by Van Hoang
“Like wolves.”
The Monkey King nodded. “You have to show them you’re the alpha.”
“But … I’ve never shown my strength in front of anyone else before. At least not on purpose.” The Monkey King was the only person she trusted enough to use her power around because he was strong enough to withstand her strength. The other times had all been accidents and ended with broken things or injured people. Her strength was a curse.
“You want to learn how to control it, don’t you? Then you must use it. Just show them you’re not a weak girl, Thom. You’re strong.” He punched her shoulder playfully.
She took a deep breath. It went against everything she wanted, but the Monkey King had brought her here to his friends, and if she backed down, she would embarrass not only herself but also him. What would it hurt? These were demons, they looked strong, and they wouldn’t hesitate to hurt her if the Monkey King didn’t stop them.
At her nod, the Monkey King bounced away giggling. “An arm wrestle, to start,” he announced gleefully. The animals shrieked and formed a circle around Thom and Pax, who propped his elbow on a tree stump. She faced him, bringing her palm to his. “And … go!” the Monkey King shouted.
The shrieks and growls grew louder as Pax shoved at Thom’s hand. It didn’t budge. He must have been pretty strong—he was three times her size and looked like he could charge down a car or a train. But her hand stayed where it was. The demons went quiet, and the awe washed over them, filling her with pleasure and … pride. She was good at this, at being strong. By default, but still. Too bad it wasn’t something she wanted to be good at, but at least she could have some fun before she figured out how to get rid of it.
With a smile, she took in Pax’s shocked, slack-jawed expression, and easily brought his arm down to the tree stump.
The animals rolled with laughter. Pax’s bovine friend pointed a finger at his face and guffawed until Pax tackled him.
The hyena stepped up to Thom, growling in her language, then placed her elbow on the tree stump.
“Your turn?” Thom asked.
She nodded, or at least Thom thought she nodded—the demon bobbed around a lot.
A line formed behind the hyena, other demons eager for their turn. The Monkey King floated above them, giggling and flipping through the air.
Thom arm-wrestled one demon after another, each win resulting in rounds of laughter and animals lunging playfully at one another. It was the first time she’d been able to use her strength for fun. And it felt … well, a bit wonderful. The demons were still kind of terrifying, but she also found them endearing. Like how you know panda bears could bite your head off and they were, like, hungry all the time, but they were also so adorable and fluffy. She laughed as a small fox—not quite as old as the Monkey King’s friend Concao—came up next.
As the growling, shrieking demons kept fighting one another for a chance to get closer to Thom, a warm sensation settled over her, something she hadn’t felt in a long time. These creatures accepted her for who she was, didn’t question her strength or think anything was wrong with her. Instead, they seemed to love her for her power, just like the Monkey King had. This must have been why he’d brought her here, to show her that she could belong, that there was a world that would accept her for who she was, even if she couldn’t. Not yet.
It took her a while to realize that something was missing. It wasn’t exactly quiet, with all the animal sounds.
But the Monkey King’s giggle was gone. He was gone.
By now, all the animals had had their turn arm-wrestling her, and they were rolling around fighting with one another. As she walked through the crowd, a few punched her shoulder. Some rolled back, a feral offer to wrestle, but she shook her head and moved on. Where was the Monkey King?
Once she was away from the crowd, the trees muffled the chaotic growls. Leaves and twigs crunched beneath her feet; the scent of flowers and fresh dew filled her nostrils. An insect buzzed next to her ear, and she waved it away. She made out the ooh-ooh of the Monkey King, and the occasional chuckle. He was hopping around Concao, who sat on her hindquarters, head raised high, like a sophisticated, elegant snow fox. She was so unlike the other demons, her movements soft, flowy, well-mannered, and quiet. She could almost pass for human, except for her thick white fur.
Thom moved toward them, but then stopped when she heard the Monkey King’s next words.
“Where is it? You know, don’t you? But you won’t tell me.”
