Son of The Monkey King

Chapter 33

The group of four sat themselves in an odd square. The younger pair were on the couch facing Lyra and Raymond. The older two found chairs and put them in front of the two. The silence of the room was awkward and tense for everybody. Well almost everybody.

"So what brings you two to Iowa? You locals or are you a couple of ne'er-do-well vagabonds like us?" Raymond asked them. The kids looked at each other before the older boy spoke up.

"Um. The second one?" He inflected like a question. Truth is he has no idea what the man was talking about.

"Alright enough of the bullshit." Lyra said making a pointed look at her companion.

"Hey come on the language." David said gesturing to the girl.

"Really? Bad words is where you draw the line?" Riley asked.

"Yes it is." David said in a scolding tone.

"After all the shit we've done?" The little girl asked.

"What did I just say?" While the younger pair were bickering Raymond noticed his companion's annoyance growing. Slowly the half monkey moved his chair slightly away from the white haired girl.

The bickering young people didn't notice the older girl had stood up. Lyra approached the TV mounted on the wall. Without warning she promptly put her fist through the screen. The sound of glass shattering, and sparks from the wiring shut the two up. Under any other circumstances Lyra would put her fist in someone's face, but they were practically children.

"Now that I have your attention." She said pulling her fist out of the television. "Give me my wallet back, and give Raymond his money back." She said. Her voice was soft, but had a dangerous edge to it.

"I'd do as she says. She's very determined when she wants something." Raymond said.

"Alright fine your wallet's here." David said handing it to Raymond who was closer. With the wallet in his hand he threw it behind him, which the girl caught.

"And his money." There was great reluctance on David's part, but he eventually handed it over. Placing the money in his pocket Raymond thanked the boy.

"Now let this be a lesson to you two. Never steal." The half monkey said.

"You did not just scold them for stealing did you?" The girl asked.

"Anyway. We should probably go." Raymond said. Heading to the door. Lyra didn't follow her friend though.

"Wait a minute." The girl said. She took a seat in the chair she previously vacated. Raymond looked on in curiosity. Her entire demeanor had changed from threatening to concern. "What are you doing here? Where are your parents?" She asked them both.

"Why do you care?" David asked.

"I don't have parents." The young girl answered.

"Riley." David warned.

"Come on David they're not bad people. Besides you did steal from them." The girl told David. The boy was quiet for a moment.
"My mom is back with my abusive prick of a step dad." The older boy answered.

"And how did you two meet?" Lyra pressed on.

"She was homeless when I met her. I couldn't just leave her alone to starve." David explained.

"Where did you two live?" Raymond asked taking his seat next Lyra.

"California." Riley answered.

"Why did you leave?" The older girl asked. David was quiet for moment. Riley grabbed his hand for comfort. Shooting her a small smile he took his hand back.

"My step dad gave me a particularly bad beating one night. I got real angry about the whole thing, and fought back. I had to leave. It was better that way." David explained. The older girl could relate. David could have fought back when ever he wanted, but chose not too. Just like her.

"You're like us. Aren't you?" The small girl asked.

"Yeah we are." The white haired girl answered.

"Who's. Well you know." David said leaving the question implied.

"Sun Wukong." Raymond answered easily enough.

"Who is that?" Riley asked her eyes shining in curiosity.

"He was the Monkey King. Had a huge rebellion against the Chinese gods. Picked a fight with just about all of them. Got sealed under a mount by Buddha, until his fabled journey to the west." Raymond explained.

"I've never heard of him, but he sounds cool." The girl said. The ever talkative Raymond said nothing at that remark. Cool isn't a word he would use to describe his father. The young man still held a lot of resentment towards him.

"What about you two?" Raymond asked deciding to deflect. Lyra noticed his tactic. She couldn't blame him. She had her own daddy issues too.

"My mom is Hel." The small girl said.

Both Raymond and Lyra's eyes went wide at that.

"The Norse goddess of the underworld?" Lyra asked.

"Daughter of Loki?" Raymond added on.

The girl nodded feeling nervous. She hoped she hadn't just scared them off. Death tends to do that to people.

"That's pretty metal kid." Lyra said. She could tell the girl was uneasy by her parentage, and wanted to be supportive.

"Really?" She asked.

"Absolutely." Lyra said with a grin, and soft electric eyes. "What about you?" Lyra looked to David.

"Mercury. He visits every now, and then with advice." David said. Both Lyra and Raymond felt a pang at that. A parent that actually visited was unheard of to them.

"What about you Lyra?" The small girl asked. Raymond was on the edge of his seat. He had wanted to know too, but never got an answer.

Before the white haired girl could answer the wall exploded. Glass, and rubble were everywhere. The cause was a giant black wolf. It's red eyes examined the room to see nobody inside. As soon as the wall burst David moved everybody outside to safety.

"Nice job kid." Raymond said. The Wolf turned it's head having found it's prey.

"I grow tired of your running boy. You can't keep running away from her destiny." The giant wolf spoke.

"I disagree did you see how fast he ran? I mean jeez I thought I moved quick." Raymond said. The wolf looked to the half monkey having just noticed his existence.

"And who are you supposed to be?" It asked Raymond. He had a lazy smirk on his face.

"Oh I beg your pardon my card." He said before punching the wolf in it's muzzle. Not expecting a punch that hard it recoiled in pain taking a step back. "And here's my associates card." The wolf heard Raymond say. Looking back in their general location it saw a sedan flying right towards it. The car crashed directly in it's face causing it to howl in pain. Both David and Riley watched on in shock and awe at their new friends. The Wolf recovered from the onslaught and regarded the two briefly. It's face was almost serene, hiding the volcano of rage behind the expression.

"The two of you are playing a game you have no part in. You can leave now, or I'll be forced to destroy." The Wolf said in a deceptively calm voice.

"Bring it on. You ready Lyra?" Raymond asked.

"Oh yeah." The girl responded. This thing wasn't going to harm a hair on those kid's head. Not while they were here.