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“So, what are we going to do?” Violet asked, her voice trailing off as she noticed a thick fog suddenly appearing. Reaching out she grabbed both Alison and Ellie before she could think, her heart racing as she tried to reason what was happening.

Alison, still within Violet’s grasp, reached out desperately in the direction John stood moments before. “J-John? John!” she called out, her voice trembling.

Ellie felt uneasy but she took deep breaths trying to stay calm. She strained her eyes trying to see through the fog. It was hard to see but she spotted a shadow in the fog, and pulling the other two with her, she reached for it, only to place her hand on the trunk of a tree. “This is strange. There wasn’t a tree here before, where’s everyone else? Were we teleported or something?” she wondered aloud. “Listen, girls, we shouldn’t panic. The sulphurous smell is still in the air, so we can’t be far from where we started.”

Violet’s head whipped around looking around the area as her eyes widened. “S-sulphur? You mean, we were being watched… then something was following us, then the smell of sulphur, and now fog? Do you think the forest is… h-haunted?” she asked, her grip tightening on both Alison and Ellie.

The alchemist chuckled softly, growing into a laugh which abruptly stopped when she noticed Violet trembling, tears welling up in her eyes. “Oh shit, you were serious? I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have laughed. But no, I don’t think this is caused by spirits. Whoever was watching only started to try to get our attention after the smell appeared. So I think there are two options; they were trying to lead us away from the fog and smell, or leading us into it for one reason or another. One of the faeries could just be playing a prank.”
Violet took a shaky breath, the reminder that they weren’t alone offering a bit of comfort. She still felt uneasy, but Alison’s voice brought her back to the moment. “W-what about J-J-John? How do we f-find him?”
Violet thought for a moment, then a small smile broke through. “We can’t be far from him. He still has my necklace, and if it got too far away, I’d be pulled towards it.” She guided Ellie’s hand to Alison’s before hugging the artist tightly from behind, finding solace in the connection.
The group still felt a sense of danger and unease in the fog, but now they felt more calm, clear-headed and having each other helped. “Well, if we managed to stick together, maybe John, Robin and Agni managed to stick together too. If this was a trap or done on purpose, I think whoever was behind it would have tried to split us apart by now, but it’s been like ten minutes and nothing has happened.”

Rubbing Alison’s shoulder, Violet asked how she was doing. The artist nodded. “I th-think I’m alright… Kn-knowing John is cl-close is c-c-comforting,” she replied.

Ellie clapped the back of her hand. “I think standing here is a bad idea, best case someone stumbles on us, worst we get ambushed or something. While moving means that we have a chance to exit the fog, Vi possibly gets pulled towards John or we bump into John, Robin and Agni. There could still be a possibility of something bad happening but at least we’re not just sitting ducks.”

Unanimously agreeing, they began to walk. Moving from tree to tree in order to have some kind of direction. After reaching the fifth or sixth tree, Violet chuckled. “Funny how it was us that ended up grouped together. All three of us being John’s partners now.”

Ellie raised a finger to her cheek in thought. “Yeah, we’re just missing Lani and Erin for the whole harem to be assembled.”

Alison tilted her head like a puppy, looking up at Ellie confused and slightly concerned. “H-harem?” she asked.

Nodding Ellie continued, “Well, yeah. He’s already got multiple wives, girlfriends and casual hookups. Those relationships might change, and get more or less serious, but he still has multiple partners.”

Sensing Alison’s unease, Violet tightened her hug. “Hey, you alright, sweetheart? You’re looking a little green.”

Alison nodded. “J-just a l-little overwhelming. I d-d-don’t k-know i-if I fit i-in,” she mumbled.

“Aww, come on, Alison. I’m a literal dead girl, and you wouldn’t say I don’t fit in, would you? Don’t answer that. It doesn’t matter about fitting in, it matters how you feel and how John feels. We’ll all get to know each other and I know we’ll grow closer but what matters is you and John,” Violet reassured the artist.

Ellie nodded along before adding, “Yeah, and just remember that we’re here to talk if you need it, especially John because he’s probably feeling a little similar to you right now. He’s never been in a relationship and he’s now in this very odd one. So if you ever feel the need to talk to anyone feel free and don’t be scared to talk to John.”

Ellie squeezed Alison’s hand again. “Hey, how about we get to know each other a little better? That might help you feel more comfortable, right?” she asked.

The three began talking. Alison was quite quiet but made an effort to join in. Initially, she felt uncomfortable and a little trapped, but after going along with them and getting to know each other, she slowly relaxed. Violet and Ellie seemed to be quite attentive to her shyness, making sure they weren’t pushing anything and keeping topics lighter for the most part.