Thom knew she shouldn’t eavesdrop. In movies, it always ended in disaster, but she couldn’t move. They’d see her if she tried to slip away now.
“I only discovered recently,” Concao said, her voice low and husky. “It’s in the heavens.”
“The heavens?” The Monkey King didn’t look happy, his face blank.
“That’s all I know.”
“Who told you?”
She lifted her head, refusing to answer.
“They’ll keep it in the armory,” the Monkey King said as he punched his right fist into his left palm. “We can break in, get it back.”
“Break into the heavens?” The tip of Concao’s tail flicked. “Wukong. That would be suicide.”
“I can get us in. I’ve done it before.”
“And you can do it again. Alone.”
“Come with me.”
The fox demon’s tail swayed. “Ruin my chances for good?”
“Chances? What chances? You don’t believe they’ll actually make you a fairy, do you?” He laughed, but his laugh was full of meanness, not because he thought what he’d said was funny. “Look at you! You’re a demon. To them, you’ll never be anything else.”
Concao rose to her feet, lips pulled over sharp fangs. “I won’t help you. You can’t trick me into doing it. Not this time.”
The Monkey King oohed softly at her. “Sorry. Sorry, my friend.” He nuzzled her neck and shoulder. Concao closed her eyes, settling into the affectionate embrace. Thom looked away, embarrassed.
“You know I’m useless without my cudgel, Concao,” the Monkey King said. “I need it. And I need your help to take it back.”
Concao’s eyes opened, her jaw tight.
“Please, my friend.”
But Concao was done with the conversation and slipped lithely away from him. She didn’t rejoin the demons but ran off into the forest.
Thom caught the Monkey King’s expression before he went back to the clearing. For just a brief second, she saw him without the mischievousness he kept up when others were around. His face was creased with worry and loss.
But when he saw her, his face immediately brightened. “Come,” he said. And he pulled her onto his back, giggling the whole way to the sanctuary behind the waterfall.
The oasis was just like they’d left it, bathed in sunshine and full of butterflies, the rainbow arching over the babbling stream. Birds sang in the distance.
Shing-Rhe greeted them with tired but happy warmth. He looked even older, his whiskers gray and dark circles under his eyes. He sniffed at the Monkey King and shook his head but didn’t pull away when the Monkey King hugged him.
“You’ve been with the others,” Shing-Rhe said.
“They’re my brothers, too, brother.” The Monkey King cackled.
Thom tried to catch Shing-Rhe alone, but the Monkey King stuck close to his brother’s side, talking with his voice lowered, and stopping and grinning at Thom every time she came close.
“What is it, child?” Shing-Rhe asked. The Monkey King was watching her closely. “You look like you’ve got something on your mind.”
“Do you know why I’m like this?” she asked, tired of waiting for the right moment. “Why I’m so freakishly strong?”
“The gods have bestowed upon you a gift. Like they did with Wukong.”
“But Wukong chose to learn those skills, right?” She turned to the Monkey King. “You left and studied with a master and learned how to do magic.”
The Monkey King
giggled. “Who told you that? Your pet dragon?”
“You did. The night we met. You called them the Seventy-Two Transformations.”
“What else has that dragon told you about me?” The Monkey King hovered close, batting his eyelashes.
“So it’s true, then?” she asked. “He really is a dragon? He’s not lying?”
“All dragons are untrustworthy,” Shing-Rhe said. “They pledge their loyalty to the Jade Emperor.”
“He’s lying about something,” the Monkey King said. “But not about being a dragon.”
Thom bit back a groan. “So what am I then? Why am I like this?” When neither of them answered, she added, “How do I control it?”
“With discipline and practice,” Shing-Rhe said.
“How long will that take? How long did it take you?” Thom asked the Monkey King.
“Centuries.”
“Centuries?” She didn’t have that long! She had another soccer match in a couple days, and it was already getting harder to avoid hurting anyone, not to mention how closely Kathy had been watching her lately. “Isn’t there some way to … like, skip that?”
