AUTOR'S NOTES
Hello, everyone. Welcome to the first multi-chapter story in my time in this fandom. As you can tell, the story is based around a genderbent version of chapter 3 of the game. Big shoutout to SSBATT for the cover art and big help in writing this story with me. Check him out on Twitter, you won't be disappointed :)
Act 1: Contractual Obligations l
It was rare to have a night be as quiet as it was tonight. Then again, it was always night at Subcon Forest. The sense of time tends to get confusing when the sun never shines, which makes owning a clock very useful.
In the middle of the forest, a yellow eye scanned through a wall of text on a page of a big hardback. A collection of books of varying states (a little faded at best, and almost worn out at worst) were filed neatly on a bookshelf next to a black leather loveseat. On the loveseat, a young woman sat. Her skin was milky white and soft, her eye was yellow with thick eyelashes. Her shoulder-length hair was black and turned yellow at the edges, the bangs spilling over her right eye and completely hiding it from the world. She wore a dark grey, sleeveless dress with a V-neck deep enough to reveal a decent amount of cleavage, black fluff rimming the collar. Her slender arms were covered by a pair of black,long gloves that turned purple at her hands, then yellow at her fingertips. A purple velvet waistband was wrapped around her and held in place by a golden button with a flower sclupture on it. The dress color was so dark, it was almost invisible in the dim light provided by a lanterns hanging off the branches of dead trees. The dress was spilled across the loveseat as the big, leatherbound hardback lay open in her lap. The book was titled 'Ties That Bind', the letters golden and written in beautiful calligraphy.
Once she was done with the page, she gingerly flipped it, the crisp sound of paper rustling echoed through the silence surrounding her. At some point, a worm-like creature swam through the air, an orange fox mask with green, glowing dots in its eyes. It looked down at the woman reading, then wandered behind her, looking over her shoulder at the pages she read. After a while it got bored and flew away.
Suddenly, a voice echoed in her mind, and she perked up. The voice was raspy and that of a young child.
Um, Ma'am?
Her eyebrows pinched in annoyance. "This better be important enough to interrupt my reading time," She said tightly.
Sorry, Ma'am, the voice said. But we have an intruder.
An intruder? It's been quite some time since someone was stupid enough to wander into her domain. Especially after letting a few go to warn the others. She would occasionally spare a life, letting them spread the story of the soul-snatching demoness that lived in Subcon Forest. The Snatchress, they called her, Dark Rose Of Subcon. She liked the name, honestly. "Show me," She said. Her yellow iris began to glow brighter, and in it, she saw the front of a small, wooden house in the middle of a small lake, a wooden bridge connecting it to land. An old fence surrounded the area, where large, glowing mushrooms and vines with lanterns hanging off of them decorated it. Behind the cottage was a giant tree that reached up and beyond her peripheral vision.
What caught The Snatchress's attention, however, was the little boy standing on one of the windowsills and peeking inside. With a head full of brown hair under a purple top hat, he wore a yellow cape that reached down to his feet.
Her brows oinched in curiosity. What was a little boy doing in Subcon? Most children refused to come anywhere near this place, in fear of crossing paths with the queen ruling it. He hopped off the sill and onto the handrail of the small bridge, then on the bridge itself, his face set in a disappointed pout. He wore a purple T-shirt with a big zipper and a pair of beige cargo shorts. What do you wanna do, Ma'am? The voice asked.
She pursed her black, glossy lips in thought, her gloved fingertip tapping her chin. She wanted to scare him away from her forest… then again, she had a ton of chores that needed to be done around her forest. They could not wait, and she was sure as peck not doing them herself.
That thought gave her pause. Was she really planning to do this? To a little boy? She wasn't what one would call "compassionate", but doing this… to a little kid?
Yes. Yes, she was.
"Bait him into a trap," she ordered, slapping the hardback shut as she kicked her feet to the ground and stood up. "I'll be there shortly." With that, her eyes ceased to glow. She pulled her gloves tightly up her shapely arms, then smoothed out her dress. She then snapped her fingers, and a full height mirror spawned before her in a puff of purple smoke. She grabbed both sides of her v-neck and adjusted her breasts, then the fluffy collar, then her hair. Satisfied with her appearance, she nodded in approval. She walked over to the lantern that illuminated the place and opened one of the glass lids, then looked at the fourth wall. "I hate to leave you in the dark like this," she started, an impish smile on her lips. "But I have other obligations to attend to~" She then blew the lantern out, and shadows swallowed the area. The yellow glow of her eye was still visible as her sinister chuckles echoed across the darkness before they both faded away.
