"I'm sorry, I missed you too," Amos muttered.
Whack!
"Ow!" Amos exclaimed as Ju hit his back with as much force as she could.
"You're an old man now," Ju said. Amos rolled his eyes.
"I'm not that old and you know that. I'm barely 1,000 years older than you," Amos replied. Ju pulled back, smiling.
"I'm sorry, I couldn't be there when you died," Amos apologized, dropping to his knees.
"Did you miss me when you disappeared?" Ju asked, taking a step towards him. Amos looked up, grabbing onto her hands and placing a kiss on the back of them.
"Of course I missed you. I missed you more than I could bear. I tried to find a way back to you, but you were gone before I could find a way to you," Amos said. Ju dropped down, hugging her knees as she looked at him.
"But I'm here now, aren't I?" Ju asked, mirth in her eyes and tone. Amos smiled back, remembering how pretty her eyes were when she was playful or mischievous.
"Yes, you're here now," Amos agreed. Ju winked at him and got up, pulling Amos up with her.
"Where did you even go?" Ju asked.
"There was an emergency meeting up there, may have killed a god or two- or a lot," Ju stared at him, her mouth agape.
"You... you're stupid. You're crazy. Why would you?" Ju asked, her sentences not finishing themselves. Amos shrugged.
"You've killed a god before. Multiple, actually," Amos pointed out.
"Well, yeah, but, I never committed a massacre and I never faced multiple gods at once! Why would you even do that?" Ju asked.
"Just a small disagreement, nothing much,"
"Enough to commit mass murder apparently," Ju muttered.
"What about you? It's no secret how you died up there, but where did you go after that?" Amos asked.
"I was reborn into a really cool world. There were these strange little devices that are kind of like communication devices, but so much better. People flew in these huge machines that were fast and could go virtually anywhere. You could make a call from one side of the planet and someone on the other side would answer," Ju explained, her arms waving around.
"Sounds pretty magical,"
"That's the thing, it wasn't magic! There wasn't a trace of magic in that world! But what those humans created, it was so much more than magic! It was simply breathtaking!" Ju said.
"You must have really loved that world," Amos commented. Ju nodded wistfully but stared in front of her, sadness in her eyes.
"I did love that world, but, I could never enjoy it. I still kept a majority of my memory from my past life, so it never felt like I could really fit in there. But now that I'm back in the world I was born in, I feel so strange,"
"Strange?"
"How I talk, how I speak, how I act. It changed so much in the other world that I can't tell which slang belongs to which world. I thought that once I came back to this world, I wouldn't feel so lonely, but I just feel more lonely. I don't have any true purpose in this world," Ju said. Amos nodded, understanding what Ju meant.
"Well, how about you stick with us for a while? You might figure out what to do then," Amos offered.
"I don't think I have much of an option, considering that once I open that box, my presence will be known by every human, beast, and god around. It's ironic this is the safest place I can be in at the moment,"
"Oh right, the box, I'll grab the box for you," Amos said. Ju nodded, watching as Amos walked away.
'Even after all these years, you haven't changed one bit,'
"Young Master," Ye looked over, seeing Amos walking over to them.
"Where's Ju?" Ye asked. Amos knelt before Ye, his head hanging down.
"Please, Young Master. Allow me to bring the box to her," Amos asked.
'He must really love her if he's being so humble,'
"I've thought about it, but if she is truly as powerful as you claim, then that would bring many people to try and kill her, correct?" Ye asked. Amos stiffened, his hand clenching into a fist.
"Yes, Young Master is correct,"
"And you understand that I will do nothing to compromise the safety of myself or Zhou, correct?"
"Yes, Young Master," Ye peered at Amos, interested as to why Amos would go so far for one person.
"Here, take it to her," Ye said. He pushed the box over to Amos, watching as a flash of excitement went through his eyes.
"Thank you, Young Master. I will find a way to repay this kindness," Amos took the box and nearly ran back.
"Those two, their history must be interesting, right?" Zhou asked. Ye nodded.
"Why are you so quiet all of a sudden? You've barely talked today," Ye asked. Zhou shrugged.
"I don't know, I'm just tired," Ye nodded, covering Zhou's eyes with his hands.
"Go to sleep,"
"You got it?" Ju asked. Amos handed the box over to Ju and she instantly grabbed it, looking at the box.
"Wow, of course, they would use the box my heart was stored in to trap my power," Ju commented, scowling.
"Disrespectful, little sons of bitches, can't even let me rest in peace, damn stupid humans," Ju muttered as she opened up the box.
A huge vortex of spirit came out, making the insides of the cave impossible to navigate through. Amos shivered, remembering that even though he was a god, Ju could rival 3 of him easily in a battle.
