Ruby and Safire stood, unmoving and shocked, as the young man rushed between them, shoving Ruby back a few steps. "Just don't touch one another. It's fine that you're this close – I think. But everything is messed up enough, and the last thing I need right now is for both of you to wither away."
Ruby frowned, stepping toward the enigmatic man with no fear. "What do you mean wither away? I'm assuming you're the deity I've heard so much about? Nexus the trickster, right?"
Nexus let out a dull chuckle, his shoulders tightening with anxiety. "While that is who I was once before, I've come to mature after a sobering reality. One that I'm trying to fix right now. I can explain everything to you now that you've answered my call, but I need you to come with me."
Safire frowned, circling Nexus slowly in suspicion. She slowly unsheathed her dagger, holding it at the ready. "And why should we trust a word you say? Coming out of nowhere like that, claiming that you're some form of deity. It reeks of black magic."
Nexus snorted before letting out a heavy belly laugh. "Oh, that's not going to do anything to me. I'm not physically on this plane, but you're as adorably naïve as everyone says. Not to mention that it's quite interesting that you're standing against me because of the assumption that I'm the black magic user here."
Safire lowered her blade as confusion mixed with realisation donned on her face. "I see. Why do you want an audience with my stand-in specifically? I'm certain that she would much rather return home."
Nexus averted his gaze, brushing his fingertips against his hip nervously. "Because I ruined any chance of her being whole. I foolishly used a human soul as an experiment. It was funny when I was merely messing with mortals, but I've come to be made aware of my mistake when I decided to destroy a soul. I'm sorry, Ruby. I did not know what I was messing with."
Ruby felt the sides of her nose crease with the tight scowl. "You keep apologising for messing with my soul, but you haven't explained how or why. Do you seriously think I understand what it is you're apologising for?"
Nexus stepped to the side. His hand reached out, digging his fingers into thin air to tear a portal open between their realities. "I can explain everything to you. But first, I need you to come with me. I will show you everything."
Ruby furrowed her brows, stepping back from the portal. "You want me to go in there with you by myself? You're insane. I've never felt less than whole. I lived my life diligently with my own passions and career, and the only thing I ever felt was-"
"A sense of longing." Nexus finished her sentence. "I think you're mistaken about only one thing here. You won't be going into the Inbetween alone. This involves your new acquaintance as well."
Nexus's gaze fell upon Safire with an apologetic look. Safire's breath hitched as she shook her head weakly. "The Inbetween... I've heard stories about the plain walkers. How they breached your fortress and engaged in many battles to access the other worlds."
Nexus was frozen for a moment, trying to process what he had been told. "The who did what? We get the occasional poor soul who steps in accidentally, but no battles have ever been fought. I normally send them back where they came from. Only one person got through the Inbetween to the other side."
Both Ruby and Safire realised without much prompting. "Jasher." Ruby's gaze moved toward the ground as she processed the information. "So if we enter the Inbetween with you, you'll explain everything, and let us return to our separate worlds. Right?"
Nexus choked with sudden shock and realisation. "You don't –" He let out an exasperated sigh, massaging his temples. "I knew Jasper wouldn't deliver the message correctly. I will explain everything, then return you both to Ocerania. I'm sorry, Ruby. But you belong here. The only way I'll be allowed back into the Inbetween is with you and Safire by my side. Please, allow me to fix the mistake I made all those years ago. The harmonious period is not yet upon us. You'll both be returned unharmed."
Ruby and Safire shared an exchange. Hesitation hung thick between them before Ruby clenched her fists. "Alright, I'll go. I need to know what you've done to my soul, and if the only way you'll tell me is by stepping into the Inbetween, you haven't given me much of a choice."
Safire sighed in defeat, feeling her shoulders slouch. "I'd ask why I have to go, but I doubt that you'd explain it to me." Nexus shook his head, gesturing to the portal. Safire groaned, bouncing in place with uncertainty as Ruby approached the portal. "Be careful."
Ruby steadied her breathing as her trembling fingers reached toward the rippling portal of pitch black. Her fingers passed through without any resistance. Inch by inch, Ruby sank into the portal, clearly afraid, but far more determined to know.
Safire grappled with the decision, turning back toward the kingdom with weary eyes. When she shifted her gaze back toward the portal, it was beginning to close. Nexus stood by, waiting for Safire's next move. "You don't have long to decide. The Inbetween has already accepted Ruby. Your past will not be judged here. Swallow your fear."
"Easy for you to say. By god's bones, fine!" Safire clenched her jaw before digging her heels into the ground and breaking into a sprint to pass through the portal. She spilled out onto a solid surface, though the dim lighting showed that beneath the platform she landed on, an endless abyss awaited her. "Ahh! Rhudy!"