.oO0Oo.
Somewhere down a dirt path, a large piece of fabric was hanging in the air with something inside of it twisting and turning. "Put me down, it's not funny anymore!" Came the voice of a little boy. When kicking around proved fruitless, he decided to chew his way out. He was met with a mouth filled with dirt as he spat the dirty fabric out and wiped his tongue with his cape.
How could he fall for such a stupid trap? He was a space traveller, for peck's sake! If the others knew about this, they will never let him hear the end of it. Oh, when he puts his hands on that little… thing, whatever it is, he'll-
Before he could finish that thought, the fabric beneath him ripped. A startled yelp escaped his throat when he slipped through and fell through the air towards the ground. Performing an elegant flip in the air, he landed safely on his feet and saved himself a painful fall. The moment his feet touched the ground, however, everything changed; the ground deformed, turning purple in color as shadows rose around him, engulfing him in a dome as storm clouds appeared above, thunder booming and lightning flashing. The sound of a woman's low chuckle echoed from all around, and he whipped his head around. "Who's there?" He asked.
"You must be very lost, little boy~" The voice said. It was smooth and low with a regal hint that reverberated all around him. "This is not a place for children like you~"
"Who said that?!" He looked around, his brows set. "Show yourself, chicken!"
"How rude," she replied, giggling. "Is that how your father taught you to speak to ladies~?"
He smirked and crossed his arms confidently. "Joke's on you, lady," he replied, "I never had a father!"
There was an awkward pause after the boy's statement. She then giggled heartily. "Well, that got depressing," she managed through her giggles. The boy's cheeks turned red in embarrassment.
"Shut up!" He yelled with a stomp of his foot. "Show yourself, you don't scare me!"
"Hmmm… Are you sure you want me to~?" She asked."You might get scared if I do~"
"No, I won't," The boy said, getting impatient. "Now, show yourself, so I can beat you up!"
She couldn't help but giggle at his statement. "As you wish~" She said.
Thunder boomed,the lightning flashing as a figure rose from the shadows. One glowing eye stared down at the boy as it loomed over him like a giant. His brave facade broke as he looked up at the silhouette towering above him. Lightening crackled behind it, making the boy yelp and fall back on his fanny as he crawled back until he was met with an invisible wall.
The woman's amused chuckles came to his ears as the silhouette stepped out of the shadows. It was a woman with pale skin and short black hair covering her left eye. "You little fool~" she spoke. The boy's features twisted in confusion. She threw her hands up and continued. "You did it! You've totally screwed yourself~! No one enters my forest and leaves in one piece~" Here, she bent slightly forward and held her gloved hands together against her chest. "Tell you what, though… hang on a minute… you get to live!" She piped, shaking her fists exitedly. "That's right! Aren't you lucky~?" she cooed, eyes half-lidded as she leaned closer and playfully booped his nose. The kid simply smacked her hand away and took a step back. She stood straight again and continued. "I would have eaten your soul and tossed your body into the swamp by now," she said, nodding to the left. The boy followed her gaze, but all he saw was tortured souls, gaping eye sockets and mouths open in silent screams of agony. Brows furrowed in confusion, he looked back at her and she took it as her cue to continue. "But you're in luck. You win the lottery! Because, I happened to be looking for a new brain dead servant~" She said, rolling the last three words off her tongue.
"Hey!" The boy said, glaring at the taller woman. The woman covered her mouth and giggled playfully.
"Anyways, as I was saying, I'm in need for a new errand boy," she explained as she started walking around him. "The old one got himself killed; his head popped off, and now I need a new one." Here, her lips curled up teasingly as she stopped behind him. "You'll do just fine," she said as he felt his cape being tugged on. "Towel Boy~"
He pulled away from her And turned around, his cheeks tinged with pink at her remark. "It's a cape!" He cried indignantly. She simply giggled before she held one hand up, her purple fingers glowing as she snapped them. Lighting flashed and thunder boomed as a piece of paper and a quill spawned in a small cloud of purple smoke, 'Contract' was written on top in beautiful calligraphy.
"Let's make a deal then," she said, the contract and quill floating closer to the boy. "I have this piece of paper here. Never mind the details, I just need you to sign," she said, then leaned over and tapped her finger on the dotted line at the bottom of the paper. "Right there, at the bottom~"
He looked at her, one eyebrow raised in suspicion, then at the contract before him and started reading:
By authorization of The Snatchress, Ruler of Subcon, the contractor is obligated to complete the following objectives:
Find Subcon Village.
