Chapter 20: Dark Moon

A/N: ... Well. It's been a month. Possibly one of my biggest delays uploading a chapter (for this story at least). You're probably wondering what the peck happened, right?

Well, first off, one of my favourite games of all time got an update after FOREVER with a special limited time event. I didn't want to be distracted by other stuff while I participated in it. Then, Christmas stuff got me busy, as well as a bunch of other stuff. Oh, and, Sephiroth being revealed for SSBU got me interested in the Final Fantasy 7 remake, and lastly, I got busy playing games with friends. Aaand I also had no idea what to do for this chapter. Again.

Probably still not good enough reasons for a month-long delay, but such is life. Sorry. Still not sure if I'll fall back into a pattern for uploading chapters, but as per usual, I'll do the best I can.

Enjoy the chapter... and, Merry Christmas! If you haven't read OPfan37's Christmas Special, I'd suggest doing so, as all our OC's finally get to meet! (but if you haven't kept up with the others' stories, there may be a little bit of spoilery content in there, so be warned.) It's better than I ever could've imagined it. So go read it if you're all caught up!

Oh and, be warned, this chapter gets a little bit spooky. Hehe.

It wasn't too much longer that we found ourselves teleporting down to Subcon Forest. I wasn't surprised, as of course she'd want to torment Snatcher more.

Once we were down, we looked around and found him sitting in his tree, reading a book.

It seemed like a different book, but alas, he noticed us and put it away before I could read its title. Peculiar, very peculiar.

He got up and floated over to us with an evil grin.

"Well, well, well! Look who's back!"

"I wonder what he'll say next..." I muttered satirically to myself.

"Ready to get back to work?"

"Wow, shocker."

"You know I can hear you, right?" He interjected.

"You know I don't care, right?" I countered with a smirk, earning a glare from him, "Also, her doctor said she's still sick and that she shouldn't over-exert herself, so she won't be doing any help for awhile. Though, I guess I could continue later if you really wanted."

"Alright! You know I'm gonna hold you to that," He said.

Hailey tugged on my sleeve.

"Dad, are you sure you want to do this alone?" She asked.

"Don't worry about me, Hailey," I assure her, "Given what we've gone through before, this is nothing."

There was some silence, and I looked back up at Snatcher, who just seemed baffled.

"Could you repeat that again?" He asked, "My hearing must've gone..."

"Pretty sure you heard that right," I chuckled, "Lots of stuff happened."

"So you're telling me... you're her father now," He stated blankly.

I picked Hailey up, earning a giggle from her.

"Indeed I am. Couldn't be happier about it," I replied.

I then set Hailey down. There was no response from Snatcher for awhile, until I heard him mutter something viciously under his breath:

"...You lucky bastard."

I got confused, wondering what incited that malice... heck, had I even heard him swear before then? I don't think so...

But then I remembered...

Vanessa. Wasn't there a nursery in her manor?

... They were planning to have a child before it all went to hell.

Oh God...

I couldn't help but feel awful for him. He must've had such bright visions for the future... only to have them ripped brutally away from him because of one stupid misunderstanding.

I couldn't've beared to imagine what that would've meant if it happened to me.

He then shook his head, and his typical grin returned to his face.

"Well, uh, good for you two, I guess. Haven't had family for over a thousand years, myself, so I can't really relate, but at this point I frankly don't want or need one!" He chuckled.

"Aren't you and your minions like a family?" Hailey asked.

Snatcher broke out into hysterical laughter that went on for several minutes.

"Oh... definitely not, kiddo!" He muttered through his laughter, "It's a business relationship. I'm their boss, they're my employees. Nothing more, nothing less!"

He then leaned forward so he was face to face with us, with an evil expression on his face.

"If you snoop around enough like I know you love to do, you can even find out what happened to the ones that tried to cheat me!" He said ominously.

"That... uh... that doesn't sound nice," I stammered.

He chuckled.

"Trust me, it isn't. They learned very quickly that I wasn't messing around," He boasted.

"They don't seem afraid of you, though," Hailey observed, "Heck, they even seem to admire you!"

"Cause I've done a lot around here. I've fulfilled my end of our contracts and more. This... this would all be a frozen wasteland if it weren't for me, and you likely know full well as to why," He explained, "Something I've learned over the years is that there's two ways to get people to listen to you: fear, and respect. It's good to learn how to incite both."

"Fascinating. You know, you should write a novel," I declared, "It'd probably sell well."

He put a spectral hand to his chin.

"Tempting, but I'll pass," He said, "I need people seeing me as the mysterious and dangerous specter of the forest, not an author."

"Suit yourself," I replied.

He then shook his head, seemingly remembering something, and adopted an annoyed look.

"Bah! Here you are again, distracting me as usual! Are you gonna get anything done, or are you just going to keep getting in my way?!" He grumbled.

