"Something tells me this Gate raid didn’t go exactly to plan."
Jason scoffed, and Gina let out a small sigh once Cersai said this, and it was Gina who spoke up first.
"We were ambushed inside the Gate by the Bengari. You know about them, don’t you?"
Cersai’s eyes widened slightly, and he nodded. The Bengari were the race that had been on the short list to become the leaders of this domain twice already, so they were very popular. But from what Cersai had heard from the other world visitors, the Bengari were a very powerful race of warriors who had taken down many other worlds during the Period of Lawlessness! If the Bengari were really the ones that attacked, then it was a miracle that George was the only casualty! Cersai asked Jason if this was related to the Machina attack from a few weeks ago, and Jason nodded.
"It’s the same person behind both attacks. This time, he only took control of Diane, and he made her lead the others into battle. I’m going to be sending probes out to Bengari to see if I can’t find anything on him, but I’ll need you to help me look in the mind of some of the Bengari when I bring them back."
Cersai nodded, and he said that Gaia was ready to help whenever Jason needed them. Cersai was just glad that the Bengari had appeared inside the Blue Gate and not in their world. It would’ve been a completely different story for them if two TITAN Rank IIIs had done battle on Earth. But Cersai took another look at Jason, and he wondered if Jason was still a TITAN Rank III. Cersai couldn’t feel Jason’s power anymore, so he wasn’t sure if Jason was using an artefact to hide his power, or if this was a result of Jason’s power going through an evolution! Cersai decided that it must be the latter. If Jason were still a TITAN, then Jason wouldn’t need to conceal his power like this!
Jason and Gina walked beside Cersai silently for a few more minutes, and Jason looked down at Gina to see her staring at the floor with a frown. Jason turned to Cersai, and he gave him a look while nodding to the side, and Cersai immediately understood that Jason wanted some privacy. Cersai walked away from the couple while telling the soldiers around them to move out. Once Jason and Gina were alone, Jason spoke up through their mental link.
’Hey, Gina. Is everything alright?’
Gina looked up at Jason in surprise once she heard that question, and she blushed slightly when she realised that Jason was looking at her worriedly. Gina gave Jason a small smile, and she looked to the side for a second before she finally spoke.
’I think... I think you were right about me fighting. I don’t like how much danger I put myself in today.’
Jason immediately understood what Gina was referring to. Before they came into this gate, Jason and Gina had argued a little about whether or not she should come with him. Jason didn’t want Gina endangering herself or the child since she was already three months into the pregnancy and she would start showing soon, but Gina had been adamant about being there for Jason, and she swore that she would always be with multiple subordinates to make sure she didn’t run into any problems. Jason eventually agreed since he knew he could protect Gina no matter what, and Gina felt happy that Jason allowed her to come.
But Gina realised during the battle with the Bengari that she could never truly know what was going to happen! The Bengari had come out of nowhere, and if not for Jason distracting Diane when he did, Gina had no idea what would have happened in that fight! Gina felt an immense amount of guilt for endangering their child like that, and she looked up at Jason sadly.
"I’m sorry for not listening to you."
Jason huffed calmly.
"Of course you didn’t listen to me, you’re as stubborn as they come."
Gina blushed, and she stepped forward and hugged Jason before she said:
"I’m going to go stay with our family until the baby comes. I still want to be with you on your journey, and I want to be there to help you, but I know that this baby is more important to us, so I’ll put my battles on hold for now. I know you have a lot of responsibilities, so I won’t try to make you stay in one place just for me, but I want you to promise me you’ll be safe. Please, don’t go somewhere I can’t find you, Jason."
Jason smiled as Gina looked up at him with teary eyes, and Jason leaned down to give her a soft kiss. Jason knew that this was hard for Gina. Both of them had been together on all their journeys for the past few months, so they had become very attached, and Gina felt responsible for making sure that Jason was okay! That was why Gina had been adamant to help him against the [Beast of the Apocalypse], and it was also why she wanted to enter the Gate with him. But Jason was happy that Gina had finally decided to slow down a little.
"Don’t worry, once the baby comes, we can go on many adventures together. We’ll go see all the places you’ve been wanting to visit all this time. We can even go to that fancy resort Hesbaeht keeps talking about."
Gina chuckled in amusement as she remembered how Hesbaeht kept praising the resort, and Gina nodded to Jason. Gina leaned up and wrapped her hands around Jason’s neck as she gave Jason another deep kiss, and she told him to be careful before she floated into the sky.
"Tell me if you’re going to be home late, alright, love. I’ll stay up for you."
"Sure thing, babe. I’ll see you tonight."
Gina grinned and waved once more before she turned and took off towards the family house! Jason let out a calm breath as he watched her go, and he felt like a part of him had just left. Jason couldn’t remember the last time he and Gina weren’t doing one thing or another together. But Jason knew he could still talk to Gina through their mental link, so he decided not to let the separation get to him.
In truth, Jason knew that Gina didn’t have to worry about their baby getting hurt during a fight. The ring that Jason had given Gina was very similar to the ring that his father had given his mother. It was a protective ring that would activate once it sensed a level of danger that was too high for Gina to handle on her own. Back in the Blue Gate, the subordinates had all protected Gina, and that was why the Ring didn’t activate when Diane tried to hit her, but if the fight had continued, then the Ring would’ve immediately created a shield around Gina and teleported her to his side! But even though Gina was protected, Jason still didn’t like the idea of her being in danger, so he decided it would be best to let her stay with the family for now.
Once Gina left, Cersai appeared beside Jason in a spray of electricity, and Jason’s expression finally turned serious as he spoke.
"Are there any updates about the worlds parallel to us?"
Cersai nodded, and he spoke with a small frown.
"There have been several worlds asking for access to travel to our world, especially for trade. We’ve turned down most of them since we’re not ready to open trade yet, but there was one message that stood out to me. It was from a world known as Casras, and the sender was named Lord Ragran. Apparently, he is one of the lords sitting on the High Seat of Elder Worlds within this domain, and he demanded to meet with you regarding a brewing war on the western axis of the domain."
Lord Ragran? Jason searched his memories for that name, and he hummed as he remembered it from the Machina database.