Genis yelped as he fell from the sky, twisting through the air without relent. Now and again, the kingdom of Ocerania would flash into view. He knew what was about to happen, pulling his arms and legs in before his body hit the branches from the regrowing trees bluntly, being thrown from one branch to another.
Once his body hit the ground, he let out a dull, pained groan. His body ached from the multiple blunt landings before he found his way to the ground, but what scared him far more was the intimidatingly enormous silhouette that fell above him. "Oh – FUCK!"
Genis scrambled to his feet, scampering out of the way in a panicked frenzy mere moments before Odeen's back crashed into the ground below, cratering the earth beneath him. Genis stood off to the side, panting heavily. "Are you alright?! You didn't land on the branches, you snapped right through them!"
Odeen let out a pained groan, holding a shaky thumbs up. Ruby's cry was the last to sound from above. Odeen stared up at the hurdling figure that crashed toward him, slowly letting his eyes close to accept his fate.
Ruby crash-landed on top of Odeen, leaving the poor man's form to spasm from the shock of the blunt blow. Genis winced, turning his head away from the scene with a pained groan. "That would not tickle. Hey, are you two alive? Mortals?" Genis slowly approached the unmoving humans with caution.
Ruby jerked to her hands and knees without warning, startling Genis back so violently that he stumbled back, left to tumble flat on his ass. "Don't do that! I may be a being of the Inbetween, but I come with an expiry date too! Much longer than yours, but my point stands!"
Ruby held her pounding head, whining with the aching of her body. She sobered up fast when she found her hand planted firmly against Odeen's toned chest. "Shit! I landed directly on top of you?! I'm so sorry! Are you alright?"
"Never better." Odeen wheezed out, slowly bringing himself to a seated position. Once up, the dull pain took over, leaving him slumped. "Nope – I've certainly done damage. Crap, that's going to make getting back to Jasher difficult."
Ruby furrowed her brows, hitting Odeen's forehead with her hand. "Are you an idiot? I'm not going to let you get up and walk all the way to Jasher. Can you stand? We'll return you to the castle, then Genis and I will head toward Jasher and Safire to make sure they're alright."
Odeen and Ruby halted at the same time, staring at one another as the realisation hit them like a truck. "I understood every word you said." They jerked apart, both left in an utter state of shock and stunned amazement. "Do you understand me?!" Ruby nodded her head weakly with wide eyes and jaw agape.
Genis scoffed, crossing his arms. "Duh, I told you that the Inbetween would gift you two with understanding. Outside of us three, nobody else would be able to understand when we communicate with each other. It would just sound like a mixed scramble of English and Oceranian, but hey, no more translators needed. You can see me still, right, Odeen?"
Odeen nodded, shifting to his knees slowly. Ruby began to spiral, not grappling with the meaning. "Wait – so I'll only be able to communicate with you and Odeen?! Nobody else will be able to understand me now?"
Genis growled, massaging the bridge of his nose. "No, I have an immunity to that crap, but now when you speak directly TO Odeen, it'll be coded. When you speak with Jasher or Safire, they'll understand your English, and if you speak with the people of Ocerania, they'll hear your broken Oceranian. It'll only take effect when you speak with Odeen."
Ruby sighed in relief, helping Odeen to his feet. "While that's a relief, we might be able to use that to our advantage. Do you think that we'd be able to use this to hide our words from Nexus?"
Genis shook his head, approaching Odeen's other side so he was supported. They began to make the slow journey back to the castle. "No. While that would have been useful, I did state that I have an immunity to it. The same would go for Nexus. But for now, we have the upper hand. I've officially connected to your soul, so I can transfer between you and Safire. I wouldn't have been able to if Nexus had connected himself. That means I'll always know where you are. He won't."
Ruby chuckled, feeling a sudden sense of relief. "So how was he able to find me in the first place? I mean, he came from my room in the castle, directly to Safire. That's a bit uncanny unless he knew where we were exactly."
