In the tranquil pre-dawn darkness filled with the barest whispers of agonized soul fragments, Alicia felt abnormally comfortable basking in Jack's aura. Hearing what he'd done to bring her to safety, the increased strength of their bond and the boy's growing skill with manipulating aura all factored into her growing ease, but she felt something was still not quite right. She started poking around in their soul bond for answers when she saw Syraviel's figure stop sharply.

With a hasty wave from the Shadow Goddess, the soul-bonded pair quickly took cover behind a tree. A few more waves from Syraviel conveyed the direction of the incoming golems, allowing the pair to reposition themselves better.

Alicia felt a nagging dissatisfaction in the boy.

“The tree isn't big enough.” He thought.

Looking at the tree's sickly frame in the muted starlight, Alicia couldn't help but agree.

“Let's find another one?”

In the distance, cracking branches and swooshing air broke the eerie calm of the night. Jack shook his head. He pushed himself and Alicia together against the tree, reducing their profile as much as possible.

Alicia's heart pounded, feeling the weight of Jack's body pinning her against the trunk of a crucifix pine. As the sound of splintering wood grew louder, the boy watched the haunting canopy overhead shake.

Silence and stillness returned as quickly as it left. They remained standing quietly in place, waiting for the all-clear. Jack turned to look at Alicia. He remembered the last time he'd pushed Alicia into a tree, he was fuming at her. Now, instead of repulsion, he found himself drawn to the girl. Alicia's slender frame was soft yet taut with lean muscle. Pressing against her tender body sent thrills through the boy's stomach.

The girl blushed, sensing his intentions.

“You don't have to be so close to me,” Alicia thought.

Jack looked down, trying to meet the girl's gaze through her tousled and silky black hair. Alicia avoided his gaze, glee and panic cycling through her. The boy took a breath to calm himself and stopped his unconsciously moving arms from fully encircling the girl.

“Sorry, Ms. President. Just doing my duty to protect you.” Jack thought.

Alicia snorted, the air tickling the boy's collarbone.

“If this is how you carry out your duty, I might have to fire you.” She thought.

“Anything but that. I need this job, Ms. President. I've got seven kids.” He thought.

Something about his words just cut through the tension in her. She chuckled quietly, finding herself unable to stop. She nearly teared up while trying to control her laughter. Jack smiled, bemused. She finally looked up at the boy, her eyes soft and bright.

“Stop joking. You're going to get us killed, you idiot.” She thought.

“Sounds like a you problem. If you can't keep quiet, I'll have no choice to but to make sure those lips of yours stay shut.”

Jack slowly leaned in towards Alicia. The girl's eyes popped open, putting a hand over her own lips before he could get closer. He grinned.

“Thanks for your cooperation, Ms. President.” He thought.

He slid off the girl, noticing Syraviel had been waving at them. Alicia noticed the Goddess as well, sighing in relief.

“Want to pretend like we didn't see them and continue?” He thought.

Jack grinned when she blushed in the faint starlight. Alicia twisted her lips. Her throat burned with the desire to retort back. She looked straight back into the boy's teasing gaze.

“If I'm going to walk all day, I don't want my panties any wetter than they are now,” Alicia thought.

Jack's eyebrows flew up. She grabbed the boy's hand, continuing forward while he was still processing what she said. The girl walked forward with the boy, a smug smile on her face. Jack chuckled.

“You're one classy dame, Alicia.”

Alicia stuck her tongue out at the boy.

**

A grimace set over Alicia's face. As she kept walking hand in hand with Jack, the girl struggled to suppress the growing feelings of comfort and contentment she had towards Jack. She listened in to their soul bond and felt a similar pressure on Jack but he seemed completely unperturbed. Jack felt her digging in the soul bond and gave her a questioning look. She furrowed her brow.

“How come the soul bond isn't bothering you as much as me?” Alicia thought.

“You know, it does feel a little stronger than before. Maybe it's that deep line connecting our souls or our Soul Bond Mastery increasing so-”

Unease flittered over Jack's face.

“Just how much are you able to read my mind?” he asked.

Alicia shrugged her shoulders.

“More than before, especially things you're feeling in the moment. Not everything obviously. Otherwise, would I even need to ask? I'd just pick it out of your brain.” She thought.

Jack grunted.

“You're really giving me the warm and fuzzies with that answer.”

“Well if it makes you feel better, you're in my head, too. So what's your secret for dealing with the soul bond? There has to be something. I have double your soul defenses, so this should be affecting me less than you. Unless soul defenses don't work against the soul bond? Please, Jack? Will you tell me?” She thought.

A conflicted look came over his face.

“There's no trick, really. I've dealt with these kinds of compulsions before. After a little adjustment period when we first got here, it wasn't anything I hadn't dealt with before.” Jack thought.

“Compulsions from what? What kind of experience was that?” Alicia thought.

Jack shook his head.

“You want to be like Syraviel and see my whole damn life history or what? It's personal.” He thought.

“Fine. Keep your secrets. I should've expected it. You're just waiting for our bond to mind control me into becoming a submissive meat hole for you, right? Sorry. I don't know why I asked.” Alicia thought.

Jack rolled his eyes.

“Don't be so dramatic. Sure the soul bond is rough but you're being overstimulated by hand holding, right now.” Jack thought.

“I-I am not!”

“I remember patting your head riled you up pretty good too. It's understandable. I'm the first guy to do both to you, right?”

“Not the-”

“Family, church and anyone before kindergarten doesn't count.”

Alicia pursed her lips.

“Are you trying to irritate me on purpose?” she asked.

“Bad habit. I forgot we're 'BFFs' now.”

Alicia snorted.

