[Journey to the West] Liu Er, You're Really Not a Substitute

Five hundred years ago, Zixia had a crush on the Great Sage Equal to Heaven, the one who caused Havoc in Heaven.

He was handsome and witty, stood up for her, and picked peaches from the Queen Mother's orchard for her to eat when she had a high fever. Unfortunately, she was interested, but the Great Sage wasn't. The stone monkey's heart was as immovable as a rock in a storm. How could he ever learn to love?

She knew he had no such feelings, so she kept their relationship at friendship. When he was trapped beneath Five Elements Mountain, she would visit whenever she had a break from spreading her purple mists. When he went on the Journey to the West to fetch the scriptures, she happened to be vacationing in the mortal realm, and once joined him in vanquishing demons. Sometimes he went to the Celestial Court to fetch "reinforcements from the monkeys," and he never forgot to put in a good word for her before the Queen Mother, saying she had helped the holy monk on his pilgrimage.

As the long years passed, her youthful crush faded into friendship.

Then one day, she met a young demon who looked remarkably like the Great Sage. He looked only a few years younger.

The demon was exceptionally gifted, aggressive, and cruel. As soon as he entered the mortal world, he challenged more than a dozen adepts and celestial lords. They called them challenges, but they were really beatings. Unable to stand by and watch, she drew her Ziyun Sword and gave the little monkey a thorough thrashing.

To her surprise, he followed her from then on, insisting that they fight again for seven days and seven nights.

She had no choice but to say, "Do you know anything about civilization or manners? All you ever think about is fighting!"

The little demon said, "I don't know. I was born of Heaven and Earth, and no one ever taught me."

She said, "Fine, you win. I'll teach you and set you straight, so you don't go around causing trouble!"

It turned out that even a heart born in the wilderness could learn to love.

He studied etiquette and learned how to deal with people, becoming a gentleman, all to win the occasional smile from her.

But falling in love with someone who looked exactly like your first love was a little strange. Besides, he was much younger than her, practically a child in her eyes. She laughed off his advances, thinking he was inexperienced and had mistaken dependence for love because he had followed her on her travels.

Until one day, he asked her with a dark expression, "Are you nice to me because I look like Sun Wukong? And you won't accept me because I'm not Sun Wukong after all, is that it?"

On the day he went out to buy her a hairpin as a secret gift, he met someone who looked exactly like him: Sun Wukong.

Zixia and Liu Er, a goddess and a demon monkey.

In this story, both monkeys usually have 80% human faces and 20% fluffy fur, inspired by the TVB version of Journey to the West.

Zixia once liked Wukong, but only in flashbacks. In the present timeline, the two are purely friends.

Liu Er is a complete madman. Being around Zixia has made him only slightly more well-behaved. He's been watching humans and learning to act coy and manipulative, but deep down, he's still a madman...

Zixia in this story is extremely powerful. She's a goddess and a warrior goddess.

Theme: Healthy relationships