Genis halted for a moment, sucking in a harsh breath. "That would only be possible if he were using the melodies of the universe. No, there's no way that he'd be able to master a skill that Serina could not grasp herself."
Ruby's lips tightened into a fake smile as she sucked in a harsh breath. "I really shouldn't tell you what Jasher said to me when we first met, then. He said that Nexus left his body and travelled through the melodies of the cosmos or something."
Genis halted suddenly, leaving Ruby confused. Odeen winced as he was pulled in opposite directions. Once their gaze fell on Genis, they'd find that he'd broken out in a cold sweat. "They're one and the same thing. If he truly mastered the melodies of the universe, there may be nowhere that's safe."
Ruby frowned in confusion, trying to hold Odeen steady. "Right, you've got me utterly terrified now. What are the melodies of the universe? And how can Nexus travel through them to get to us?"
Genis shuddered, slipping free from under Odeen's arms. "They're rips in the universe. They connect everything. Teralu, Earth, The Inbetween. Normally, they're as thin as a hair. Nobody could pass through. But sometimes, rips come through that are large enough for a human to fall through. Disappear from one world, and appear in another. To master the melodies of the universe would be like... hearing an invisible train hurdling toward you at unprecedented speeds and being able to tell that this train is exactly where you need to be by a fraction of a second's worth of sound, then leaping into the train at the exact moment it passes you."
Ruby shuddered at the thought before she shook her head weakly. "Well, it sounds like that can't be the fact. He managed to jump from my room to Safire's at the exact moment that he needed to. Unless he has some control over these melodies, there's no way that he'd be able to get to the exact point he needs."
Genis's shoulders slumped with relief as he took a shaky breath. "Oh, shit, you're right. For Nexus to get where he needed to go in that moment, he'd have to have the utmost incredible luck or some control over the melodies. Which are both impossible outcomes. Unless he knew where you and Safire were, jumped through the Inbetween, and waited for the cooldown period to end so that he could open another portal. But that's incredibly draining to do. Passing through the Inbetween into the dimensions is something that takes a harsh toll on us. So doing it multiple times would have left him weak. It didn't appear to be the case."
Ruby sighed, assisting Odeen toward the kingdom's walls. "Well, we don't exactly know what Nexus has going on right now. But we're back at the castle now, so you should head toward Safire. Make sure that they're okay. I think that Odeen and I will be able to handle ourselves from here."
Genis nodded, slapping Odeen across the back, causing him to wince. "You're a towering brick man. One hell of a solid warrior. Glad we have someone like you on our team. If you were a deity and against us, I'd actually be fretting."
Odeen smirked, even though there was a lot of pain behind his grin. "You think that I wouldn't be able to wipe the floor with you just because I'm a mortal? I think once I heal, we should spar. See who the stronger one is."
Genis held his hands up, backing away. "Hell no. It's bad enough that your girlfriend has some freaky strength. The fact that her delicate little frame is holding you up is intimidating enough." Genis mocked, turning back toward the forest. "I'll come check in on you two later."
Ruby chuckled, hoisting Odeen's arm securely across her shoulders. "Yeah, Jasher did tell me about this. Maybe I've been neglecting my strength this whole time. You're heavy, but not as heavy as I would have assumed." Genis had disappeared in the moment that Ruby was speaking with Odeen. "Freaky." She shuddered.
Odeen turned his attention toward the closed gates, shouting suddenly. Ruby felt a sharp jolt of fear with the sound. It was Oceranian, but because it was no longer directed at her, her understanding of it was gone. The gates parted open as men came rushing out frantically to help Odeen inside.
Genis appeared a few feet behind Safire, brushing himself down with a satisfied hum. "Hey, guys, Ruby and Odeen have been safely removed from the Inbetween, but we should plan our next move. Staying in one place is just asking Nexus to find... us..."
