Some of you have been getting the wrong idea of Ai Lin's relationship with the Samadhi fire. She never absorbed it. She just deflected it. She doesn't have the flames.
Enjoy.
xxXxx
Ai Lin slept in her room in blue pyjamas snoring loudly. The celestial's face suddenly twisted into one of fear as she stayed asleep.
"No." She said as she writhed her sleep. "Please. Don't go."
The girl continued to writhe around and move in a panic in her sleep before suddenly, the everything started to violently shake around her snapping her awake.
The celestial immediately started to panic upon waking up. She quickly hid under her bed and used her powers to reconstruct the walls in a way that holds everything in place. Then as suddenly as it had appeared, the shaking stopped.
"Phew." Said Ai Lin in relief clutching her chest. "Thought I'd die there."
Ai Lin looked all around her, checking for any damages and if her traps were still active. But found that they all disappeared. Even the one under the carpet.
"Huh? They're all gone?" Asked Ai Lin scratching her head in confusion. "How? And when?"
As the celestial wondered what was going on, the door to her room suddenly slammed open. Sandy was on the other side of the door.
"Ai Lin, we need to talk." Said Sandy crossing his arms with a frown.
Ai Lin quickly panicked. Sandy NEVER frowns! Countless questions filled her mind. Did she do something bad? What was it? How bad was it for SANDY to frown? The man was a saint!
"I'm tired of keeping a freeloader here." He said in a stern tone before handing her bags full of clothes. "I've already packed your stuff. You leave today."
Ai Lin's heart sunk deeper than it ever could. She froze in place trying to process what she had just heard. She was getting thrown away again, she thought.
Without warning, Sandy placed her outside the house and slammed the door shut; leaving her outside. Tears formed around Ai Lin's eyes as she stared at the door in shock.
The celestial stayed in one spot for several minutes before turning around and slumped as she walked away in her pyjamas.
Her worst nightmare had come true.
xxXxx
In Megapolis.
A defeated Ai Lin sat on a bench still in her pyjamas her eyes dead as can be with eye bags around them. The celestial had a few dog shaped dolls sitting next to her and the bags Sandy gave her on the floor.
"It's me, isn't it? I'm the problem. Everyone else has people who want them around." She muttered in a defeated tone as she stared at her hands. "What's wrong with me?"
Suddenly, MK appeared in front of Ai Lin with a crowd behind him cheering him on. Ai Lin felt a pang of envy towards the boy. Everyone liked him, everyone wanted him. No one would ever throw him away.
Unfortunately, the boy noticed her and approached her with a smile on his face. "Hey! Ai Lin. You can see these guys too, right?"
Although in hindsight it could have never been his intention, Ai Lin felt as if MK was rubbing it in her face. She scowled at the boy and spoke.
"Don't you have anything better to do than make fun of me?!" She hissed. "Go! Have fun with all the people that like you! Just leave me alone!"
"What?" MK asked in confusion as he reached out to the celestial. "I'm not making fun of-"
MK couldn't finish his sentence before the dolls around Ai Lin sprung to life and bit MK's arm and both of his legs with enough force to drive a point without truly harming MK.
"AAAAHH!" MK yelled upon being bitten by several dolls.
"Leave!" Repeated Ai Lin with a deep scowl.
"Okay! Okay!" Replied MK before Mei suddenly appeared. "Mei! Boy am I glad to see you! Everyone is acting weird, there's that crowd that keeps following me and Ai Lin hates me for some reason!"
"None of that matters. We're gonna be late." Said Mei cheerfully.
"Late for what?" Asked MK in confusion.
"Our romantic river cruise for two." Replied Mei happily causing Ai Lin to scowl at MK even more before the Mei and MK disappeared from in front of Ai Lin.
The celestial didn't question it as her shoulders dropped. Mei ignored her. Another person to add to the list, she thought as tears formed around her eyes.
"I'm the worst." She muttered to herself dejectedly as she curled into a ball.
The celestial shut the world out and waited. For what? She did not know. She just waited.
Soon enough, MK returned to her location in a panic. "Ai Lin, something weird is happening! Everyone is talking about things being perfect and you're the only one who's all grumpy!" He exclaimed before Ai Lin's dog dolls sprung to life ready to attack MK. "Hey! I didn't do anything! What's wrong with you?"
"What's wrong with me?" Said Ai Lin with a scowl. "I wanna know the exact same thing. Sandy kicked me out."
"What?" Replied MK in disbelief. "There's no way he'd do that!"
"I thought that too, golden boy. But I'm just cursed, I guess." Said Ai Lin as she teared up. "Y'know, I remember my past life from start to end. My parents abandoned me at an orphanage. Then one day, the orphanage decided to abandon me because no one wanted to adopt me and I died shortly after. Then I was reborn as a celestial! And guess what the first thing my celestial parents decided to do?"
MK didn't reply as Ai Lin glared at him with tears falling down her face. The girl saw this and continued.
"*Sniff* they threw me away to my uncle because no one knew who or where my mom was! And *sob* he did the funniest thing you can imagine!" Said Ai Lin with a giant weak grin as tears fell down her face. "He threw me away into the mortal realm and didn't look back, calling it training!"
