I hovered on Lonely Moon, next to the bubble that separated heaven from the rest of the world.
It shimmered in my chi vision, a ball packed tight with active chi, thinly separated from the bluer inactive chi ambling about outside.
No one paid me any attention when I avoided the entrances and flew above the bubble.
A mistake on their part, they should guard the entirety of the bubble to keep someone from doing what I was about to do.
Okay, this should work.
In theory.
I pulled a small needle from my necklace.
Just a simple needle, iron.
I used it to make repairs on my clothes.
I reached out with my chi, holding it.
I carefully balanced it to float in front of me.
I looked back down at heaven.
I’d only get one shot at this.
But I couldn’t back down.
I couldn’t lose Wukong.
Not after getting him back.
I just couldn’t.
I’ve already lost the rest of my family, and I wouldn’t give up while there was hope.
And if I died, at least I’ll be reunited with the rest of my family on Lunus.
I tightened my focus.
And began pouring chi into the needle.
I summoned treasures and talismans from my necklace and ripped the chi out of them.
I poured every last drop of chi into the needle.
More.
I needed more.
I summoned chi gathering formations from my necklace and they gathered all the chi in a sphere a few li around me.
I still needed more.
I drew on my own chi reserves.
I poured everything but the lowest amount of chi I’d need to defend myself.
I had nothing left.
I just had to pray the tiny needle that hurt to look at with my chi vision was enough.
I tasted blood in my mouth.
My nose was bleeding.
I summoned one defense talisman I left in reserve and activated it.
I took a deep breath.
And hurled the needle into the bubble.
It pierced the bubble, sliding about hallway in.
The chi differential between the needle, the bubble, and the outside rippled.
Then the needle blew back as all the chi from inside the barrier rushed to get out.
I braced myself as the initial current blasted into, and my defense talisman could barely keep up.
But a moment later, it lessened, the tear in the bubble widening from the current, until the bubble lost integrity, bursting in an expanding circle over its surface.
It all took less than two seconds, and once the current had eased, my defense talisman was spent.
I ripped it off and carelessly tossed it away as I began flying as quickly as I could to the public execution grounds.
Below me, people were laying on the street, knocked out.
The sudden chi pressure drop was too much for them to take, and they got knocked out.
But it wouldn’t last forever, I only had a few minutes at most before their bodies adjusted to the lower chi count.
I reached the execution ground.
Various instruments of death and torture were scattered around a Demon-Subduing Pillar where Wukong was chained with thick heavy ropes laden with chi.
All around the plaza, immortals’ bodies littered a floor, including in a fanciful palanquin.
I flew right to Wukong, he had also been knocked out by the drop in chi pressure.
I hopped off of Lonely Moon and began using my sword to try and carve through the ropes.
Shit!
They had a lot of chi.
Fuck!
I didn’t have enough chi left to get through them.
I kept trying.
I had to keep trying.
“Ugh.” Wukong was waking up.
He blinked at me.
“Yue?” I didn’t speak.
I kept trying to saw through the ropes.
“Yue, what are you doing here?
You need to run!” “No, I can get this.
I know I can.” “Yue, they can’t kill me!
They’ve tried, and they can’t figure out how!
But you can die!” “I’m not leaving you here.
We’re going home together.” Tears began blotting my vision.
This fucking rope!
“Yue, I’ll be fine, but if you stay, they’ll kill you, and that’s the one thing that will kill me!
You need to run!” Wukong struggled against the ropes, but it was a fruitless endeavor.
The soldiers and people around the execution platform began stirring.
“Gods damn it Yue!
You should leave me!
I’ve never gave you anything but trouble anyway!
Just go back to Flower-Fruit Mountain and enjoy life!
Forget about me!” It was too late.
I flashed my sword back into my necklace and made it invisible.
I reached up and grabbed Wukong’s face, stilling him.
I closed my eyes and kissed Wukong.
Fiercely.
It only took a moment or two, but I put everything I had into it.
I only pulled back when I heard soldiers running up onto the platform, and I gave Wukong my ultimatum.
“I’m not leaving you!
And you’re not allowed to leave me either!
You promised to never leave me alone again!
We’re in this together.” Wukong’s eyes shimmered, even as the soldiers cried and grabbed me.
Soon, I was tied up too.
Evening Star groaned and rubbed his forehead as he also walked up onto the platform.
The aftereffects of the massive chi migration I caused had clearly rattled everyone.
He turned to the man next to him, who was still catching his breath.
He was a porty human, with long black hair tied back, dressed entirely in yellow silk, with an interesting hat that had beads dripping down the front to obscure his face.
