Melody paces at the edge of the clearing, her face scrunched up in thought. She mutters to herself, rehearsing how she'll start her conversation with Marcus. In her head, nothing could be easier. All she has to do is walk up to him, ask to talk in private, and ask point blank. What was up with that illusion? Why did it look like we were about to kiss at the end?
Of course, it's always going to be easy in her head. It's putting it into practice that's the hard part. The group decided to land for the night over an hour ago. The terrain is completely different from anything Melody has ever seen - high cliffs with jagged rock faces flanking wide flat patches where beautiful trees and flowers grow. The sun is setting, casting long shadows over the peaceful scene. But Melody can't enjoy any of it. She's too busy planning her attack.
"Marcus, we need to talk," she mutters for the hundredth time. "I want to know about that illusion. Don't deny it - I know what I saw," she adds, anticipating his reply perfectly. He's obviously going to try to deny it. But she won't let him. "The last part, when we had all the treaties. We were about to k-kiss. What does that mean?" She mimes out thrusting a finger into his face like she's just solved some great mystery. "Do you think we would be dating if we had kept meeting!? Because-" She stops, her throat tightening.
She wants to deny it. After everything that's happened, everything that she's been through, every part of her screams that it would never happen. Marcus is basically a different person now. He's always grumpy, and he jumps at every chance he gets to fight. Whenever he talks, his words are harsh and blunt. Not to mention, it's obvious that there are a million thoughts buzzing around in his head that he's not sharing. The old Marcus wouldn't do that.
So why can't she bring herself to say they wouldn't be together?
She starts pacing again, kicking loose rocks whenever she spots one in her path. She runs through the conversation again, anxiety growing in her chest like a ball of molten lead. All she has to do is walk up and ask.
"So, there a reason you're terrorizing the pebbles?" Marcus says, his voice slicing into her thoughts. She yelps, jumping back from him with a guilty look on her face. She pants heavily, trying to swallow her heart to get an alibi out past it. Marcus chuckles, crossing his arms. "Instead of giving me some half-hearted excuse, maybe try telling me what's going on?"
"N-nothing's going on!" She snaps, suddenly very conscious of her hands. She lets them fall to her sides, but they feel fat and heavy. She crosses her arms, but then it feels like he's staring at them. So she awkwardly leans against the rocky wall next to her, resting the other on her hip. "See?"
"Right, how silly of me," he replies sarcastically. "Want to try again? I might believe it if you trip over yourself some more."
"It's nothing!" She says, her mind kicking into overdrive. Suddenly every conversation she practiced plays at once, and she can't grasp one long enough to use. Marcus chuckles, leaning his back against the cliff next to her.
"Let me guess - you're worried about the Jade Emperor," he says with a grin. "You don't know what you're going to say to convince him to sign the treaty." Melody's thoughts grind to a stop, and her mouth falls open. She had forgotten about the Jade Emperor. And the treaty. And now that their situation is fresh in her mind, she realizes that he's right.
"We're going to arrive in two days," Melody gasps, her teeth chattering. "Maybe even tomorrow! I-I'm not ready, I can't-" she stammers, running her fingers through her hair. They get caught in the tangles of curls, but she doesn't notice. "What am I going to say to him? I don't know the first thing about the Tao! I need - I need to research!" She waves her hand, conjuring her old research journal from back home on Olympus. She flips it open to a fresh page, searching her mind for what books she has on the Chinese Pantheon.
"Mel, slow down, take a breath," Marcus says, grabbing her shoulders. He turns her to face him, and her eyes snap open when they meet his. They don't look as cloudy anymore - in fact, other than the scars around them, his eyes look good as new. Maybe a little unfocused. Blood suddenly rushes to her cheeks as she stares at him, and she finds that she can't follow his instructions. "You got this," he says after a moment, offering a kind smile.