MK stared at Ai Lin with a sad expression, causing the celestial to glare at him.
"Don't give me that look. You don't know anything." Said Ai Lin angrily. "You have it all! Friends, fans, admirers! So stop it with the sympathy. I'll just live the rest of my life alone on this bench."
MK didn't know how to remedy the issues Ai Lin had, but he knew one thing. Sandy would never abandon someone.
"That couldn't have been Sandy." Said MK in a determined tone. "He must've been affected by whatever is going on."
"Easy for you to say." Replied Ai Lin dejectedly. "Everybody loves you."
"Look, let's say hypothetically that Sandy was mind controlled or fake or something. Are you really gonna make the real Sandy take the blame? Or are you gonna help me get everything back to normal?"
Ai Lin paused. MK was right. If that truly wasn't the saint she knew, she would be the one to throw him away. She couldn't do that. She couldn't become the very thing that tormented her.
"Okay. *Sniff* first we assess the situation. It can't be mind control so that's off the table."
"Wait- why not mind control?" Asked MK curiously.
"Because it doesn't make sense. With a control spell this powerful, why not just mind control us? If that's not possible, why are they trying to keep you in a so called perfect world? If it's a distraction, wouldn't everyone acting normal or using them as hostages work? And so on." Replied Ai Lin calmly. "Considering the space and effort that would be needed to store all the real people overnight, this place must be fake and there has to be a way out. Something everyone is keeping away from you. Something very important. Have any idea what it could be?"
MK placed a hand on his chin. "Hmm...my staff!" He exclaimed cheerfully. "It has to be it! Le'go!"
Before Ai Lin could agree with MK, the Monkie kid pulled her off the bench and dashed away at high speed. Taking her with him to the mountain where his staff stood.
xxXxx
At MK's staff.
"There it is! My staff!" Exclaimed MK happily as he placed an unimpressed Ai Lin onto the ground.
"Take it fast so we can leave." Said Ai Lin calmly before noticing Mei and everyone standing behind them. "Of course."
"Hey, MK. What are you doing?" Asked fake Mei cheerfully.
Ai Lin rolled her eyes before summoning her three dog dolls. The three hounds stood in front of Ai Lin ready to attack the fake monkie kids.
"MK!" Yelled Ai Lin before MK dashed for his staff prompting the fake monkie kids to panic and attack.
"Here...Comes...-
They were easily pushed back by the guard dogs letting MK easily grab his staff and end this nightmare.
"-Monkie kid!"
xxXxx
"Is this reality?" Asked Ai Lin narrowing her eyes as she looked around the room they were in.
"I think so." Replied MK before noticing two demons in a corner trying to escape. "Who are you?"
Ai Lin felt like she had met those two demons before, but she couldn't remember when.
"We're your worst nightmare!" Said the orange demon striking a pose. "Jin!"
"Yin!" Added the blue demon also striking a pose.
"The Gold and Silver Demons!" Finished Jin cheerfully.
"Mate, it's silver and gold. Silver and gold." Argued Yin making Ai Lin angry.
The celestial couldn't even be afraid of these two. They were far too comical for her take them seriously.
"Okay, team rocket wannabes, why did you capture us?" Asked Ai Lin with a look of anger and disappointment.
"We heard about the great Monkie Kid and knew that he'd would be a worthy adversary." Replied Yin with a smirk.
"Yes. And through cunning and guile, we called out to him, and he foolishly... answered." Added Jin with a smirk. "But you were with him for some reason and we had to find a way to kick you out of Sandy's boat for the romance scene with him and Mei."
Ai Lin suddenly remembered that. Sandy suggested she go with MK so he can show her around the city. That meant that Sandy didn't kick her out! She was so happy she could make a trip to Chang'e's place! But then she realized what these two morons had done and what she needed to do to them. Plus, unlike the spider queen she can make these two suffer.
Ai Lin flashed a malicious smile. "You did THAT to me for a failed romance scene, huh?" She said summoning her hounds as Jin and Yin nodded nonchalantly. "Cool! Wanna hear something else that's cool? I can temporarily power up my units by spreading my chi around. Like a buff skill in a video game."
Jin and Yin were confused. Why was this relevant to the current situation? The answer appeared in the form of Ai Lin's hounds growing in side until they were taller than Jin and Yin on all fours.
"Uhh, smoke bomb!" Yelled Jin and Yin in union before disappearing immediately.
Sadly for them, the dogs had a great sense of smell and started the chase.
"Are you gonna just let those dogs follow them around or...?" Asked MK before noticing a smile on Ai Lin's face.
"For a few hours. These dogs will move slightly faster than them then let them gain some space and repeat." Said Ai Lin flashing a sinister smile. "They'll be stuck in a loop of hope that they can outrun the dogs and hopelessness as the dogs get closer and closer. After all, there's only so much hope you can drain out of someone before they give up. But if you supply hope, you can keep them afraid."
MK took a few steps away from Ai Lin in fear of what she had just said.
"Well, I guess I should head back to Sandy's now." Said Ai Lin acting as if she didn't just inflict psychological horror upon two demons. "Also, thanks for...pulling me off that bench."
And without another word, Ai Lin headed back to home in her pyjamas to hug Sandy for a few hours.
xxXxx
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Toodles.