“Your Majesty, are you alright?” Was this the Jade Emperor?
I activated my chi sight.
Hm.
There was something different about him.
It took a few minutes before I figured out what.
He was creating chi.
Well, all living creatures naturally created chi, but not at the rate this man was.
He was constantly pumping out chi into the environment at an incredible rate.
I think I was looking at the reason for heaven’s high chi.
The emperor looked around, and then at me with a furious expression.
“Did you do this?!” He took a step forward.
“Hundreds of thousands of years of work, all gone!
Do you have any idea what you’ve done?” I bared my teeth at him.
I really didn’t care what I just did, but if I pissed him off, I’d do it again.
“Death!
For both of them!” He swept his hand out, his voice booming through the execution grounds.
Evening Star intervened.
“It shall be done sir, but perhaps we should address the people first.
I’m sure we all want to know what just happened.” Th Emperor nodded and began issuing orders.
It seemed my little bubble burst would cause quite a few problems.
For now, the soldiers tied me up to another pillar.
I stared out over the confused immortals.
I wonder if they could tell they were aging again.
A few still found it hard to breathe.
It took a few hours until order was restored throughout heaven and the emperor and Evening Star returned, this time with a new man in tow.
He was bald on top of his head, but long grey fur flopped around the back of his head.
It looked nauseating.
He nodded at us.
“I assure you sir, this plan shall work.
And I’ll get my pills back as well.” The emperor nodded and turned around.
“Bring it in!” Several immortals carried a large kind of metal pot with a symbol on it.
They built a fire under it at the bald immortal’s direction, and the pot began smoking.
What were they doing?
The immortal nodded.
“Alright, throw them in!” My eyes widened in shock.
They were going to cook us?
Alive?
I’d underestimated their cruelty.
“Wait!” Wukong cried out.
“Leave my wife out of this she only came to rescue me!” His cries went unheeded as the soldiers untied us from the pillars and brought us to the pot.
They tossed Wukong in first, and he screeched in fury.
“If you throw her in here, I will kill all of you once I get out!
I swear it!” His cries echoed as they tossed me into the dark pot.
Ouch.
I fell on top of Wukong.
I looked up as they slowly put the lid on, the sky and all light disappearing.
I squirmed off of Wukong.
He stayed silent.
I couldn’t see him in the dark.
“Wukong?” He sniffled.
Oh.
He was crying.
“I’m sorry Yue.
You were right.
Just one mistake and they had me.
And now you’re going to die here, and I can’t do anything to help.” I mean, the floor was hot, and the temperature was getting uncomfortable.
But I wasn’t out of tricks yet.
“Wukong, now who doesn’t have any faith?
I won’t die that easily.” He sniffed.
“But you don’t have any treasures on you.
And I know you’re weak.” “I’m low on chi, yes, but who said I was out of treasures?” I activated my necklace into emergency mode.
It took over my chi functions, regulating my temperature, purifying the air I breathed, and eliminated my need for food and water.
It also activated a beacon that would tell my father and sister where I was, but that function was useless now.
The only person I had left was in here with me.
“I activated my necklace.
I’ll be just fine.
What about you?
We can try and share my necklace.” It would reduce its functionality, but I think it was doable.
“No, you keep it.
As long as you’re okay, I can deal with it.
Just stay with me.” It was getting hotter.
The ropes tying me up were beginning to burn.
The smoke rose into the air.
I fidgeted until they snapped.
I blundered through the dark towards Wukong.
I found him.
I wrapped him in a hug from behind him.
His ropes were burning off too.
He was shaking.
“You should have left me to die.
Now we’ll share the same fate.” “We’ll be okay Wukong.
I don’t know how, but we will.” “I’m a terrible husband.
All I’ve ever done is hurt you.” “You saved me from the in-between.
I wasn’t living before I met you.
I died with my world.
But you brought me back to life.” “Then I left you, abandoned you for ten years.
You should have rejected me then.” “But I didn’t.
I decided to love you again.
And you promised to never leave me alone.” “I’m sorry Yue.
I was too arrogant.
You were right.
All it took was one mistake.
I routed my own army by transforming, and then I got too caught up in myself to notice the trap springing up around me.
You should have left me to my fate.
At least then you wouldn’t have to share it.” “We’ll always share our fate.
We’re married after all.
Please, don’t do this Wukong.
We might fight sometimes, but I still love you.
I’d never leave you to die alone.” He sniffed then turned around and hugged me.
“Thanks for caring about an idiot like me Yue.
