You get the pings just after coming in to warm up after spending some time at the Alpine Skyline. Not one, but TWO timepieces down in the Subcon Forest. For a moment, you wonder how that could have happened. But then again, you got two during the whole Bird Awards fiasco, so you guess it's not THAT strange. And, to be honest, spending some time in a forest with plenty of fires—even if it's a spooky forest—sounds really nice after all that time in the mountains.

So down you go to Subcon Forest.

Your hat tells you that they're over in the Village, and you'll get there in just a minute. But first, you have something much more important to do.

"I'm not giving you anything else, kid. Get lost."

At this point in the game, you've come to pay Snatcher a visit every time you've come back to Subcon. Maybe you really do want to be his friend, but also maybe you want to rub it in his glowy face that you got around his contract. Both work. And, despite trying his hardest to murder you a while ago, he lets you hang around without any harm done just like the contract says. He really is a man—well, more like a ghost-noodle—of his word.

So you take a moment to go through his house. It's pretty sparse save for the bookshelves, but really, what does a ghost actually need? The books are interesting, though; he hadn't struck you as the reading type when you'd been fulfilling your contractual obligations, but he has plenty. Most are law books. There's a couple steamy romances. And one very thin book that doesn't seem like it fits in with the others.

"Legally, I'm not able to kill you right now. But you really should know that I've mentally killed you at least eight times in this visit alone."

You ignore him and pull out the thin book, thumbing through it. It's a picture book, titled "The Tale of Queen Vanessa." You vaguely recall seeing something like this in a Time Rift, but you're way too old for picture books and ignored it. Now, though, seeing it in Snatcher's home of all places, it's suddenly very interesting.

A couple. The girl walks through the forest with woodland creatures, the boy buys her flowers. But she thinks he's holding hands with the florist, and that girl starts to look like that horrifying monster that chased you in the manor. And then there's the boy in chains, left as a shadow with glowing eyes and looking startlingly familiar.

Your head snaps up, nearly knocking the hat off your head, and you look at the shadowy figure in front of you. You waste no time in slapping the book on the arm of his chair. You need answers and you need them now. Snatcher, however, keeps his eyes fixed on the book in his hands.

"You want me to read to you? I know you're not bright, kiddo, but that's a new level of delusional. Scram."

You frown at him, then sigh and look down at the book again. Fine. It's probably just made-up anyway. You wouldn't be surprised if some of his minions tried to make fanfiction of him to make him look nicer. And anyway, you have some Time Pieces to collect.

But you put the storybook in your backpack all the same.

~

At this point, you could probably pick up Time Pieces in your sleep. The first one wasn't even that hard to get, you just had to climb up some of those weird spirit boxes. The second's a little trickier and involves the spirit boxes, some grappling, and a couple chores before you can get to it. But in all, much easier than trying to lead a parade or stopping a whole train from blowing up, so who are you to complain? This is a cinch.

And...maybe that's the problem.

Because it was so easy to get, you're not paying attention. And since you're not paying attention, you're not quite as focused when it comes time to grab it.

And that's when the Time Piece slips from your fingers and hurtles down to the ground.

Back home, one of the first things you learn about Time Pieces is that you are NEVER, under any circumstances, supposed to let them drop. First off, it's a waste of fuel. Secondly, they create Time Rifts, which are a pain to clean up. But most importantly, the fact is that time is a funny thing. If you focus while throwing down a Time Piece, you might wind up roughly in the time period you want to go. If you drop one on accident, on the other hand, there's no saying where you'll go back. Could be two minutes, could be two days, could be two centuries.

So, as you watch the Time Piece hit the ground, you guess you're about to find out just how lucky you are.