Murder The Fire Spirits.
Clean the Subcon Well.
Upon signing, the contractor will gain access to The Subcon Swamp. The Snatchress will keep the following hostage:
YOUR SOUL
But they may keep whatever they find along the way.
He blinked. His soul? Was this crazy lady serious? He looked up at her with wide eyes. She had a small smile on her lips, looking down at him with anticipation.
Yep. She was serious.
"I won't sign!" He cried, shoving the contract away. "I need my soul!"
"Aw, come on now~" she pushed her bottom lip in a childish pout. "You don't really have a choice here," she added, then dropped the act when her brows were furrowed in mild annoyance. "Sign the paper."
The boy simply crossed his arms and looked away. The Snatcress' eye twitched. He was really testing her patience now. "I don't think I made myself clear enough," she started, taking a deep breath. "Your 'opinion' doesn't matter to me! Put your name on that paper, or I will make your cold, hollow body sign it for you!" She snapped, her face twisted in angry grimace as the contract floated around to the front of him again.
The boy looked the contract over again and started weighing his options. She was threatening to kill him if he didn't sign that contract, but will she actually pull through with her threat? She sounded like it. Even so, signing that contract didn't seem like a good idea either. He was always taught to never sign contracts made by strangers.
With that in mind, however, he felt the presence of a lot of Time Pieces around here. And this grumpy lady wasn't going to let him go without signing that contract.
Eventually, he sighed, his shoulders slumped in defeat as he took the quill in his hand and began to scribble across the dotted line, drawing a winking raspberry emoji at the end. One he was done, she snatched the piece of paper and examined his contract with puckered lips, then pulled out a stamp from behind her back and stamped the bottom right corner with her seal of approval. Blue flames began to burn the contract after the stamp, leaving nothing but a speck of ash. "That seals the deal!" She piped, clapping her hands excitedly. "We're in business now, yay~!" She then stared down at him with a sinister look in her eye. "Now, let me just grab this real quick~"
She bent down and pressed her palm against his chest. He was confused for a moment, then felt bile rise from his stomach. He gagged, convulsing as purple light emitted from his mouth, then an orb of the same color squeeze out of his mouth. She pulled her hand away, and the boy fell down to his hands in knees, coughing wetly as he shuddered. "Whoops!" She said as she grabbed the glowing orb in her hand. He looked up at her, eyes wide with fear and drool staining his chin. He felt uneasy, not to mention exceedingly empty inside. "I believe this soul belongs to me now~" She shook it for emphasis. "Don't worry, though. If you do a good job, you'll have it back before your life's expectancy~" she said, giggling. "Oh, and just in case you get distracted~" She got down on her knees ( wasn't sure she had legs at all) and, to his confusion, she gently cupped his cheek in her hand. She then leaned forward and placed a soft peck to his forehead, making his cheeks burn pink at the notion. A light ache made itself known in the center of his skull as he watched her stand up, eyes wide with surprise. "I've carved the contract to your brain, so that it never leaves your mind~" She then giggled as black smoke surrounded her, then dissipated, her laughter echoing around him as the talk surrounding him faded.
He was back on the dirt path again as he looked around, shakily getting back to his feet.
So, he just sold his would to the devil, apparently. Now, he was forced into doing the grunt work.
Say whaaaat.
.oO0Oo.
The Snatchress appeared at the middle of her home in a puff of black smoke. With a sign, she looked at the purple orb of light in her hand, a tiny smile on her lips. Of all the fools that she encountered entering her forest, he was the only one to not cower before her and beg for his life. His courage was impressive, to say the least. And who knows? She might just keep him around to run a few more errands.
Tucking the soul behind her, she looked around the cottage: There was a coat hanger by the door, a lantern by each corner that illuminated the place, and a red velvet loveseat by a fireplace on the opposite side of the door and a small bookshelf next to it. Walking over, she skimmed through the spines, stopping at a particular one she never read before. She pulled it out, then sat on the loveseat. She tucked her feet beneath her and rested her elbow against the armrest, then opened the book to the first page. An idea came to her, and her yellow eye began to glow. When the contractor finds the village, one of you let's me know, understood? she thought.
Yes, Ma'am, a voice replied. Nodding, she returned to reading her book.
How To Kill Kids
By a real serial killer