The next few days passed by in a whirl. Sun forbade me from going out yet, saying that word of mouth still needed to be spread about me. He went out often, saying he was bragging about me to all his friends and acquaintances.

I’d be able to go out after he introduced me to his brotherhood, the meeting of which was tonight.

I went through what clothes I had. It wasn’t much. I refused to even think about touching half of my wardrobe. It only reminded me of my sister.

I would really prefer a new outfit, but that wasn’t going to happen. Apparently my “husband” stole all his clothes from either dragons or humans.

Eventually, I settled on a dress that was nice, but not too nice. Sun said they kept things casual. I used my chi to slip into it, and tie the bow at the back.

Sun said I didn’t even have to act like I liked him. He was just openly admitting he kidnapped me. All I had to do was tolerate sitting next to him for a few hours, and then I can start looking for anchor points.

As futile a task that was. In order feel an anchor point, I’d have to be less than a li from it. Plus, it takes time to feel out the flows of chi to see if it formed a snarl necessary for an anchor point.

I’d have to slowly fly over the land and comb through each and every crevice to try and find one. Even then they were so exceedingly rare, I’d be lucky to find one in the next ten thousand years, if there was even another one on this world at all.

Maybe I should have a plan B.

Knocking at my door. “You ready princess?”

Sun Wukong, and his charming nickname for me. “I’ll be out in a second!”

I gave myself one last once over in the mirror. Accessories, check, fur, straight and shiny, and my dress was wrinkle-free and not malfunctioning.

I took a deep breath. I was as ready as I would ever be.

I threw open the door, causing Wukong to leap back. “I’m ready, keep your pants on. Now, walk me through the guests again.”

He rolled his eyes. “Well, there’s going to be six of us. Bull Demon King, Dragon Demon King, Eagle Demon King, Lion Demon King, Macaque Demon King, and Gibbon Demon King. You’ll have a hard time just listening, so you don’t have to worry about talking to them. Just stay by my side the entire time. Seriously, don’t leave for a moment. These guys like to party hard.”

“It sounds like you don’t trust me.”

He snorted. “You’re not who I don’t trust. I just don’t want to leave you alone with them. Don’t leave my side, for any reason. Understand? These guys aren’t as nice as I am.”

I swallowed thickly. “Understood.” Wukong was already bad enough, and he was warning me about these guys? Well, they sounded like bad news.

He nodded. “Okay, let’s go. Oh!” He gave me a once over. “You look nice today.”

He knew exactly how to piss me off.

He offered his arm and I grudgingly took it. Whatever his so-called “friends” were like, something told me I wanted to avoid them by hiding behind Wukong as much as possible.

We made it to the banquet hall as the first to arrive. Monkeys were bringing food in and then quickly scampering out, and the fruit and wine was quickly piling up. All this for just eight people?

We sat down, and Wukong reached for the wine but I slapped his hand away. “Oh no you don’t. If it’s as serious as you say, you’re staying sober so you can protect me.”

He grumbled. “I’m going to have to drink when they get here anyway.”

“Well, there’s no need to add some more before they get started. The last thing I want is you dragging me off to your room again and cuddling me all night.”

He grumbled under his breath but grabbed a mango and munched on that instead.

One of the generals, Ba, walked in. “Three of your guests have arrived. Bull Demon King, Eagle Demon King, and Gibbon Demon King are here.”

He bowed as the three walked in. Shit. They were big.

I activated my spirit sight. And breathed a sigh of relief. None of them had the amount of chi Wukong did. Even the three of them combined didn’t. As long as I stuck close to him it would be fine.

The creature with large horns laughed boisterously. “I didn’t believe it until now! You really do have a wife! And here I thought I’d be the only married man in the brotherhood forever! Congratulations Wukong!”

The Eagle Demon King snorted. “It seems a shame to me. Bachelorhood suited you my friend. But I suppose if you get antsy you can always take another wife or a couple of concubines!” His words sent another round of laughter through the group and Wukong.

“True enough my friend. But as Gibbon will tell you, my wife is more than pretty enough to keep me entertained.”

Gibbon Demon King nodded. “I have to agree with you there. Your wife truly is a vision. Tell me, did she have any sisters? I might be tempted to get one for myself.”

I tensed up, my older sister flashing through my mind. She would kill you before you could take one step towards her.

No wonder Wukong told me to stay near him. These men were disgusting. I did my best to tune them out as they sat down.

They poured out wine for themselves and for Wukong. Ba came in again and introduced two more of the gathering, the Lion Demon King, and the Dragon Demon King. They gave their own inappropriate greetings to Wukong and sat down.