Safire turned back to find Genis. In front of her, Jasher sat in the rubble on his knees, holding a bloodied hand that remained buried underneath the debris. Jasher's head was low in grief, squeezing what could only be Rufus's hand. Genis sighed in defeat, hanging his head. "He didn't make it." Safire's voice came out low and regretful.
Jasher clenched his jaw, laying the hand down as he stumbled to his feet, scrubbing away the dried tears. "I'm assuming that Genis is back." He turned toward Safire, watching the small nod of her head. "Right. I don't need you to translate a word he says. Listen to me, deity. I want Nexus dead. He will pay for this with my hand. I don't care about where he came from, who he is, or who I am in the grand scheme of things... I am going to kill him."
Genis never hesitated, merely stepping closer to Jasher. "If that's what you want to do, I will support you. Nexus fucked with human souls, and now he's responsible for the death of another. If vengeance is what you seek, I wish you the best of luck, Jasher."
Jasher felt an odd, tingling sensation in his eyes as Genis's voice calling his name was answered with awareness. Jasher exhaled nasally, glaring at Genis with a burning rage. "It's about time that you and I faced one another. Will you help me?"
Genis huffed weakly, shaking his head. "While Nexus is the reason that your friend is dead, I cannot take a life. Or should I say that I will not? Regardless of whether Nexus chooses to believe it or not, he is my brother. And I will not spill his blood. But I will not stand in your way, either. Safire," Genis's voice held a commanding tone. "Prepare yourself, we're going to Ocerania to collect Ruby, then we're going on the run. We won't be able to win this if we stay put. Nexus is always one step ahead."
Safire smiled weakly, placing her hand on Jasher's shoulder. "You're coming with us, right? Chances are that we're probably going to run into Nexus a few times before the harmony period. I believe that you'll have a better chance at killing him if you're by our side. And you have the divine weapon. I'll help you slay that bastard."
Jasher nodded, taking hold of Safire's hand suddenly. This stunned the princess for a moment. Jasher turned toward Genis with a wild grin. "I'm coming along, too. I won't be able to bury Rufus and let him rest in peace until I kill your brother. You may be on the run, but I'm on the hunt."
Genis reached his hand out, scoffing with amusement. "Good. It's about time that the consequences of his actions caught up with that immature bastard. I look forward to seeing you take vengeance on your fallen loved one. This is why deities don't mess with mortals." Jasher grinned, clasping his hand into Genis's to shake.
Ruby paced through the halls of the castle nervously, gnawing on her thumbnail as the healers worked on Odeen. Vatic stood outside the door, unmoving. Yet his eyes watched Ruby's every move. "Are you leaving?"
Ruby halted every movement in her body when Vatic spoke English. She slowly turned her gaze toward Vatic with a strong sense of panic. "Wait – since when do you speak English? And why am I learning about this now?!"
Vatic cleared his throat. "Jasher teach Odeen. I learn a little." Vatic shrugged. "I go too. Where Odeen leaves, I leave." Ruby stared at Vatic in shock, shaking her head weakly. Vatic merely held his hand up toward Ruby. "You're good. I know. I trust. But things are held down here, okay, without Odeen. And I know, he go with you."
Ruby sighed weakly, nodding in agreement. "Yeah, I'm leaving. It's not safe here. I will keep putting your people in danger if I stay behind. And I think I already knew that Odeen was coming. I'm sure he'd be grateful for a friend like you to accompany us." Vatic smiled warmly. The healers soon exited the room, and without invitation, Ruby slammed open the door. Vatic never had a chance to stop her. "Odeen, we need to talk. Now-"
Ruby halted by the door, finding Odeen entirely disrobed, standing with his leg in the air, trying to pull his pants up. He sported a pair of bright yellow rubber duck underwear that bore proudly and uncovered to Ruby's eyes in the moment of unexpected shock.
Ruby took two steps backwards, creaking the door shut behind her. Odeen scrambled to get dressed as Ruby rubbed her eyes, hissing under a whisper. "My poor eyes... Odeen! They're really not gods! Oh, fuck me, this place is weird..."
-End of chapter 19-