A bell rang in the distance, the sound ringing out ominously. All beasts and animals looked up, getting riled up.
"What's going on? Why are the animals looking up?" the common citizens asked, noticing how even the plants were trying to grow away from the sound.
"This... this aura! How? How is she back?" the few humans that were alive since before the war asked, the only people that could hear that bell that sounded like it was coming from heaven.
"Quick! We must find her and subdue her before she brings destruction to the world!"
'She's always been extremely strong, why would she allow herself to die in her first life? If I remember correctly, the space between her brother and her were universes apart,' Amos watched as Ju quickly absorbed the spirit, but even after a couple of hours, the spirit was not any less dense.
"Are you almost done?" Amos asked, unfazed from the prospect of her death by being distracted with her cultivation.
"It's not exactly easy trying to absorb all the spirit that I accumulated in the nearly 200,000 years of my life in one go," Ju replied back, annoyance clear in her voice.
"Are you going to use the form you were in before you died?" Amos asked.
"Of course, I loved how it looked and I can't wait to see it again," Ju replied. After another hour, the spirit was finally gone having been fully absorbed.
"Jeez, you are really strong," Amos said, the aura coming off of Ju still slightly chaotic from its rapid absorption.
"I know right? It's pretty pog," Ju said as she quickly calmed down her spirit.
"What's-" Amos cut himself off from asking what 'pog' meant.
'It's best to not remind her that she's different again,' Amos thought. A flash of light interrupted his thoughts as he covered his eyes. Once he blinked away the stun, he smiled, nostalgia and love blooming in his heart as he stared at the woman he loved. Even in rags, she was beautiful.
"There's my favorite heart-shaped spot," Ju said, staring proudly at the patchy skin tones (1) on her skin. Amos moved over and took her hand, his eyes staring at the tiny heart-shaped patch of white skin against her tanned skin.
"Are you sure it's a heart? It still looks like a blob," Amos said. Ju frowned, taking back her hand.
"It looks like a heart to me, so, therefore, it is a heart," Ju said. Amos rolled his eyes, letting out a small huff.
"Alright, get up now, we don't have all day," Amos said.
"Sir, yes sir!" Ju stared at the chains on her hand as her eyes glowed an unnatural shade of pink. The chains quivered and broke, falling onto the floor with a loud thud. She rubbed her wrists and forcefully ripped apart the cuff on her ankles, rubbing those too. She got up and stretched, sighing in relief.
"Ah, it's been so long since the ground was this far away," she exclaimed, folding in half and pressing her palms against the ground, the back of her legs completely straight.
"You're still short," Amos said, earning a glare from Ju.
"Oi, you're so mean. I'm not short, you're just irregularly tall. How about you change form and fight me right now?" Ju challenged, bringing her fists up. Amos rolled his eyes, pushing Ju's fists away.
"Don't be ridiculous, I'm not even a solid being and you would just beat me up," Amos said.
"When did you come back?" a loud voice asked. Amos and Ju turned to see a woman made out of mist floating over to them with a hostile look on her face. Zhou and Ye were running behind her, trying to keep up with the woman.
"How did you come back?" the woman asked. Ju stared at her before a lightbulb popped up over her head.
"Oh, you're the woman who keeps on throwing me into lightning tribulations even when I wasn't breaking any bottlenecks!" Ju said. The woman glowered at her.
"Since there's nothing much I can do about you being back and undoubtedly the other gods will wreck the Mortal Realm looking for you since they assume Amos would be with you, then I must fulfill the wishes of the royal couple of the Heavens,"
"Oh come on, can't you just let me go this one time?" Ju asked, holding up a finger. The woman shook her head and flashed the group to the outside of the cave, the clouds rumbling like a tsunami.
"Since you have cultivated in a manner that not only defies the heavens but defies human logic itself, I must sentence you to a lightning tribulation," the woman's voice boomed through the air. Ju groaned as the lightning and clouds grew dense and heavier, stretching on for miles and miles.
"What if I say no?" Ju asked.
"If you are able to survive this, then I will block your presence from anybody looking for you for as long as you stay with Zhou and Ye," the woman offered.
"Can't you make it a bit easier, you beautiful woman?" Ju asked, a sword appearing under her feet as she flew up.
"Flattery will get you nowhere, you already know I have no interest in love, even if you were interested in me at some point," the woman countered.
"But why is my lightning tribulation always so powerful?"
"Your way of cultivating was simply insane, reckless, and stupid, even for back then. It's a wonder how you even survived for as long as you did," Ju sighed as she stared up, the lightning lighting up her face with spectacular flashes.
"Fine, I'll defeat your stupid lightning tribulation," Ju said, directly leaping into the clouds.
~~
(1) Ju has vitiligo.