Now I understand why there was so much damn food and wine. They ate like they were Pig Demon Kings. Watching Wukong engage with them turned my stomach.

I pushed my own fruit away, and the last demon king, the Macaque Demon King arrived.

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“Sorry I’m late. I was picking up a gift for the newlyweds.” Everyone greeted him, and he pulled out a box.

He tossed it towards Wukong, who caught it easily. He grinned and shook it. “What’s inside? A lovely dress for my wife? A perfume?”

Macaque gave him a shit-eating grin. “You should let your wife open it. It’s a gift for both of you after all.”

He handed it over to me, and I regarded the small wrapped box with suspicion. “Wukong, is it really okay to open this?”

He nodded. “It’s fine, Macaque is a bit of a prankster, but he wouldn’t hurt you.” He leaned forward and whispered. “Not if he wants to keep his head on his shoulders.”

Ugh his breath smelled like wine. I looked around to see everyone looking at me in anticipation. Well, I had a feeling I wouldn’t like whatever was in there, but I might as well get it over with as quickly as possible.

I untied and unwrapped the box. A small wooden thing. It didn’t seem big enough to hold anything other than a trinket or some ribbons.

I popped open the lid.

A cloud of powder hit my face, and I coughed. Ugh, it got in my eyes too. I rubbed them and they watered. I did my best to glare at Macaque as everyone but Wukong started laughing.

Wukong grabbed onto me and wiped the dust off my face. He gave Macaque a withering glare. “It doesn’t seem you know what kind of gifts are appropriate for a new couple.” He looked pissed.

Macaque waved him down. “It’s fine brother! Remember, I said it’s a gift for both of you. Give it some time to work.”

“Time to work?” Wukong asked. I think.

I didn’t have anything to drink right? But I felt so woozy. And hot. “Wukong? I don’t feel good.”

Macaque chuckled. “Well, the man said it worked fast and it seems he was right.”

“Macaque, what the hell did you do to my wife?” Wukong looked even more pissed.

“Relax, it’s just something to make her obedient. She should be a lot more responsive in bed tonight.”

“You gave her a fucking aphrodisiac!?” Wukong stood up, knocking against the table.

Macaque put his hands up. “Whoa now, it’s just a joke brother. Besides, I figured you’d appreciate this kind of gift. She probably hasn’t been much fun since you got her right? This will help break her in. Right guys?”

He looked around the table to the others who nodded in agreement, except for the Bull Demon King. He pushed back from the table, eyeing Wukong warily.

He looked angry. Angrier than I’ve seen him. “Out. Everyone. Now.”

“Wukong, it’s-“

“It is not fine! Now you all need to leave so I can take care of my drugged wife. Banquet’s over, all of you, get out!”

Everyone except the Bull Demon King grumbled as the got up. Bull Demon King leaned forward, and spoke to Wukong before he made to leave.

“Please forgive him. None of them understands a wife is different from other women. I’ll talk to Macaque.” He pushed off the table and left.

“Oh, yeah, because the problem is that she’s my wife.” Wukong sighed and rubbed his forehead. He turned back towards me.

He knelt down. “Yue, how do you feel?”

“I’m so hot.” I was beginning to slur my words together. I felt so hot. This stupid dress.

“Whoa there! Let’s keep our clothes on. Damn, he really fucked you up. Can you stand?”

“Theoretically.” I continued staring up at him.

“Let me rephrase that. Can you try and stand up?”

Hmm. I tried to put some strength in my legs. Nope. I shook my head.

“Of course you can’t. Fucking Macaque! The next time I see him…” He slammed his staff down on the table, and it smashed into two pieces, it scared me. I withdrew from him.

He realized he scared me, and quickly withdrew his staff. “I’m sorry Yue, I’m not angry at you.”

I sniffed, on the verge of tears. “You’re scary. You’re scaring me.”

A devastated look crossed his face. “I’m so sorry Yue, I promise I won’t scare you again.”

“I want to go back home. I miss everyone.” My family flashed through my mind.

He swallowed. “I know Yue.” He glanced back down at my legs. “Yue, I need to take you back to your room. Do I have permission to touch you?”

I turned away from him. “No! You promised!”

He groaned. “I assure you, I’ll only be touching you for locomotion purposes. Once I get you to your room and into bed, I’ll happily not touch you for the rest of the night.”

I sniffed. I felt awful. “You promised. You can’t hurt me.”