Once we get out, I swear I’ll kill everyone who decided to throw you in here with me.
You don’t deserve this.” He coughed.
“Save your strength.
Let’s just focus on getting through this together.” “It’s just smoke.
I’ll be fine.
I love you Yue.
You need to survive too.
Then I’ll save you.
Just please don’t die.
That’s the one thing I wouldn’t be able to take.” He coughed again.
“Shhhh.
Of course I’ll survive.
I’m doing better than you!
Just stay quiet and endure.” We both fell silent just held each other in the dark as it got hotter and hotter.
Even my necklace had trouble keeping up, but I survived.
Wukong had it worse than me.
He kept sniffling and crying, unable to keep his eyes from watering because of the smoke.
At least he stopped coughing.
It took a long time.
A very long time.
But the heat began to drop.
As the heat dropped, Wukong began to tense and look up.
So did I.
Finally, a crack of light.
Wukong picked me up, and jumped out, slamming the lid out of the way.
It caused an immortal to fall, the same one who threw us into the pot to begin with.
There weren’t as many immortals now, just a few soldiers.
Wukong leapt to the ground and summoned Nimbus.
He set me on it.
“Yue, are you okay?
Did you get burned?” He looked me over, and I gasped.
“What!?
Where are you hurt?!
Talk to me Yue!” “Wukong, your eyes…” I reached out and held his face still.
His beautiful chocolate eyes.
They were gone.
Instead, his eyes were a deep red and his pupils were slitted and gold.
His poor eyes.
Did the smoke do this to them?
He closed his eyes and brushed my hands away.
“I’m fine Yue.
Are you okay?” “I-I’m fine.” Better now that we were back out.
I didn’t have much chi left, but I’d survive.
Now that the chi was no longer smoke, I could absorb it more easily.
I breathed in and out slowly, absorbing all the chi I could.
“Guards!
Surround them!” The immortal shouted.
Wukongs face turned dark.
“Stay here Yue.” “Wukong—” “I have a vow to fulfill.
Turn invisible.” He was pulling away, and I tried to hold on to him, tighter.
“Wukong no, let’s just leave.” He shook his head, taking my hands off of him.
“I’m ending this here and now.
I won’t let you be in danger again.
Turn invisible.” I never heard him be so serious before.
I swallowed and activated my invisibility.
It overtook Nimbus, and Wukong floated it up into the air.
And pulled out his staff.
Destruction.
That was the only word that came to mind as I watched Wukong rip the soldiers to shreds.
He turned to the immortal, who was fleeing and chased after him.
He was intercepted by more soldiers.
The battle raged on.
As more people showed up, the fiercer Wukong fought.
I’ve never seen anything like it.
It was terrifying.
This was Wukong?
It couldn’t be.
My husband was sweet and mischievous.
He wasn’t a monster that tore into anything and everything around him.
The skies grew dark, and storm clouds gathered all around us.
More immortals appeared among the lightning.
They all engaged him at once.
Even then he couldn’t be pacified.
Wukong was really going to do it.
He was going to kill everyone in heaven.
He steadily fought his way to the Jade Palace and ripped down the gates.
He charged in, flattening the army that poured from the palace.
“Wukong, no…” This wasn’t war.
This was a massacre.
It was horrific, the air filled with lightning, the smell of blood, and the screams of the dying.
I summoned my sword and jumped off of Nimbus.
I flew towards him, staying invisible, praying my Wukong was still in there somewhere.
That I could still get through to him.
I had to stop this.
Whatever heaven has done, no one deserved to be ruthlessly slaughtered like this.
The wind battered me as I drew closer.
I squinted against the sleet and rain as lightning lashed all around me.
It obscured regular sight, I was barely able to see at all.
Where was Wukong?
I needed to find him.
I needed to stop him.
A fierce gust of wind from my right unbalanced, me and I dropped my invisibility as I screamed, falling off of Lonely Moon.
I barely managed to pull it into my necklace before I lost my connection.
The breath was knocked out of me as I landed on something.
An island cloud, a bouncy one.
It cushioned my fall so I wasn’t injured, but as I pushed up everything was still chaos.
A lightning strike!
I screamed as it seemed like it was right next to me, booming in my ear.
For a single moment, I genuinely thought I was about to die.
“Wukong!” I cried out, my voice lost in the storm.
“Wukong help me!
I need you!” I activated my chi sight, but it was no use.
This storm was chi-empowered.
The world just swirled in endless yellows around me.
“Wukong!” He couldn’t hear me.
No one could hear me.
There was only chaos.
Then I heard the gentle sound of a bell.