“Can you just tell me what’s going on.” I sighed, not knowing if this was supposed to be some type of twisted joke.

The monkey barked out a laugh as he abruptly stood up from his sofa.

“Come, pup that flies! It has all been written.” he exclaimed, once again trudging through piles of gold as he made his way towards the side of the chamber.

I floated after the hulking monkey, ready to finally get some answers.

The white monkey stopped before the stone wall of the pyramid, and he made a subtle motion towards it.

The wall was illuminated by the sparkling light of nearby crystals, so I was able to see it clearly.

I noticed that the wall held a number of drawings etched onto it. These drawings seemed to be quite elaborate depictions of different monkeys fighting. Looking closer, I saw that many of the drawings were actually showing a tiny figure fighting the monkeys!

The monkey’s deep voice boomed off to my side, “It is as the Banana Goddess told it. One day the flying pup will come to the Simian Kingdom to make the great tree bring fruit again!”

The drawings on the wall seemed to tell a story. After the tiny figure defeats the monkeys, the next drawing shows it floating above a pyramid. Below the pyramid a wave of monkeys prostrated towards the pyramid, worshipping the floating figure.

I even spotted a small sphere floating next to the figure.

Another drawing depicted the flying figure in front of a massive tree, and dozens of monkeys sat below it with their hands in the air.

The events that had just transpired and what I was seeing etched onto the walls were uncannily similar, but I figured there had to have been some kind of mistake.

“Yea, I have to admit that all looks pretty crazy. I’m sorry to tell you though, I’m definitely not this flying pup you’re looking for.” I said to the monkey.

The monkey was unconvinced though, and it stared at me in anger.

“You speak false truths! You are the flying pup! The Banana Goddess said that white monkey with no fur and no tails will save the Simians!” he exclaimed.

I felt another headache coming on, and I groaned as I rubbed my head.

The monkey continued, his rough voice solemn, “The flying pup has nine tails that eyes can't see. He will use tails to show Simians his strength. We been waiting for you for one hundred and one hundred harvests.”

I wanted to know who this Banana Goddess was, for I had never read anything that mentioned them. Whoever was behind these drawings were clearly spreading misinformation and making my life harder.

“I don’t know what to tell you. Look, I’m not even a monkey!” I said, making gestures towards my body.

The white monkey was growing frustrated now, and he growled as he turned to head back to his mountain of treasure. He stopped before it and reached down to grab a silvery object from its surface.

I realized that the monkey was now holding a small mirror. He promptly tossed the mirror at me, and I caught it with my aether before it was able to smash into the ground.

If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

“Look! You are flying pup.” The monkey said while nodding his head, utterly convinced that he was right.

I shook my head in annoyance as I brought the mirror in front of me.

When I looked into it, the reflection that looked back surprised me.

I first noticed that my pure, white hair had now grown to just above my ears. What was more interesting though, were my eyes. My eyes shone in the mirror with a shining blue light, and my irises sparkled as I blinked.

“Woah! Since when did my eyes look like that?” I wondered, for they were now an entirely different color than they were when I was born.

I had previously looked in a mirror once when I was still with my mother, so I knew that my eyes were supposed to be green!

However, they now shone with a strange blue light. In this world, blue eyes would commonly be found on beings that had absorbed raw celestial energy during their development.

I imagined that being raised on Picea’s essence for the past year was likely the cause of this, for it was essentially celestial energy in its purest form. When I looked in the mirror, I realized that my bright blue eyes and white hair did make me look remarkably similar to the monkeys.

As the six-tailed monkey looked at me expectantly, I came to the realization that this might actually work out in my favor.

Having a literal army of monkeys believe you were some religious figurehead had undeniable benefits. If I could count on them to not eat me, maybe I could convince them to lead me out of this magical forest.

I suddenly let out a laugh, “Ah! It seems you have found me! I was just testing you earlier.” I said, lying through my teeth.

My weak lie had evidently convinced the monkey though, and it bore a sharp-toothed smile as it approached me.

“Yes, yes! You are the flying pup! Now bring back bananas to tree!” the monkey demanded.

