. They followed the twins and listened to their conversation as you carried wood on you backs.

"You can’t trust the word of a man who died trying to help someone else." You brother spoke up, sounding very mean.

"Why would you say that? It was for Mother’s sake --" You were cut off by your brother.

"As if some herbs would’ve healed her in that state. It’s beyond stupid."

"That’s an awful thing to say, Brother!"

The memory repeated again, going back to the beginning of the conversation... It was a broken memory just like Wukong's. Mk saw how different the other sibling looked... They had that hopeful spark in their eyes, but their grumpy and harsh brother was the one destroying their hope.

"Uh... Who is Y/N?" Mk asked out of blue, making the two monkeys groan in annoyance.

"It's obvious, Mk. Y/N is the one in the light colored clothes." Wukong pointed, holding his arms out.

"Let's go. We still have a long way ahead." Macaque spoke up, pointing at a golden crack ahead. As they walked to the other side, they found themselves in the same forest, but it was almost sunrise, "What? We're back here!" He yelled in disbelief. They walked for a few minutes before they could hear sounds of pain, "Someone's in danger!" Mk exclaimed before going to help, forgetting that it was just a memory.

"Kid, wait! It's just a memory!" Wukong chased after Mk along with Macaque. Suddenly, they stopped upon seeing the gruesome sign in front of them. Right before you, a horribly injured demon. His head was smashed by a rock and his body was cut and stabbed with different items. You stood there, your body covered in blood.

"Wh-What happened here?" Mk spoke up with terror evident on his face. They watched as you turned around and slowly made your way to the small house up the hill. It took you a while to reach there, but you eventually made it there. Mk couldn't hold it and ran to the house, but he froze by the door when he saw you laying down, holding your brother's hand, "Y/N..." He whispered, feeling hurt at the sight for you holding into your brother for dear life.

"This is what Master meant when he said he had saved Y/N from their rage." Monkey King spoke up as he joined Mk, "Y/N was in great shock that they lost their memories... I don't blame them, this was something they would desperately want to forget." He stated with a serious tone, clenching his fists tightly. He then placed his hand on Mk's shoulder, "Come on, kid. Let's get going." Just like that, Wukong left the house. Mk stood there for a moment, looking at you before he left. He finally knew what you had went through in your life.

-TIME SKIP-

They finally managed to find you after a long search. There you were, standing in front of two graves. Mk almost immediately ran to you and hugged you from behind to give you some comfort.

You gasped out of surprise and turned your head to look at him, "Mk? How did you get here?" You asked and fully turned to him after he let go of you. You saw both Macaque and Wukong standing there as well. The boy flashes you a smile, "It's a long story, but I'm glad we got you." He said before turning to look at the graves. You saw him gazing at them and smiled softly, "These are my parents' graves. I used to visit them every once in a while." You spoke up, there was a hint of sadness in your voice.

"You have seen it all, right?"

Nodding his head, the boy felt bad for you and placed his hand on your shoulder, "You're so strong for standing during hard times, but sticking to the past would never help you get stronger. It's time to move on, Y/N. To look for the future."

"I know, and I want to move on too."

"Then, let's do this together. Let's fight to make the future a little better." After he said that You smiled softly at his determination.

"Yes, let's fight... together."

And just like that, you had set your mind on helping Mk defeat Azure Lion and bring down the brotherhood. All to make the future a little better.