“You can’t cheat what can only be accomplished with discipline,” the Monkey King said.
“Then can I just get rid of it?” She held out her hands like she could just give her strength away as easily as that.
“We don’t know, child,” Shing-Rhe said.
It wasn’t his fault, but she couldn’t help the frustration that gnawed at her insides, a biting, stinging sensation, followed by the poisonous, numbing effect of isolation. No one else was like this. No one else knew why or how or what it felt like.
The Monkey King put his arm around her shoulders and led her away, bending his head close to hers. “Don’t be sad, Thom-Thom. I know how you feel.”
“No, you don’t,” she snapped, then felt bad for snapping, an apology already forming. But he just nodded silently.
“I may not be exactly like you, but I’m the only one of my kind, too, remember? The only demon-god to ever exist. Belonging to neither the heavens nor the mortal world.”
Her anger melted slowly. He was incredibly strong, too—he was actually stronger than her, despite what Kha had said, and he had a bunch of other powers as well.
“How do you deal with it?” she asked.
“Deal with it? That’s the problem, Thom-Thom. You act as if it’s a curse, but it doesn’t have to be. It’s what makes you special.”
“But I don’t want to be special.”
“You want to be just like everyone else?”
“No, not … exactly. Just normal.”
“Look at my brothers.” The Monkey King pointed at a group of five monkey demons snoozing in the shade. One rolled over right under a small water stream, which shot up his nostrils. He sat upright, blinked, and lay back down, only to roll over and land back under the water stream again. “If I was like everyone else, that would be me.”
Thom loved the monkey brothers, even though they seemed a bit … listless … at times. She wasn’t going to insult them out loud, but the Monkey King had a point.
“I thought you wanted to be a great warrior,” the Monkey King said. “And you can’t be that without your strength.” He patted her on the top of her head. “Here, sit here.” The Monkey King led her to a perfectly round and smooth boulder. “This is the Thinking Stone. It will help you conquer your greatest doubts.”
“How do I use it?” She rubbed the stone, but nothing happened. That knot in her chest was still as tight as ever. “Is it magical?”
“No. Just hug it and meditate.”
“Hug it?”
“Like this.” He plopped belly-down onto the boulder and extended his arms over the side. Feeling awkward, Thom tried not to laugh as she copied him, taking up the other half of the giant rock. “Good. Now stay like that until you achieve clarity.”
“Um, okay.” She wanted to ask where he was going, but he’d bounded back to Shing-Rhe before she could speak up. The rock was warm from the sun, and even though she felt silly, she relaxed against it, resting one cheek on the smooth surface. Her eyes drifted shut.
“What has he promised you?” a hoarse female voice said above her.
Thom jumped, flopping onto her butt, surprised to see Concao the fox demon sitting on top of the boulder. She hadn’t even heard her approach. “Are you allowed here?”
“Why shouldn’t I be?” Her fluffy white tail swayed back and forth, but not in the playful way Mochi’s tail sometimes wagged. Concao’s was like a careful warning to stay back.
“I thought this was the monkeys’ sanctuary.”
Her eyes narrowed. “Then why are you here?”
“I’m the Monkey King’s friend.”
“Are you sure about that?”
Thom didn’t know how to answer.
“Wukong doesn’t believe in favors,” Concao said.
“What do you mean?”
“He protects the monkeys, but in return, he’s declared himself their king. They have to do whatever he says, even if they don’t want to.”
“But Shing-Rhe said they made him their king.”
The fox demon didn’t reply; she just studied Thom with sharp intensity.
“What is it he wants them to do?” Thom asked.
“I’ll tell you if you tell me what bargain you’ve struck with him.”
“But I haven’t struck a bargain.”
There was a long pause, like the fox demon was trying to determine whether she was lying. “You must want something, don’t you? Something he can help you get.” Concao got to her feet silently. “Don’t let him use it against you.”
