Ghost and the Writer

Violet

As August made a step forward, they were no longer in the same forest, but a place that both reminded it and didn't. The colors had turned more vivid and the light felt confusing as if the sun was shining in at different angles. The trees showed different sceneries in gaps between their trunks. A meadow, a marsh, a thicket, a birch alley.

So that's why it was called a fae path... it wasn't teleportation, it really was a path, a shortcut connecting different places. Yet with each step August made, the scenery the same tree trunk gaps showed was different. Even as a ghost Mandy felt some dizziness and the newly acquired familiars seemed to be far worse off than she was.

Yet only after a few steps, it was over and they ended up in a mossy, shadowy and ancient looking fir forest. A girl with bright blue hair was standing further away, next to a huge stone with a hole in the middle. There was a doll in her hands not fitting with the girl's attire one bit. A teenager in jeans and army boots wouldn't walk around with a gothic porcelain doll like that.

Riveria and Ceruleum let go of August to catch on to nearby tree trunks. Ceruleum looked like he might even throw up.

"That was something," Ceruleum mumbled to himself, breathing deeply to calm his senses.

Riveria nodded, her face pale.

For just a moment a trace of a satisfied smile passed August's lips, but he let out a sigh, erasing that expression as he started walking towards the stone.

August certainly had a sadistic streak in him. Mandy felt sorry for the two and also - like she had lucked out that she hadn't tried this with a body-- At times it really was good to lack a stomach.

The one who spoke first was the doll, startling Mandy in the process. "When did you manage to get three familiars?"

Mandly stared at the doll, only now noticing that she was life-like. The proportions of the face were clearly those of a doll and the skin also had that soft shade of matte porcelain enamel, but the expressions, gestures and all the little movements were like those of a living being. The doll was blinking, her hands moved ever so slightly as she spoke and if not for lack of movement that implied breathing, she seemed fully alive.

"Moments ago," there was a deep trace of despair in August's voice as he admitted that, "and two, this one's a ghost in disguise," he tilted his head a bit to point to Mandy.

"You never cease to surprise," the doll said, then looked up at Mandybird. "I'm Violet, the one holding me is Alice, pleased to meet you."

"Mandy, likewise," the tit tilted its head in greeting. She didn't fail to catch the despair in August's voice, yet she had no idea why he felt that way considering he had made the offer to those two himself. Even if not fully serious, he had said it was something he wanted in exchange for the love potion cocktail.

Mandy still felt that having dragons as familiars ought to make one a lot stronger. Or perhaps making the love potion booze was very time consuming and August was despairing knowing he would need to make 'all they can drink'? That was a possibility.

The two familiars walked up as well. Their steps had been sluggish in the start, but they looked completely fine now like all nausea had been a lie.

"Long time no see," said Riveria, taking on a more dignified air.

"Yes, sadly no time to catch up," Violet replied to her and cast a curious look towards Ceruleum.

"I believe we are familiar, just not in this form," Ceruleum said with a smile, also seeming more dignified (or perhaps distant) now. Was Violet someone special or were the two usually like that? Mandy figured she would see as time goes. At this moment the two looked reliable, standing just a bit behind August as two bodyguards would.