"Good question," I snickered, "To which I answer: 'yes'."

"...That isn't a yes or no question," He deadpanned.

I smirked.

"I know."

He shook his head slowly.

"You people make no sense..." He murmured, "You know what, fine, go do whatever. Just get out of my hair already."

Hailey was already laughing and running along the forest trail.

"Well, that's my cue," I joked, then ran off after her. "See you later."

If he replied, I was already too far away to hear it.

I caught up with Hailey halfway along the trail, and we stopped.

"What happened to not over-exerting yourself?" I questioned her.

"Do I look tired to you?" She countered.

"Fair enough," I admitted, "Just be careful, okay?"

"I will!" She promised.

"Alright," I muttered, "So, what are we doing now?"

"We never really got to explore much of the actual forest, so that's what I wanna do!" She explained.

"Going out into uncharted territory in this cursed place seems like a horrible idea," I objected, "Who knows what'll be out there? Dark mages? Vengeful spirits? Eldritch beasts? Death traps?"

"We've been through worse!" She said.

"And you're still sick. Did you forget what I just said ten seconds ago?" I countered.

She frowned.

"Well... we don't have to go far," She said, "We can just explore a little bit, and I'm pretty sure Snatcher wouldn't allow dangerous creatures or people to be near his turf."

"... I guess you have a point. We should be fine if we don't go very far," I agreed, "Alright, let's go, then. Lead the way."

She grinned and walked ahead into the trees. I quickly followed, as I knew we'd get separated easily in this forest if we weren't careful.

This was going to be a long day...

The moment we left the boundaries of Snatcher's area, I immediately felt something off.

It felt like we were being watched. It didn't feel like Snatcher's presence, nor like Traveler's presence.

It felt... foreign. Dangerous. I had to look over my shoulder every five seconds to make sure we weren't being followed. And the further away we got, the stronger the feeling got.

She clearly didn't notice it, as she kept going forward without hesitation.

"Hailey, stop," I muttered.

She did so promptly, and turned around with a look of confusion.

"What's wrong?" She asked.

"Don't you feel like we're being watched?" I inquired, "I mean, this forest has its own fair share of bad auras and whatnot, but this feels completely new. And I don't like it at all."

She put a hand to her chin.

"I don't really feel anything," She said, "Well, yeah, I feel something, but not what you're talking about, just the normal weird feeling this forest gives."

I frowned.

"I'd normally assume I'm just being paranoid, but this is really weird," I muttered.

"You probably are just being paranoid," She said, "I'd probably feel it too if you weren't. Let's keep going!"

My frown intensified as she began moving again.

Guess I had no choice...

So, on we went.

Along our travels, we found a few ruins, remains of ancient roads, and other random stuff.

As cool as it all was, and she was fascinated by them, I was too busy fighting the growing feeling of danger and dread.

Eventually, I heard something.

It sounded like branches rustling.

I reached out to Hailey and stopped her, not daring to say a word.

This forest had hardly any wind, and I'd have heard and felt it if it was wind.

So, that was not natural.

Hailey turned around, an alarmed look on her face.

"Did you hear that?" I whispered.

She nodded.

I grabbed my baton, and she grabbed her umbrella.

We turned back to back, and I scanned our surroundings for anything. Any eyes peering from the darkness, any shadows that didn't belong to a tree, just... anything out of place, while listening very intently for more movement.

I heard something.

It wasn't movement, though.

It was a voice, a voice that sounded like it came from the darkest depths of hell... and it whispered right in my ear.

"You should not have come here."

I whipped around to face the voice, and there was nothing there.

The feeling of imminent danger reached its apex.

"Hailey? Did you hear that?"

"Y-yeah..."

"Okay. We are leaving NOW."

I grabbed the Time Piece from my pocket and held it to the sky as I grabbed her hand.

I envisioned the bedroom in my mind...

And when I opened my eyes, we were still in the forest.

I tried again. Still nothing.

I began to panic.

"It's not working!" I yelled.

"Then we run!" She shouted, then bolted while dragging me along.

As we ran, I heard laughter echo throughout the forest. Dark, evil, sadistic laughter.

We ran as fast as we could for as long as we could...

Eventually, something caught my foot, and we both tripped to the ground.

I looked down at what was caught on my foot, and what I saw made my blood run cold.

A blood-red string, wrapped tightly around it, leading off into the woods.

I quickly tried to cut it... but it seemed like it was made of diamond, as it wouldn't even move.

"D-Dad?" Hailey stuttered.

"Run," I ordered.

"B-but-"

"Just do it!"

"I can't, even if I want to!"

Huh?

I looked at her, and saw a red string wrapped around her leg, too.

Laughter echoed through the forest again, and it slowly grew louder and louder.