“I’m not going to hurt you. And I won’t touch you without permission. But how do you suggest I get you to your room?”

“Ummm.” I didn’t want him to touch me, but maybe it was okay if I touched him. “Turn around.”

“Okaaaaay.” He turned around. I reached up towards his shoulders, but he was too tall. “Sit down.” He sat and I was finally able to reach.

I wrapped my arms around his neck. My legs refused to move, but Wukong got the idea. He picked up my legs and stood up.

Good. Now I was touching him, but he wasn’t touching me. Except my legs. But I couldn’t move my legs, so it was fine.

“This will work. Hang on.” He walked out of the dining room and down the hallway, towards my room.

The entire world swayed. I felt queasy. I closed my eyes and nuzzled into Wukong’s neck. This wasn’t as bad. The world wasn’t spinning anymore.

We reached my room. I could tell because Wukong opened and closed a door.

“Okay, it’s time to get off. Your beds right here.”

No. His fur felt so soft and warm.

“Um, Yue? Did you fall asleep? It’s time to get off.” He poked me in the side.

“Nooooooooo. You smell good.”

“Oh, hell no.” Wukong grabbed my arms and gently took me off his back and set me down on the bed.

He laid me down on the pillow and pulled a blanket over me. “There. I’m not touching you for the rest of the night. Gods know you’re going to be furious enough in the morning.”

Ugh, I was so hot under this blanket. And in my dress. I grabbed my necklace and stored my dress back inside. Still too hot.

I began kicking my blanket off, making Wukong’s eyes go wide.

“Nope!” He grabbed the blanket, and tucked me in tightly. “Nopity, nope, nope, nope.”

“Ugh! You’re so mean!”

“Something tells me you’ll appreciate it when you sleep this drug off.”

“I feel weird Wukong. I’m so hot.”

“I know, and I’m sorry. They were… a lot worse than I thought they’d be.” He sighed. “But, I told you I won’t let anything bad happen to you and nothing will. I’ll stay until you’re better.”

“I’m scared.”

“I know, I’ll keep you safe.”

“I’m scared of you.”

Silence. Then a sigh. “I know. I know I can never make things right with you. I just fucked up too badly. I’m still fucking up.”

“I want to go home.” Tears began slipping down my face. “I miss everyone. Dad, my sister, my friend Luvouse. I’ll never see them again.”

“I know. I took you away from them. From your family.”

“No Wukong, they’re all gone. They’re all dead. I’m the only one who made it out. I escaped to the in-between.”

His eyes snapped from the window to me. “What? Wait, say that again.”

“It got them all. It feasted on my world.” The sickening memories filled my head. White spores hacked up with every cough. Tiny white fibers that covered the dead.

So many nightmares.

“Whoa, whoa, stay with me, so you’re saying I didn’t steal everything you loved away from you? C’mon, this is important.”

I began crying again. “You’re scary Wukong, You’re scaring me.” His face was close to mine, his eyes focused on me. He flinched at my words and took a step back.

“Fuck, what am I doing… We’re going to talk about this later.”

“It killed them. It got them. I’m the only one left.” I began crying even harder. I missed them so much.

“Uh, hey it’s okay. You’re safe here. I won’t let anything bad happen to you.”

“It took so long. They spent weeks dying. They became so quiet. They could barely move at the end.” It was all so vivid. It was like I was reliving my final days in my world all over again. “It covered everything. There were no more trees. No more shade. It blotted out Lunus.” I began shaking.

“Whoa, whoa! Hey, stay with me! Yue!”

“Stop Lady Ethereal! Let me go back! I don’t care if I’ll die! Let me be with my family!”

Wukong stilled. “Yue?”

“Chi Devourer, Chi Devourer, Chi Devourer,” I continued reciting it’s name.

“Fuck, this is not a fucking aphrodisiac. C’mon Yue, snap out of it! Gah, I’m sorry about this but you might hurt yourself at this rate.” He picked me up in the blanket, and swaddled me tight. He set me in his lap and held me. He patted my head. “Shhhh. It’s okay Yue. Everything is okay, please calm down.”

I blinked rapidly, and took some deep breaths. I wasn’t on Pluas. The Chi Devourer wasn’t here. I gulped, my throat dry.

I could see moonlight from the window. Lunus? And someone was holding me.

Dad? Luka? Luvouse? It didn’t matter.

I wasn’t alone. I closed my eyes after one last shuddering breath. I was so tired. So tired of just surviving. Living on nutrient paste, rarely talking to an organic being like me. I wanted to go back home.

Maybe I could rest. Just for a little while.