I Promise (Shadowpeach)

Part 8

"Boo!" Wukong jumped out from behind Macaque, trying to startle him, but it didn't seem to work. Macaque looked up from his book, turned around, and saw Wukong's disappointed face at failing to scare him. Macaque let out a faint smile, closed the book, and said, "I heard you, you idiot." As he struck Wukong's head with the book in his hand, he winced, "Ouch." Wukong let out a sigh and said, "I surrender to the Six-Eared Macaque, I seriously can never scare you," before hopping over to Macaque's side. Macaque then went back to reading his book again now with the company of the Monkey King by his side.

The warrior then felt the eyes of the king on him. "Are you done staring?" Macaque asked, flipping a page. The King remained silent, lost in his own thoughts as he was enraptured by the beauty of Macaque's six ears. He couldn't help but be captivated by them. His fascination remained strong despite the numerous times he had observed them before. He was jolted out of his own little world when Macaque hit him again with the book. "Are you finished staring now?" Macaque asked again. "No," Wukong replied, turning to look at the dark simian. Macaque was surprised by the quick and unexpected answer. "You're beautiful, Macaque. I would be blind if I ever stopped looking at you," Wukong said with a wide smile, unashamedly expressing his admiration. Macaque swiftly averted his gaze, feeling his face grow warm and reflexively slapping his cheek out of sight from Wukong to regain composure. Suddenly, he felt a frigid chain of metal encircled him, the chain became increasingly tense as time elapsed, accompanied by Macaque cries.

"Mango?"

—

The macaque's eyes opened swiftly. relieved that it was only a dream. However, his relief was short-lived when he realized that he was surrounded by darkness. He then reflected on his decision to leave his dojo just to visit some monkeys, and wondered whether he had been kidnapped after being exposed to a strange liquid by those demons. After pondering about his whereabouts, Macaque felt a sudden sharp pain in his forehead. As he reached for it, he was abruptly stopped by a force that wrapped around his wrist. He looked down and saw the same frigid metal chain encircling it. It is unclear why he only realized this now, but the pain in his head was now the least of his worries as he attempted to use his power to break free from the chains, yet remained trapped. Exhausted and in pain, he eventually collapsed to the ground. A sudden, pleasant voice echoed throughout the room, "Ah~ Greeting, Six-Eared Macaque, how was your sleep?" Macaque lifted his gaze and met eyes with a figure resembling his own appearance.

Macaque was momentarily stunned, but quickly regained composure and spoke,

"Is my attractiveness so overwhelming that you feel compelled to chain me and steal my appearance?" Macaque asked, his tone oozing with confidence and arrogance - not the response the copycat had anticipated from someone who had woken up restrained and was confronted with someone who looked like them.

"You're not even going to ask who I am?" The copycat attempted to interject, but was promptly interrupted by Macaque.

Macaque was firm in his response, "No," he said with an expression of pride on his face. However, he was just putting on a facade to conceal vulnerability underneath.

The demon glared at Macaque, who was displaying an overly confident attitude, which was somewhat irritating. The demon raised his hand and snapped his fingers, causing the chain to tighten around Macaque's wrist and stretch his arms out further, making him yelp.

"You ought not to speak," the demon said with a sly smile. "After all, who would want to be someone that was cast aside because they were deemed 'useless'?" Macaque tried to protest, but the demon lowered himself to his level and firmly grasped his chin. "If my memory serves me right, a monk took your place in that king's heart. You might be a great warrior once who fought by the king's side, but now you are nothing but a shadow of your former self." Macaque was completely taken aback by the demon's words. He felt anger and frustration bubbling inside him, but he was unable to express himself. Try as he might to deny the demon's words, deep down he knew they were true, and this realization only served to compound his distress.