"I-I got this," she echoes, but the words don't register in her mind. "I need to prepare-"
"Relax, you'll figure it out. You always do," he says with a chuckle. He pats her shoulder, sliding his hands down her arms. He lets go of her, keeping his hands up as if he's expecting her to fall. Despite feeling like she will, Melody manages to keep her balance.
"You don't know that. What if we get there tomorrow, and I talk to the Jade Emperor, and he-"
"Breathe," he repeats, making a show of inhaling deeply. "I do know. Because it's you." Melody feels her face heat up again and is sure that her ears are as red as her hair.
"What does that have to do with anything?"
"Solving problems is what you do. It always has been. Why do you think Odin and Freya let us go so easily? I'm sure it's why the Olympians let you go, too."
"You think that was easy!?" She hisses, making Marcus laugh again.
"You know what I mean. You help people. No matter what you do, it works out in the end. Like the time Frey lost his boat in the swamp." He grins at her. "He was freaking out because he thought a mortal would find it. You spent the whole week digging through the mud until you found it." Melody huffs, her head sinking into her neck.
"I wasn't helping him; I was trying to steal the boat for myself," she says, crossing her arms stubbornly.
"Sure, that's why you come charging inside as soon as you found it, waving it around like a toy plane." He smirks at her knowingly, narrowing his eyes. "You ran right to Frey and dropped it in his lap."
"...I was asking how to use it," she grumbles, turning her head away from him. "I didn't know how to unfold it."
"Mel, you know I've got more stories. Just accept it - you're a meddler. You like solving people's problems, whether they ask for help or not," Marcus says with a shrug. "It's one of the reasons we became friends, remember?"
"Okay, if anything, I was solving Thor's problem, not yours," she says. "And in case it wasn't clear, the problem was you."
"Oh, is that why you told him that you were the one that super glued his bathroom door shut? And all this time I thought we just had the same idea," he says sarcastically, nudging her with his elbow. "I should have known, that totally sounds like something you would do."
"...shut up," she grumbles, reliving the memory in her head. Thor looked so mad that she thought he would kill poor Marcus. Even if she didn't know him at the time, she couldn't just stand by and let him get punished. So, she took the blame for him instead. Even now she doesn't quite understand her logic, and Freya grounded her for two whole months. But it led to Marcus becoming her best friend, so in the end, it was worth it.
And now he might like her. Like like her.
Melody's face explodes with embarrassment, and she slams her hands over her cheeks to try to hide how red they are. Suddenly the Jade Emperor is the last thing on her mind. She screws her eyes shut, grasping for any of her practiced conversations. But they're all gone. She's flying blind.
"M-Marcus? Can - can I ask you something?" She says carefully, her eyes locked on the ground. She awkwardly kicks a pebble around between her feet, watching it roll across the uneven ground. "And you can't ask why!" She adds in a panic. Marcus looks at her quizzically, raising an eyebrow. She closes her eyes again, feeling his gaze drilling into the side of her head. Can he see her thoughts? Are they somehow poking out of her ear? Why is he staring!?
"...I have a bad feeling about this, but sure. Ask away," he says with a deep sigh. Melody nods, swallowing the lump in her throat. She just has to say it. Just ask the question.
"I don't want a full explanation," she says instead, grasping at every second she can buy. "Just a simple yes or no."
"Sure," he says. Melody whimpers to herself, hating how readily he's agreeing. Even more so, she hates how casual he sounds, when she's having a nuclear meltdown.
"O-okay. I..." She takes a slow, deep breath, sucking in the air through her nose and blowing it out through her mouth. "I want to know about that illusion!" She says, the words firing out of her like a cannon. She pants heavily, pressing her hands against her chest to slow her racing heart. "That illusion you showed me before! At the end, it looked like we...l-like we..." she stammers, her head swimming. She's definitely having a meltdown.
