If you enjoy my work and would like to support me I appreciate one-time support and all my members on Buy Me A Coffee, members get access to my private discord as well as early art commissions and chapters.

Author Note: Hello, it is that time of year again when I will be taking a short break, this will be the last chapter of the year and I'll be back on the ninth. I am hoping that during this time off I might be able to build my chapter buffer once more and be able to come back at the beginning of the year to get back to my weekly posting, however, it is possible I will have to maintain the fortnightly publishing. Have a great holiday season everyone who celebrates and I wish you all a happy new year.

Robin’s focus shifted from Violet, sensing a change in the air: first, the temperature dropped, followed by a surge of humidity, and then a distinct heaviness that signalled something unusual.

’Fog,’ Robin thought, his instincts sharp. Agni was closest, so he reached out, grabbing her. “Everyone, grab onto someone. There’s a thick fog rolling in, and I don’t think it’s normal,” he warned, his face dropping as he realised Violet’s voice had vanished.

Faint silhouettes of the trees behind him were still barely visible but the rest of the forest had become an ominous blur. The eerie stillness was only broken up by the soft rustle of leaves coming from above, barely audible through the dense mist.

“We should all move closer together,” Robin called out, his voice raised to compensate for the muffling effect of the fog. “That way we can keep an eye on each other and no one gets lost. Just follow my voice and we’ll all be grouped.”

He continued to call out, hoping that everyone would converge but nothing happened. ’Fucking great!’ he thought. He exhaled deeply in frustration before his attention shifted down to Agni, her gaze fixed downward. “Hey, Agni. You’ve been quiet, something on your mind?” he asked, hoping at best she had something to add to the situation or at worst could facilitate a distraction.

Agni’s hand became uncomfortably warm briefly, then settled back to a comfortable heat. She lifted her head, her expression puzzled, and then she glanced back down at their hands. “Mmh? Agni saw the other girls holding John’s hand. Thinking about doing it made Agni warm and tingly, but Agni wanted to do it with John… Does Robin feel tingly about Agni?”

Caught off guard, Robin coughed and spluttered. Quickly he cleared his throat in an attempt to mask the moment of awkwardness. “Oh, uh, no, sorry,” he replied with a small, nervous chuckle. “I don’t get those kinds of feelings. At least not for girls, I like guys.”

Agni blinked and thought for a second before nodding. “Does Robin feel tingly about John then?”

Robin smiled, shaking his head. “Nah. I love John, but not in that way. I’d say he’s closer to family, like a brother. No romantic or sexual feelings towards him at all.”

The slime continued staring, clearly waiting for him to continue. Robin sighed before obliging. “John and I have been friends for years. We only met in person recently for the first time. Our friendship started because I recognised his username in a game we were playing, I’d seen it before in a local game store’s competition. We got talking, he was going through a rough patch because his cousin had just moved away, and we were both feeling kinda lonely. We hit it off and, over the next year or so, built a tight-knit group of gaming buddies.

“Now we meet up almost every day. That’s why I got worried when John suddenly went off the grid after learning about magic.” Robin paused and Agni clearly wanted more. “Alright, fine, how about this, when we first met, I kinda did have a few thoughts about John. But it wasn’t real. It was just more of the idea that I could get close to a friend, but the people I imagined were never actually John or the rest of my friends and those thoughts faded fast. The real John and the rest of the guys became like family to me,” he explained.

Agni leaned closer, eyes glinting. “What else?” she asked, eagerly.

Robin raised an eyebrow. “What do you mean?”

“Agni wants more about John,” she clarified, waiting expectantly.

“Ooooh, I understand,” Robin said, nodding slowly. “I had a feeling you were interested in him.” He smirked. “But I feel I should warn you, John already has several girls in his life. Would that bother you?”

The golem tilted her head at Robin's words, her eyes blinking, clearly not understanding. “Is John limited to how many people he has in his life?” she questioned, her voice soft.

“Ah, uh, no, not exactly.” Robin hesitated, trying to explain. “What I mean is that John is polyamorous which means he has more than one romantic and sexual partner. Not everyone is okay with those relationships, preferring just to have one partner. So, with that in mind, you should consider if it would bother you if he was close with other women, especially because John wouldn’t be comfortable if you became close with other guys.”

Agni listened carefully, then glanced down at her hand, as if in thought. Robin could almost hear the gears in her head turning. Quickly he adjusted his grip when the slime tried to pull away. “Hold on. We’re holding hands for safety, not comfort or intimacy,” he clarified. “There is a big difference and John would understand.”

After a moment of contemplation, Agni nodded, accepting Robin’s reasoning. “Agni will speak to Lia later. Lia is sure to know more and can teach Agni,”

Robin blinked, pausing. “Wait, I hadn’t thought about it before. Why hasn’t Lia been chiming in during our conversation? Is she not helping you understand any of this? I kinda figured she was just sitting back and watching what was happening. Or does she go to sleep or something?”

Agni hummed thoughtfully. “Lia got quiet earlier. Lia said she was retreating to her mental study to give Agni privacy and enjoy playtime. She mentioned having things to think about and organise.”

Robin raised an eyebrow. “So, is she just ignoring everything around us, or has she created her own mental space to block her consciousness from the outside world?”

Agni furrowed her brow, pondering for a moment before nodding, as if she’d found the answer, and proudly proclaimed, “Agni does not know!” She seemed pleased with her answer before continuing, “Agni can ask, or Lia can explain later.”
Opening his mouth, he stopped himself and sighed lightly, a half-smile tugging at his lips. “Got it,” he replied. “Are you able to do that too? Retreat into your thoughts like she does, and how long has this ability been possible?”