This was it... we weren't getting out of this.

I knew this was a horrible idea!

Eventually, the laughter grew so loud that I knew its source was right close.

I watched as I saw a shadow amass in the trees and approach.

Our doom was imminent.

It emerged from the trees, and I got to see our assailant.

A dark blue figure with large eyes, one with red diamonds inside, and the other with orange circles, a regal red coat, chains on its wrists, no legs, and an otherworldly aura about him, unnervingly similar to that of the Badge Seller.

It kept on laughing and laughing, until it eventually stopped and grinned at us.

"What the hell are you and what the hell do you want?" I spat.

It chuckled, then spoke, with a voice that was a lot less demonic than I was expecting.

"I... am the Moonjumper!" It declared.

"And what do you want with us?" Hailey asked.

It chuckled, and to my surprise, the strings around our legs unraveled.

"Oh... I must apologize for the scare. Messing with people is just too fun!"

"So this is just one big joke, huh?" I scoffed.

It grinned and nodded.

"Well, you should just be happy it was me that found you and not... something else. This place is dangerous!" It reasoned.

Probably was talking about Snatcher-

I then noticed something peculiar.

It looked eerily similar to how Snatcher looked when he was alive in that book... and the chains accentuated this. But it couldn't be Snatcher, Snatcher was Snatcher!

"I wonder why you came here... curiosity? Perhaps someone dared you? Or was it just simple foolishness? Perhaps all of the aforementioned? Whatever the reason, I'll only say this once. LEAVE. This cursed forest is home to far more than any mortal should ever encounter."

"Like Snatcher and Vanessa?" Hailey asked.

It froze.

"Y-yes, like them. But not just them. This forest is full of all sorts of evil spirits, curses, and whatever else... I've even seen necromancy be practiced here. Even if you made it out alive, your minds would be broken far beyond repair from the horrors you'd have witnessed. I saw you try to leave earlier with that hourglass object? I prevented that for the sake of my prank... but I suggest you do it now. Before something horrible happens."

"Dad... what's necromancy?" Hailey asked, "I don't know much magic stuff."

"Necromancy is black magic. Related to communicating with or even resurrecting the dead. It's often seen as the most unholy and evil kind of magic there is," I explained, "Although that's a stereotype... it could be used for good, probably."

"Impressive! Where'd you learn that?" Moonjumper asked.

"I was fascinated with magic when I was younger," I explained, "It doesn't really exist where I'm from, but it was still really interesting."

It nodded.

I then stood up and grabbed Hailey's hand.

"Well, anyway, we should get going now," I said as I held the Time Piece to the sky, "Thanks... I guess."

It waved dismissively.

I tried envisioning the bedroom in my mind again, and...

Poof, we were back.

"Well, that was awful," I scoffed, "I respect he... it for trying to keep people safe, but I hate it for scaring us like that. And also..."

"Don't you dare say 'I told you so'," She grumbled.

"I kinda did, though," I muttered, "I told you there might be evil creatures or dark magic out there, and you insisted that we'd be close enough to Snatcher's turf to be safe."

"And we didn't encounter anything evil, did we? Not to mention, you agreed with me!" She pouted.

"I still had a feeling deep down," I said, "And if Moonjumper didn't find us, judging by what it said, something else would've."

"If you say so," She replied.

"Hey, that's my line!" I joked.

A smile came to her face.

"You snooze, you lose!" She giggled, "Now let's go visit the studio!"

She dragged me away before I could respond.

This day just seemed to be getting weirder and weirder.

A/N: It was only a matter of time before Moonjumper made an appearance. He had to! I don't think I'm gonna really use him much in this story, if at all, but he might appear again some other time. Depends if I can think of anything good that'd use him or not.

Anyway, I rushed to get this chapter out in time for Christmas, and even then, it was pretty late. Again, sorry for the long wait. I just got so sidetracked... hopefully it was worth the wait.

Well, time for reviews!

XStarInTheSkyX: Oh, wow... That's amazing to hear! Hope it goes well... and I'm extremely flattered. Good luck in any future endeavours, and thank you very much! Writing ain't always easy.

Phantaum: Truly a mystery that will never be solved.

Xenuro: Glad to hear it. And yes, noodle man go brrr.
(also I don't get how you've been ratted out so I'm a little bit confused, hehe). Thanks again.

Snow Blizzard: Hehehe... now you're hopping aboard the ship, too. It's funny how little time it took for people to immediately jump to that, but I suppose my writing probably encouraged it. I'm glad I added her to the story, though, and it seems like you all are, as well. Thanks again for the review!

Welp, that does it for this time, folks. I promise, next time wont be a month-long wait, as I'm not gonna be so pecking preoccupied. Hope you enjoyed, and once again, Merry Christmas!