Memory Blooms

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Let's analyze your options.

Fight him? Horrible choice, you tried that already. Steal back your soul? Yeah, if you could even find it.

Ask someone for help?

No way. No. Way. Who would you ask!? Them? As if they would help you. You'd sooner die to the purple jack-o-lantern than show your face around there again.

For now, the only choice you really had was to play along, he may be a spirit, but even spirits have their weaknesses. So until you could find out what his was, you'd go along with his little contract. Then try to coax it out of him.

You brushed the dirt off your boots, leaving the thick of the forest behind you as you looked out to take in the sight of the one and only Subcon Village. It didn't take that long to find, as it was conveniently placed in the middle of the forest, making it easy to spot from a distance.

A river ran through the center of the village and the disjointed, crooked tree houses connected together with small tightropes and bridges gave the feeling of a true ghost town, but with a nostalgic, childish touch. You couldn't decide if you found that endearing or creepy.

The moonlight was rather dim in this section of the forest, but the illumination from the glowshrooms, tiny lucent flowers scattered in the grass, and even the off-glow of the dwellers basked the village in a mystical, magical radiance.

That being said, with a sharp inhale, you proceeded forward.

The inhabitants didn't seem to pay much mind to you as you walked by, even though you towered above them all like a redwood in an oak forest. You'd think that getting visitors here would be pretty uncommon, seems not.

You approached a group of subconites (that's what Snatcher referred to them as anyways, aside from "minion". It was better than calling them doll-children at least) lounging near what looked to be an old cemetery, one sitting on a rock with two others on either side of it. You scratched your arm nervously as they looked up at you.

"Um –hi there! I'm (Y/N), I'm–"

"The boss's new toy, right?" The subconite sitting on the rock snickered.

You rolled your eyes, so that's how this was gonna go... " Prisoner's more like it." You mumbled.

"Hehe, Yeah, for now." the minion on the right chuckled. You cocked your head. For now?

The rock subconite smacked the right one upside the head, as the one on the left stepped forward. "You have to get rid of the ice around the well, right? Come on, I'll show you where it is."

The subconite walked past you, ignoring your protests and questions about what the other meant. Eventually, you conceded and jogged to catch up with the little waddling figure.

They led you silently out of the village, not even bothering to look back to make sure you were still following them. As you walked, you began to notice the air was getting... colder. Frigid almost, you pulled the neck of your coat up to cover half of your face, hoping to generate even a little bit more heat. It was only then you noticed the slight coating of frost on the ground, and numerous spikes of ice that only grew in size.

The minion suddenly stopped, and you practically had to step over them so that you wouldn't kick them like a soccer ball. Completely unfazed, they only pointed ahead of you. Before you laid a humongous, purple, mucky swamp. Broken docks and twisted, mangled trees littered the place, along with a huge skeleton of some unidentifiable creature. Dread churned in your stomach.

"The well's that way. The water from the well flows through Subcon village so the well needs to be cleaned regularly." They turned to you, "luckily for you though, the last contractor cleaned up the well pretty good. So you don't have to deal with all that."