“I remember a little devil of a boy who had a similar habit. ”

“A devil? You're flattering me.”

Alicia looked askance at Jack.

“Am I? I think I'm spot on. Little devils grow up to be real devils, after all.”

Jack raised his eyebrows, a strained smile overtaking his lips.

“Is that how it goes?”

“You tell me. How many of those rumors about you were true?” She thought.

“The rumours? You know how people are. You beat some punks a few times.Nothing special. Then they start hyping you up so they can still look hard in front of their guys. You of all people should know not to take rumors at face value.”

Alicia felt a shiftiness in his emotions. She turned her eyes on the boy, finding his gaze distant, looking past the trees and the murky fog of the dark forest.

“Syraviel said you had the aura of a killer. Were they really just hyping you up if you killed people?”

“Sure. Why not?”

“You killed people Jack. Plural. Multiple. I'm talking murder, Jack.”

“Accidents happen. Alicia, let's not-”

“Accidents? You're going to blame killing people on accidents?”

The girl felt a hint of coldness from the boy.

“When someone walks into a rushing car, it's a traffic accident. Some people got in my way and walked into me. Accidents.”

“How come I'm not an 'accident'?”

Jack let out a sigh.

“How about we stop bringing up the past? It's not like either of us share good memories there.” Jack thought.

“You can answer the question first. I want to know why I should let a murderer put his hands on me. If you don't want to, then I might come to the conclusion that it wouldn't be safe for me.”

Jack gave her a tired smile.

“It's because you say things like that. You were more amusement than real trouble. A chihuahua amongst wolves. Short, annoying and oddly cute. Something I'd drive slowly around, especially knowing the stupid little dog likes to throw herself at my car. You know. So accidents don't happen.” He thought.

Alicia gave the boy a doubtful look, feeling mass of conflicting emotions in the boy.

“That's it?” She thought.

“Mostly. But if that's not enough for you, we can go back to not pretending. Criminals like me don't like being interrogated, you know.”

Alicia pushed down her burning curiosity, giving him a sullen glare.

“Whatever. It's fine.” She thought.

They walked in relative quiet after that, save for the low serenade of tortured whispers sung to the rhythm of the errant breeze. They grew more adept at navigating the twists and bumps of the darkness while hiding from the low flyovers of the golems. Their movements fell into rhythm with the other, each reading the other's intentions and finding better ways forward. A blue pane rewarded both their efforts.

New skill gained! War Marching Lvl 1!

By the rhythm of your heart and the company of your comrades, onward Legionnaire.

Slightly decrease stamina usage when traveling with fellow Legionnaires.

As they marched, night gave way to day, with glimmers of dawn breaking through the twisted branches hanging over their heads. Jack squinted uncomfortably. While it was nice to see where he was walking, he felt like the sun was less of a symbol of hope and more of a searchlight in their circumstances.

Looking around, the sinister skeletons of trees looked even worse in the light. The trees were a ghastly, wan purple. Their hollows and trunks were ashen and wrinkled with age yet bloated with rot. Distorted masses bulged all over the trees, some resembling melted down body parts of men and beasts. His scalp prickled when he remembered hiding against them several times during the night.

The boy shook himself, trying to forget that memory. He suppressed a yawn, his short nap from earlier in the night not managing to fully refresh him. Compared to him, Diana looked even worse, like a hungover punk who'd spent too much time in the mosh pit. The blue haired girl's jealous gaze swept back and forth from the barely tired Alicia to Jack. She occasionally signalled Jack, asking if she could switch places with Alicia, pleading with both her hands before putting them next to her cheek as if feigning sleep.

The boy gave her a helpless shrug of his shoulders. While Lisaseron set up an odd temporary link between them to transfer his aura to her, the boy had no clue how to replicate it. He let out a full yawn, showing solidarity with Diana's weariness but from the dubious and almost insulted look on her face, it seemed like the girl didn't buy it.

The boy's face soured, having taken in too much musty air with his theatrical yawn. He chided himself. He'd already grown used to the close, dense and sour air in his nostrils, but on his palette it felt nauseating. He craned his head back and forth, hoping to catch a breath of clean air blown in from the capricious winds or wafting up from the aromatic dewdrops collecting in the dying grass. Not finding fresh air, he frowned, impatiently waiting for the taste of stale sap and dried out rot to fade from his mouth. Alicia quietly laughed at his expense, patting the boy on the back.

While the humans silently bantered, Syraviel waved Jack and Alicia to her. The pair walked over, with the hope of an imminent breakfast in their eyes. Jack mimed shoveling food into his face excitedly but Syraviel shook her head. Their excitement went out like a blown candle, drudging over the rest the way to the Goddess. Syraviel looked them over, making sure they were still in decent condition. With a flash of darkness, she strengthened their shadow cloaks and inspected her work again. With a satisfied nod, she took Jack's hand.

'Disturbance coming.' Syraviel wrote on Jack's hand. 'Too much life for a forest like this. It's unnatural. Be ready.'

Jack relayed the message to Alicia while Lisaseron wrote it on Diana's hand. All three humans restlessly curled their fingers around their weapons, their anxious eyes wandering from the Goddesses to the forest around them.

TheAscendentQuill

Did a little more work with Jack, teasing out his darker side while exploring the changes in their soul bond, while letting them flirt a little bit. Just a little taste of action, it's the calm before the storm. Explored the setting a little more, we've been here for a little bit, it's about time you guys got more atmosphere than 'spooky forest that's bad for your soul'. Next chapter, Ratcheting up the pressure, The party is going to sweat a little. 

As always, if you see any errors or discrepancies, please let me know. I'm always looking to steal a good idea, so feel free to share in the comments. Thanks for your support!