Son of The Monkey King

Chapter 49

"How are you holding up?" Lyra asked her friend. "And don't lie to me." She added. Raymond couldn't help the eye roll.

"I'm fine.You don't have to worry about me." The half monkey.

"Yes I do, because we both know you're lying." She said with her hands on her hips.

The two were currently at a truck stop restaurant. They were only a few states away from Michigan, so they decided to take a break to refuel the bike and their bellies. They sat down at the booth while Raymond responded.

"And I appreciate you for it. I really do, but hopefully it'll all be good by time we get there." Raymond told her.

"Yeah hopefully." She said though they both knew his arm wouldn't, and couldn't heal from a burn inflicted by an unstoppable Chinese deity. At least not the natural way. "You're taking it easy at least until we get there." She added pointing a finger at her friend.

"Fine fine I promise no unnecessary fights until it's time." The Half Monkey promised. This time she actually believed what he said. The two sat in silence as they waited for their food. It wasn't long until Lyra spoke up.

"Can i ask you a question?" she asked. A small grin formed on Raymond's face.

"You just did." was his cheeky response. Lyra's electric blue eyes shot him a glare. That was all it took to sober him up. "Alright fine, fine. what's up?" The half monkey responded.

"Have you ever." She trailed off almost nervously. Raymond was a little surprised by her change in demeanor. Outside of her Agoraphobia she usually held herself together pretty well.

"C'mon you've come this far." He told her.

"Shut up." she said back. Before Lyra could attempt the question again they were briefly interrupted by the waitress

"Alright two Steaks medium well, one with asparagus, and one with a baked potato. Is there anything else i can gey you two?" The aging woman asked.

"No we're alright." Raymond said. Neither touched their food. Raymond was waiting on Lyra to finish her question.

"I wanted to ask about your dad." she finally managed out.

Raymond was thrown off by the line of questioning. He tried reeling in his anger at the mention of his parentage, but couldn't help the small outburst.

"He's not my dad!" the half monkey said with a scoff, but immediately regretted. With a deep sigh the man said. "I'm sorry.".

"No I totally get it. Mine wasn't exactly father of the year ether." She said.

Raymond had briefly forgotten his own friend's absent father. The stories of the gods were vast and great. Always about heroism, stregnth and valor. However most of the tales were of spite, and backstabbing. The gods managed to gain worshippers from all areas of the earth, but Ray and Lyra knew the truth. Most of them were real shitty parents.

"What did you want to ask?" Raymond prompted. Lyra had that shy look on her face again.

"I was just curious. You often correct people, and even me." Lyra paused for a second before she managed to get the words out. "That you're a half monkey." Lyra said. After her statement she began to nervously eat her food. It was her attempt to stop her mouth from saying anymore words.

"Wait. What exactly are you getting at?" said half monkey countered. The young man was completely clueless.

"I mean you have a tail that got you from him obviously." She spoke. " So how did he meet your mom?" Lyra asked as a way to deflect the previous line of questioning. Raymond had started eating, but dropped his fork once he realised where she was going with the questions.

"Lyra!" he yelled indignantly. The resturaunt went quiet at his shout, and a few patrons shot their table dirty looks. The auburn haired girl covered her face in complete embarassment, both from the stares, and having been found out.

"In case you were wondering my mom didn't meet 'him' at a zoo." Raymond said. He refused to refer to Wukong as his father.

"Ray I didn't think that for a second. Just forget I said anything." Lyra said in an attempt to cease her embarrassment.

"Lyra relax. I know you don't think that. I'm messing with you." He said with an easy smile. Lyra gave him a swift kick in the shin for the previous embarassment.

"Ow! Okay we really need to talk about this whole hitting me thing." The half monkey groaned holding his knee.

"I only hit you when you deserve it." Lyra said fixing her electric eyes into a glare.

"Well then I guess I won't tell you then." Raymond said going to eat the rest of his steak.

"Fine don't tell me." Lyra said with a shrug finishing her own food.

"Alright I'll tell you." The half monkey said pushing his now empty plate away. Leaning back in the booth Raymond propped one of his legs up.

"I knew you would anyway. You're an "open book" as you once told me." she said with a grin.

"Hush you're face." Raymond told her. Taking a sip of his drink. He began to tell the story.

"My mom was an avid hiker. She loved nature. She would go out to different places so she could take pictures of different landscapes, city skylines, and animals if they were cooperative." Raymond said the last part with a chuckle. "She liked to draw the pictures she took when she got home. My mom was seriously talented too. She could paint, sketch, you name it." The look of admiration that Raymond had while talking about his mother wasn't lost on Lyra's electric blue eyes. "Anyway that's how they met. She was wandering the trail when she saw him. He shapeshifted into a human to blend in. Mom said he was overlooking the woods and meditating." Raymond said. His voice took on a bitter edge at the last part. "She said that she went over to take a picture where he was sitting. As soon as she turned around she was met face to face with him, claimed she almost jumped out of her shoes." The young man said.

"Well that's a meet cute if I've ever heard one." Lyra said with a small smile.

"A what?" Raymond asked?

"Nevermind, continue." she prompted.

"Anyway. After that they were pretty much inseperable. They were in love, and eventually my mom got pregnant, and just like most deities he bailed as soon as he found." He said his face contorted into a scowl.

"Did you're mom ever see him out of his disguise?" Lyra questioned. Her friend nodded in confirmation while slurping down the last of his drink.

"Yeah when he left. She said he was more or less the same just fuzzier." Raymond amswered. "The whole thing just pisses me off. My mom loved him til the end, but if he stuck around than she would still be alive." The half monkeys said clear resentment and anger towards the god.

"Yeah. I know all about that. I come from a long line of familicide." Lyra said empathetically.

"Have you ever met you're..... You know?" The half monkey refused to use the word father.

"No, and i have zero desire to. That side is known for killing and backstabbing each other. So full of spite and a lust for blood." She spoke. "I'd rather stay alive than die from sick twisted death concocted from my relatives." She told him.

"Man. Dad's suck don't they." Raymond stated more than asked.

"Yup they sure do." Lyra responded.
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AN: I don't normally like putting these up, but i guess you deserve a note. I apologize for the lack of updates. Life got real hard, but never fear I'm back. I plan to update more and finish this soon. I just bought a laptop so no more phone writing like I've done before so i'm super happy about that. I also got a job so if i disappear which i don't plan too you'll know why. Thank you for your patience and enjoy.