"...so, you did see that," he sighs, hanging his head. "Yeah, you saw right. That was a kiss," he admits, clapping a hand over his face. "I really should have been more careful with that-"
"N-no, that's not-" she gasps, butterflies filling her stomach. "I mean, it is, but - I just - do you..." She shakes her head, taking another slow breath to let her mouth catch up to her mind. "What I mean is, you don't have to be sorry. But do you really think that's how it would have gone?" She tears her eyes from the ground, slowly looking up to meet his. Again, she can't help but marvel at how much better they look now than they did when they were reunited. Marcus swallows audibly, licking his lips. His face is almost as red as hers now, which helps her relax a bit.
"...yeah. I do," he finally says, not breaking eye contact. "If we had stayed together, I think we would have...you know." He scratches the back of his neck, leaning his head to the side. His eyes shift to the ground, but he's clearly not seeing whatever he's looking at. "Sorry."
"Don't be sorry," Melody says quickly. A little too quickly for her liking - even she's surprised by how excited she sounds. She forces her lips closed before she can say anything else, only allowing them to open when she knows exactly what she's going to say. "What...what about now?" Her heart flutters, and she takes a slow, careful step toward him. She leans forward a bit, looking up at him through her eyelashes. "Now that we're here...do you think...?" Marcus stares at her, and his eyes flick down to her lips. She shivers, the weight of his eyes pressing against her. It's like he's seeing her for the first time - or maybe in a new way.
"I-Is that what you want?" He says, tearing his eyes away from her. Melody's eyes shoot to the ground, and she feels herself break out in a cold sweat.
"Is it what you want?" She replies anxiously. Everything feels wrong - the way she's standing, the weight of her clothes, even the air touching her skin feels like it's disheveled. Several minutes pass in silence, each waiting for the other to respond. A million situations play in Melody's mind - ranging from him laughing in her face to him suddenly kissing her on the spot. She touches her fingers to her lips, unable to stop herself from hoping for the latter.
"...This isn't the time," Marcus finally says with a groan. He hangs his head, his jaw set firmly. "We don't know what's going to happen after tomorrow. We're probably going to be facing the Monkey King, and after that-" He cuts himself off, shaking his head. Then he straightens, looking her dead in the eye. "Yes, I think that we would have gotten together. But things are different now." Melody's shoulders droop, and her heart shrivels in her chest.
"So... you don't want to..." she whispers, tears building behind her eyes. Marcus touches her cheek, tilting her head up to meet his eye.
"I didn't say that," he says, his cheeks flushing again. "But we've got more important things to worry about. We can't afford to be distracted by...whatever might come from this conversation," he says gently. "Let's make a deal. Clearly neither of us are ready for this talk. So, let's put it on hold, at least until after we've dealt with the Jade Emperor." Melody blinks at him, weighing his words. It's not a bad plan - she's been fixated on this ever since Koji mentioned it. And she needs to come up with a plan for convincing the Jade Emperor to sign the treaty sooner rather than later.
"So... we'll decide once we're done at the Jade Palace," Melody clarifies. Marcus nods, rubbing her cheek with his thumb.
"I think that's for the best," he says softly. Melody bobs her head back and forth, eventually nodding back.
"Deal."
"Let's get to bed, then," he says, slipping his hand into hers. She feels her face heat up again as he guides her back towards the campsite. Emelia, Oliver, and Koji are nowhere to be seen - they must have gone to bed already. Melody stares at the sky, only just realizing how late it is. The stars are already out.
"Marcus..." she says, stopping dead in her tracks. He stops as well, glancing back at her over his shoulder. She watches the stars twinkle for a moment before speaking. "This is happening, isn't it?" She breathes gently. "We're going to be facing the Jade Emperor and his servants tomorrow."
"Probably," Marcus says. Melody bites her lip, and he grunts in annoyance. "Stop that."
"Do you think we're ready?" She says, ignoring his complaint. "Do you think...I'm ready?" Marcus stares at her, his expression unreadable. He doesn't speak until she shifts her eyes down to look at him.
"Yeah, you are. Because it's you." He smiles wide, patting her shoulder. "You'll figure it out. I'm sure of it."