“Hey, so, are we, like, dating too? We’re all with John, does that mean that you are both my girlfriends?” Violet asked, mostly looking at Ellie but glancing at Alison too.

“Oh, definitely not,” Ellie said, causing Violet’s face to drop. “It would be a little unfair if that was an automatic assumption, especially since one person might not want or be comfortable with that. You’d have to talk with that person, but first I think we’d need to find out if John would even be comfortable with us having another partner other than him.”

“So if I asked, would you be interested in me?” Violet asked, a smirk growing on her face.

Ellie smiled back. “I don’t know, I’m a classy lady. I’d need to be wooed,” she replied.

“Are you sure? I thought you’d be the kind of girl who believes in love at first sight, I can always walk by you again,” Violet said, winking.

Alison giggled, and Ellie’s smile broadened. “Oh come on, that one’s terrible.” She laughed.

Violet raised an eyebrow and smirked. “Oh yeah? And you can do better?”

“Of course!” Ellie scoffed before a more serious and flirtatious expression adorned her face. “Are you this fog? Because whenever I look at you, everyone else disappears.”

“Don’t worry about the fog, Ellie,” Violet reassured. “You don’t need a map or anything, I can just show you the way to my heart.”

The three continued walking through the fog, slowly and carefully trying to navigate through the forest, occasionally passing a tree or two. Each tree seemed to look identical and Ellie took a second to carve a mark into the trunk of one such tree, hoping they weren’t just walking in a circle.

“Oh, Violet, you say that now, but are you sure?” Ellie asked, smirking. “Because with a heart as captivating as yours, I might purposefully lose my way.”

“I wouldn’t let you get lost. I’m like a compass, I’ll always point you back to where you belong, right by my side,” Violet retorted, reaching over and pulling Ellie closer, essentially pressing her into Alison, who let out a squeak and tried not to attract attention from the other two.

“You know, maybe we should take a break,” Ellie suggested. “I’m sure you’re tired, you’ve been running through my mind.”

Violet nodded thoughtfully, looking into Ellie’s eyes. “You might be right. You don’t happen to have a Band-Aid, do you? I think I scraped my knee, falling for you.”

“Sorry, but I think the only cure for that might be a little kiss.” Ellie smirked, giving Violet an air kiss and winking.

Alison’s face was beet red and she dropped her head and turned slightly, trying to hide discreetly, allowing her hair to cover her face somewhat. Violet giggled, and with one hand holding Alison’s shoulder, she moved in front of them, coming face to face with Ellie.

The blonde stared at her, showing a smug smirk, almost daring her. Violet took the challenge and leaned in, kissing Ellie on the lips. Her other hand reached up to cup Ellie’s cheek, and Ellie placed her free hand on the back of Violet’s head pulling her in.

The moss top squeaked when she peeked over to see what was happening, which was enough of a signal for the two to separate before going too far.

Violet returned behind Alison, hugging her from behind. “Sorry, sweetheart,” she said softly to the meek girl. “I couldn’t let that challenge stand. And hey, now I’ve kissed everyone here.”

Ellie looked a little shocked and looked at Alison. “You like girls too?” she asked.

“Oh, uhm… I-I’m n-not sure,” Alison responded.

Violet cut in, seemingly being Alison’s saviour, “Yeah, she said she hadn’t thought about it, so we kissed and I thought it’d be better to give her some time to think about it, and if she wants to try again, or try something else, she can just ask or talk to John or something.”

Alison smiled shyly and nodded. Ellie lightly squeezed Alison’s hand. “Okay, I won’t push further then. Just know that you can talk to me too if you want to. I’ve had way more girlfriends than boyfriends, so if you want any help, I’m only a text or call away.”

The group fell silent as they walked for a minute before Ellie couldn’t stand it and cleared her throat. “Hey, so, how are you feeling about the way our relationship is, Alison? It’s your first relationship, right? And it’s not exactly a traditional one. I’m sure John hasn’t said anything but he’s in the same situation as you right now; I’m not going to tell you exactly what he said but earlier he was willing to talk about how he was feeling and he’s been really self-conscious about the relationship. Like I said, I’m always here to talk, but John is there for you too.”

Alison blushed again and nodded. They weren’t sure how long they’d been walking but this opportunity to get to know each other more allowed the three to grow closer and feel more comfortable with each other, and though they enjoyed the time, a wave of relief came as they saw the fog beginning to thin.

All three of them picked up their pace hoping to leave the fog faster and reunite with John.

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