Memory Blooms

Peach

"And then I absolutely beat the crap outta him!"

Hat kid waved her hands about in excitement as you three walked along the path back back to the village. She had decided to tell you all about her misadventures in Subcon. From the second she got caught by Snatcher to the moment she forced him into the "BFF Contract". You had to admit, it was quite impressive (if not hilarious) that she managed to do all that. Guess that's what you'd expect from a time-traveling space kid. Casey spun around and nudged her with an elbow. "That's not even half of the stuff this kid's done! Tell 'em about the Death Wishes!"

"Death Wishes?" You leaned in, intrigued by the words. "They're–"

"The hardest contracts the Boss has to offer." A familiar voice cut her off. The pure impassivity of the statement itself was enough to tip off the identity of the speaker.

Li approached your little group, waddling in the same way as all the other subconites did, but there was a sense of maturity in their step. Of purpose and confidence. Making their outward appearance feel...wrong.

"They extend outside the borders of Subcon, and are only given to the toughest of the tough." The action of Li's singular yellow eye glancing briefly at Casey was not lost on you. Did they know each other?

"Of which I happen to be." Hat kid boasted, and you had to wonder whether it was genuine pride or just an attempt to diffuse the rising tension. If it was for the latter, you would say it... didn't really work. Li simply sighed in response and turned their whole attention on Casey, who flinched under their tense, stern gaze. "Where have you been? I was looking for you."

"Ah– w-well... I was–" Casey stammered. "I was– you know, running my rounds! Making sure everything was okay!"

"In the Frost Zone?"

"Well I–"

"In the one place the Boss tells us never to go?"

They went silent and fiddled around with their pink bandana, not meeting the gaze of the slightly taller minion. Li was right in that Casey shouldn't have gone to the Frost Zone, but you didn't think they needed to be so cross about it... Casey was okay and that was what mattered, right?

"You'd think they were related..." You whispered over to Hat Kid as you watched the one-sided argument.

"They are."

Your jaw dropped slightly and you looked at Hat Kid with wide eyes. They were related? Like siblings? You didn't even know subconites could even have siblings. Maybe they were siblings while they were alive...?

Hat Kid shook her head, not really wanting to get into the specifics of it. She instead turned to you with bright eyes, "why don't you go tell Snatcher you completed your contract? I'll meet up with ya later!"

Truth be told, you didn't want to go just yet, especially if it was to go discuss work with that edgy shadow worm of a spirit.

But– if you didn't do it now, you'd only end up having to do it later, and you honestly did not want that kind of thing sitting in the back of your mind bugging you.

"Alright, I'll see you later, make sure they don't kill each other, yeah?"

"Yeah!"

—————

To say you were surprised, was a bit of an understatement.

You didn't really know what you expected, but it sure wasn't Snatcher sitting calmly in a large red chair in a well-furnished, unbelievably normal sitting area. He didn't look up from his book as you approached, seemingly far-too engrossed in its contents. You tip-toed up to him, staying low to the ground so you could get a little peek at the title.