I didn’t know what all of this banana mess was about, but I didn’t want to appear too ignorant.

“Of course, but first tell me what you know about the... Banana.. Goddess.” I responded.

The monkey nodded its head, eager to tell me more.

“The Banana Goddess planted the great tree for Simians. The great tree gave us bananas that are good for monkeys. Strong monkeys fight for bananas to get big strength and more trails.” he explained, clearly leaving out a lot of important information.

The monkey continued, “One hundred and one hundred harvests ago the great tree become sad. Great tree then stop making bananas for Simians.” he finished.

I eventually connected the dots from this new information and what the monkey was telling me earlier. This monkey obviously couldn’t count past a hundred, but clearly a long time ago something must have happened to their ‘great tree’.

This monkey apparently expected me to bring back the fruit to this tree, but I had no idea what that even entailed.

Nonetheless, I resolved to keep up my appearances as a blessed monkey baby.

“Don’t worry, big monkey. I’ll bring back the bananas for you.” I said, not knowing what else to say.

When the monkey heard this he looked like he wanted to cry from joy, and he hooted in excitement as he jumped up and down. His actions caused gold coins to fly around the chamber, but he paid the treasure no mind as he bent over to dig through a seemingly random mound of gold.

I watched with interest as the monkey dragged what looked to be a large horn out of the pile. This horn had a bone-white appearance, and the monkey grasped it in his hand as he held it up to his face.

The monkey promptly blew on the horn, creating a deafening boom that made my ears quake.

The headphones I was wearing seemed to lessen the traumatic sound, but it nonetheless made my head spin. This hulking monkey seemed unaffected though, and he merely tossed it back into a random pile of gold and went back onto his sofa.

I rubbed my temples in consternation, floating over towards the red sofa. I had spotted my sword laying off to the side, and I wanted it back.

“Hey, Mr. Monkey. Can you give me my sword back now?” I asked, trying to appear friendly.

Unfortunately, the monkey looked confused, and he tilted his large head at me.

“You want sword back? We made trade.” He said, making a gesture towards his ears.

‘Is he talking about these headphones? How is that a fair trade!’ I remarked inwardly, groaning in annoyance.

Truthfully, I didn’t want to deal with this at the moment. My brain now felt like it was trembling within my own skull. If I didn’t lay down soon, I feared that I would pass out.

“Where can I rest at? I need to sleep.” I said, changing the subject.

The monkey simply waved his hand, “Bed is everywhere.”

I sighed, not knowing what I should have expected. This mountain of gold didn’t seem comfortable even to my exhausted eyes, so I decided to rest somewhere in the corner of the chamber.

I found a suitable spot after a moment and settled down on the cold, stone floor. A stray celestial crystal sat next to me, and its light shined off of my small form as I drifted to sleep.

image [https://static.vecteezy.com/system/resources/thumbnails/027/187/944/small/gold-and-luxury-under-line-png.png]

I awoke to the sight of a giant monkey’s face in front of my own.

The six-tailed monkey had his meaty paws on my arms and was shaking me awake like a salt-shaker.

“Wake up! Wake up!” the monkey said between shakes.

“What the hell!” I shouted, overwhelmed.

I instinctively sent a wave of my aether out, and it collided with the towering monkey’s form.

The monkey dropped me as he was sent flying a dozen meters across the chamber. He slid across the stone floor and only stopped when he had collided with his mountain of treasure.

Coins and trinkets scattered in every direction as gold flew across the room from the monkey’s impact.

‘Shit! Did I kill him?’ I wondered, floating up in the air as I gingerly approached the piles of gold.

Luckily, the monkey looked entirely unphased. He flipped up from the treasure with a surprising nimbleness, turning to face me with a toothy grin.

“Don’t do that! I was sleeping!” I yelled, confused why he woke me up so violently.

The monkey scratched its head in confusion, “You sleep strong, little monkey. I wake you up.” it said as if it was obvious.

I sighed, starting to get used to the way this monkey’s brain operated. I then watched the monkey trudge out of the gold pile, heading towards the chamber’s exit.

“Come! We hunt now.” he said, his deep voice booming off of the stone’s walls.