After she left, Thom looked back at Shing-Rhe. He was laughing at something the Monkey King had said, and their brothers surrounded them, jumping and oohing and wrestling one another. Was Concao just jealous of her friendship with the Monkey King?
Thom couldn’t get it out of her mind: the image of the Monkey King and the fox demon standing so close, looking at each other with focused attention. They had been talking about some cudgel in the heavens.
Then it came to her. That’s what had looked so strange about the Monkey King the first time she saw him. In the stories, he always carries his cudgel, a staff made of iron that can change size. It could grow as tall as one of those skyscrapers in downtown, or small enough to tuck behind his ear when he wasn’t using it to fight.
And it was missing.
21
WHAT WAS THE FOX DEMON to the Monkey King, really? Thom found herself replaying the scene in the forest as she got her gym bag ready for her game the next afternoon. They had seemed closer than friends.
“You’re going to do great.”
She was used to the Monkey King’s voice speaking out of nowhere now, even when he chose not to be visible. A faint outline sat on the edge of her desk. He knew they were playing against Monrovia tomorrow. A different goalie this time, or so Coach had told her. The first one was still benched, her ribs bruised, but at least the brace had come off.
“I’m nervous, but I think I’ll be okay, with all the practicing we’ve been doing.” She zipped her bag.
Things were getting better lately. She’d been practicing her kicks every day, sometimes on her own, sometimes with the Monkey King’s help. She was ready to play—Coach had even put her in a couple games. All in the left center, but still better than sitting on the bench.
The Monkey King appeared, cross-legged on her bed right above where her knees were, but she felt no weight. She studied him. The missing cudgel was glaringly obvious now that she’d noticed. Like Harry Potter without his round glasses or Sherlock Holmes without his plaid hat. Why hadn’t she noticed before?
“How’s your friend?” she asked.
“Which friend?”
“Concao.”
He picked up the ball next to her nightstand and bounced it on his head. “Who?”
Thom sank into her mattress, energy leaving her like air out o
f a balloon. “The fox demon. I don’t think she likes me.”
“Oh. That one. Hmm. Why so curious?”
“Just wondering.”
“Haven’t seen her since,” he said.
“Doesn’t she live on the Mountain?”
“All demons do. The ones that don’t live elsewhere.” He giggled. “It’s the only place they’re not imprisoned, forced into a magic gourd, or exorcised.”
“What’s ‘exorcised’?”
“Like … when a demon possesses a mortal and a monk forces him out.”
“Wait—demons do that?”
“The truly evil ones, yes. Oh, don’t worry,” he added, seeing her face. “None of my friends would even think of it. They know where their place is. On the Mountain. The ones who stay in your mortal world are the ones you need to worry about.”
He tossed the ball high and flipped upside down. It plunked off his bottom and bounced across the room, while he flopped down onto the mattress.
Thom laughed as he flew into the air again. But she couldn’t stop thinking about the missing cudgel. She blurted out, “Wukong, where’s your staff?”
He stopped somersaulting and narrowed his gaze at her. “Why do you ask?”
“I just realized you don’t have it.”
“Did you take it?” His face clenched with fury, making Thom’s blood run cold.
“N-no. Why … would you think that?”
For a moment, she thought he didn’t believe her, crouched like that, like a spring ready to bounce.
And then he broke into gales of laughter, rolling and tumbling toward her. He gripped her shoulders. “Your face!” He wheezed and choked until there was no air left, then wiped his eyes.
She pushed him away.
“Oh, Thom, sweet little Thom, were you scared? Did I scare you?”
“Well.” She didn’t want to admit it, but he had looked ready to attack.
“I would never hurt you.” He surprised her by pulling her into a hug. It was warm and close and furry. “You’re my friend.”
A sense of comfort rolled through her stomach when she heard him say it out loud. “You’re … my friend, too,” she said softly.
He gave her a final pat. “My cudgel is in the heavens. Someone—whoever locked me in the temple—took it, and gave it to the Jade Emperor. Probably for good points.”