“Agni has not tried, so Agni does not know,” she answered, shrugging. “But Lia started after Agni told Lia off for taking away playtime.”

Robin gave a thoughtful nod. “I’ll keep that in mind. I suppose it’ll give Lia and I something to talk about later.” He glanced around, suddenly realising they hadn’t moved since the fog appeared. “We should get moving. Standing here isn’t going to get us out of here or find anyone.”

They set off, cautiously walking through the dense fog, going from tree to tree, using them as markers to navigate. It wasn’t long before they stumbled upon something unusual. Robin leaned closer, inspecting the bark of a tree they’d come to. A single line across the trunk had been carved.

“This looks recent, Maybe John or one of the girls made it,” he reasoned. “But it’s just a single line carved. No direction, no arrow, no word. It’s hard to tell what it is supposed to convey other than that someone was here. They could have carved it on the side they approached the tree from, but they could have also cut it in the direction they went.”

Not wanting to waste too much time on uncertainty, Robin led them forward, in hopes of finding another tree with a marking on it. After combing the surrounding trees, they found nothing.

As they walked, Robin felt Agni’s grip tighten on his hand, and when he looked down, her face was etched with worry. “Hey, Agni, you okay?” he asked gently.

Her body language became more closed off, and her head was dropped down looking at the floor when she shook her head. “Agni feels trapped… Like in the mountain,” she admitted.

Robin used his other hand to pat her head, smiling in an attempt to reassure her. “We’ll be okay,” he said, his tone soothing as he began sharing stories about John and the adventures in gaming he’d experienced, in the hope it would ease her nerves.

The air in the car was suffocating. The only sound came from the engine and the occasional frustrated huff from Valerie, her anger radiating. Selene sat with her knees up to her chest in silence, fidgeting uncomfortably, as the ride back to Val’s house felt longer with every minute.

When they arrived, Val marched to the front door, not bothering to look back. Selene trailed behind, her head low like a scolded puppy. Val held the door long enough for Selene to step through before using a little more **** than intended to close it behind them.

“I don’t even know where I should start. I don’t know what you were thinking,” Valerie spat, pacing back and forth furiously. “What was your plan? Sneak in when John wasn’t around and pretend you hadn’t ghosted her? Then what? Try and make him jealous by cosying up to her? And when that doesn’t work you lash out? Accusing him of disgusting things after everything Ellie’s been through? Brilliant, Selene. Just brilliant. How’d that work out for you?”

Selene mumbled, almost whimpering, her head dipping even lower.

“If you’d have just waited, I could have broached the subject, mentioned you were back in town and wanted to apologise and hope you could talk,” Valerie continued, her voice strained. “But no, you bulldozed your way in and might have ruined any chance you had to fix things.”

Selene clenched her jaw and a tear formed as remorse gave way to frustration and her face contorted in anger. “You know what. You’re right, it was MY mess, one that I needed to clean up! I could have had all this sorted out last week, I could have been there on THAT day and John wouldn’t have even been a problem if you hadn’t interfered!” her voice rose into a yell.

Val opened her mouth to fire back, but Selene turned towards the door and began walking towards it, putting her hand on the handle and then turning back to look at Valerie. “You think John’s this perfect guy, Mr. Wonderful, the knight in shining armour Ellie needs?” Selene snarled, her voice strained. “Something’s not right. I know it. I can feel it. And I’ll prove it!”

The door frame rattled as the younger goth slammed the door on her way out. Valerie stood frozen for a moment, her mind spinning. Finally, she let out a long, exhausted sigh and she fell back onto the couch, massaging her face in an attempt to calm down.

She sat in silence for a few minutes, breathing deeply. Valerie pulled out her phone, her fingers hovering over the screen before she sent a message.

< V: Sorry I yelled. Come back. I don’t want you to do something impulsive. Ellie’s already hurt, and going out of your way to prove her boyfriend is a villain won’t help, she’ll just ignore it and get even more upset. Come back, sleep on it, and in the morning we can see if there’s any way for you to salvage your relationship. >

She stared at her phone, seeing the message left on read. After a while, Val let out a sigh, her frustration deepening. She attempted to call Ellie but was sent to voicemail. Defeated, she typed another text message.

< V: I’m sorry about earlier. Just a heads up, Selene stormed off after we argued. She’s determined to prove John’s bad news, she probably thinks that if she’s vindicated you’ll forgive her. Please just be careful, and try to keep your distance for now. It might not seem like it, but this is her way of attempting to reconcile, I know it’s not a good excuse, but I just hope it’s something you’ll keep in mind, and I’ll support whatever you do. >

Valerie tossed her phone onto the coffee table and slumped onto her back, staring up at the ceiling. “Fuck,” she muttered under her breath. She felt utterly drained and unsure what she could even do next, the weight of her niece’s reckless behaviour pulling her down.

I really love hearing from you guys. It's great to see you make comments on the chapter, or give feedback in the Discord channel or even send me DMs either on here or Discord.

If you prefer not to voice your opinion but still would like to show some support seeing LIKES on a chapter helps me see what's more or less well received, it's also a nice little mood booster and I appreciate seeing them.

I'd like to express a heartfelt thanks to all who support me. Your backing is invaluable, and I'm deeply grateful for it. You are all extremely appreciated.

Atreides
Demoncet
And the other members that prefer not to be named