The prospect of having two of his questions answered without any sass or any confusion or tricks was an appealing one. He was tired of being in the dark about how to actually use his spirit invoking powers, tired of summoning the wrong thing at the wrong time. He was tired of just not knowing how to be better, he was tired of being confused about why everyone else in the world seemed to be getting better and better and better at everything they tried while he was rotting, stagnating, stuck in a gooey mire of mediocrity.
He hated it with every fiber of his being. Wei thought back to his miserable little home, when him being here was natural and his brother was sitting in front of their little hand-crank stove as he heated up a pot of water for tea. Today was a special occasion, and they had splurged on some relatively cheap tea that he and his brother and his mom would share together to celebrate the new year.
That was all in the past now. They were thousands of miles away, expecting him to do great things and come back with a mastery of the powers he'd gone off to learn and a college degree to make use of them. The ability to make some much needed money and move them into an apartment that had indoor plumbing and heat.
'How do I use my powers?', 'What am I meant to do in this world?', 'How can I make the most of my life?'--these were the questions that danced in the forefront of his mind. But another thought occurred to him.
In time, Wei would learn these answers on his own. The answers to those questions were meant to be a journey of exploration and new ideas to fill out the lives that people seemed to lead. But if he could just ask the Monkey King and have him answer with complete honesty, then that would take the purpose right out of anything he had ever wanted to do with his life. Plus there was no guarantee that he knew anything at all. An answer of 'I don't know' would still be a completely honest answer and a waste of his question.
Wei exhaled.
He decided that he would have to ask a question that he would never be able to find the answer to on his own.
"Monkey King," he started. "What was my father like?"
"Is,"[/i] he corrected. "It's not like your father is dead."
Wei had to almost physically restrain himself from calling out in excitement something like 'he is?' or 'where?' or 'how do you know?'. The Monkey King would count those towards his two questions, and he wanted to use the second question for something important.
The Monkey King looked disappointed, as if he had tried to trick Wei but he hadn't fallen into his trap. With a sigh, he continued talking. "Your dad was a warrior. He trained with some of the best in China for several years. He liked doing acrobatic tricks to impress the ladies. He was a showboat if I ever knew one. But he was an honest guy. He never meant to leave you alone, Wei."
That caught his interest. "Leave me alone... but Houlin... he left Houlin alone too!"
"You and HouLin are only half brothers. Different fathers, you see."
"Then... who's my dad?"
A big grin came to the Monkey King's face as he stood from the table, patting Wei's shoulder. Wei was small compared to him--he seemed to tower over him forever.
"I can't tell you."
"What happened to no trick?!" Wei exclaimed, taking a step back from his mentor's touch. "You said you'd answer any question I asked no tricks!"
"I'm not tricking you. I physically can't answer your question."
"Whatever. You're such a liar."
He hated it with every fiber of his being. Wei thought back to his miserable little home, when him being here was natural and his brother was sitting in front of their little hand-crank stove as he heated up a pot of water for tea. Today was a special occasion, and they had splurged on some relatively cheap tea that he and his brother and his mom would share together to celebrate the new year.
That was all in the past now. They were thousands of miles away, expecting him to do great things and come back with a mastery of the powers he'd gone off to learn and a college degree to make use of them. The ability to make some much needed money and move them into an apartment that had indoor plumbing and heat.
'How do I use my powers?', 'What am I meant to do in this world?', 'How can I make the most of my life?'--these were the questions that danced in the forefront of his mind. But another thought occurred to him.
In time, Wei would learn these answers on his own. The answers to those questions were meant to be a journey of exploration and new ideas to fill out the lives that people seemed to lead. But if he could just ask the Monkey King and have him answer with complete honesty, then that would take the purpose right out of anything he had ever wanted to do with his life. Plus there was no guarantee that he knew anything at all. An answer of 'I don't know' would still be a completely honest answer and a waste of his question.
Wei exhaled.
He decided that he would have to ask a question that he would never be able to find the answer to on his own.
"Monkey King," he started. "What was my father like?"
Wei had to almost physically restrain himself from calling out in excitement something like 'he is?' or 'where?' or 'how do you know?'. The Monkey King would count those towards his two questions, and he wanted to use the second question for something important.
The Monkey King looked disappointed, as if he had tried to trick Wei but he hadn't fallen into his trap. With a sigh, he continued talking. "Your dad was a warrior. He trained with some of the best in China for several years. He liked doing acrobatic tricks to impress the ladies. He was a showboat if I ever knew one. But he was an honest guy. He never meant to leave you alone, Wei."
That caught his interest. "Leave me alone... but Houlin... he left Houlin alone too!"
"You and HouLin are only half brothers. Different fathers, you see."
"Then... who's my dad?"
A big grin came to the Monkey King's face as he stood from the table, patting Wei's shoulder. Wei was small compared to him--he seemed to tower over him forever.
"I can't tell you."
"What happened to no trick?!" Wei exclaimed, taking a step back from his mentor's touch. "You said you'd answer any question I asked no tricks!"
"I'm not tricking you. I physically can't answer your question."
"Whatever. You're such a liar."