"Safire... you've got to see this." Safire's trembling body worked itself to her knees as she gazed up toward Ruby. Her breath caught in her throat at the sight. Endless blackness stretched on in front of them, illuminated by soft, glowing stars and nebulae. Standing at the far end of the platform was a man resembling Nexus.
The figure stood between two large, round portals that opened up into lush greenery. The border of the portals were wrapped in glowing blue chains that travelled down and coiled around the man's arms, grasped tightly in his whitened fists. Nexus approached the girls from behind. "This is my eternal prison."
Ruby shuddered, the sight looking agonising as the chains dug down into Nexus's body's flesh. The portals seemed as though they were pulling away from one another, trying to escape. "Why are you holding them like that?"
Nexus stared at the sight with sadness in his eyes. "The two worlds feed from one another. It was agonising. Standing there, century after century, watching the life grow and the worlds evolve without ever being able to experience it. Eventually, I'd grown tired. And so began the even more agonising process of pulling my soul from my body. One strand at a time. Now my husk serves as my freedom."
Safire frowned, feeling a deep sympathy toward Nexus. "If it's so painful, why don't you just... let go?" Nexus hung his head, sighing deeply.
"The world as we know it would end. The kingdoms would fall, and all would perish." His breath stuttered. "The kingdoms would fall, and all would perish. That is why I left my body. Because I can never let go. If the worlds drifted too far apart, they would wither and die. Too close together, and they would collide, destroying everything in their wake."
Ruby felt a chill run through her at the realisation. "That's why you separated yourself. So you could know the freedom that the other deities have freely. Why did they choose you specifically?"
Nexus chuckled dully. "Because I was the youngest. And arguably the most inexperienced. We came from nothing, born from the two worlds. Life was good in the beginning of time. The world's developed freely, and there was no need for constant monitoring. Then they began to drift. Slightly at first. Then more ferociously. It was as though they wanted to be independent from one another. But they are non-viable alone."
Ruby turned toward Safire, tilting her head in a sudden sideways jerk to signal for the princess to approach. "Well, while I feel sympathy for your plight, it seems that it worked out in the end. So what does this have to do with me and Safire?"
Nexus hung his head, rolling the fabric of his robe between his fingers. "When I first felt freedom, I went slightly stir crazy. It was freeing to be able to explore the worlds. I'd remove things from one just to place them in the other. My proudest work was the duck scenario. I never thought that they'd worship such a goofy-looking thing as a god, but they did."
He smiled delicately in mild amusement. But Ruby and Safire were far from amused with his tale. Ruby stepped forward, snapping her fingers toward Nexus. "That's hilarious and all, now why don't we get back to what the hell any of this has to do with me and Safire?"
Nexus turned to face the young women with a now grim expression. "That's part of the explanation. As time went on, so did the pranks, experiments, and general desire to cause mild mayhem to the worlds that caused me an inconceivable amount of pain. I thought it was all in good fun. Nothing was done to hurt the people. Then one day, I went too far."
Nexus cast an image of a young couple, holding a newborn baby in their arms. A beautiful blonde woman with a stunning smile, and a proud-looking man with an icy stare. Safire stepped forward in disbelief. "Mom, Dad?"
Nexus nodded weakly. "Before you were born, I was following your parent's" Nexus turned to stare at Ruby. "And yours. Safire was conceived out of obligation and a desire for male lineage. Ruby was conceived from love and a hope for a new world. It was an interesting comparison. Two completely different couples, carrying children for two different reasons."
Nexus's small smile dropped as his breath wavered. "Then the Earth child died. It was sudden, unexplainable, and unfair." His throat tightened as he spoke. "I watched these two wonderful parents watch the life they planned wilt away. I thought – that's not right. The king and queen, who didn't even want their child if she were female, get to keep theirs, but this couple, who will adore their child, has to lose theirs?"
Ruby shook her head, her brows furrowed deep in confusion. "I think you have some things confused. My parents never lost their child. I'm an only child, and sure, I had some complications. But I was born healthy."
Nexus clenched his jaw as he fought back the tears that dared to well. "No, she wasn't. She never had the chance to leave the womb before she left this world. I couldn't let that happen. So I took half. I thought about taking the soul in its entirety, but I couldn't leave one side mourning, while the other gets to rejoice."
Safire's jaw opened and closed, yet no words came out. The confusion was clear on her face. Ruby held her hand to her chest as her gaze shifted toward Safire. The realisation hit like a truck. "Nexus... what did you do?!"
"I tore that child's soul in two." Safire collapsed to her knees, left trembling. "I knew you'd both survive, as I've witnessed those who meddle in dark magic kill their souls until only a small faction is left. I knew you'd both live, go on to have wonderfully opposing lives, and that the family who lost their child would be none the wiser. Ruby, you are Cyrusian. You belong in Teralu. The world where you were transported. You're not from Earth. I put you there."
-End of chapter 10-