The skinstealer launched itself at me. I obviously wasn't worried, I'd fought an army after all. I fired my shotgun a few times and peppered her with cold iron buckshot.
Instead of stopping, or any other reasonable reaction, the thing cackled and latched onto my right hand and heaved. With a wet sucking sound, the skin of my arm peeled off and wrapped itself around the arm of the monster.
Familiar pink lightning sparked up the right side of the thing and it laughed even louder.
"What are you? I hit the jackpot!" It screamed. The skin shifted around like liquid before settling in the form of a strung-out looking elf with my bare right arm, complete with pink skin and maroon nails.
My right arm was cold, I attempted to repair it and realized something was wrong. The skin wouldn't grow back. This thing takes skin permanently.
I rushed it, swapping out my gun for a large cleaver. If I couldn't grow my skin back, I would take it back. Unfortunately the skinstealer was able to dodge most of my attacks and after a bit of wind up, waved its pink arm and sent me flying right out the subway window with the same flourish I used to decorate my study.
I bounced off the concrete tunnels and hit the train a few times before it finally passed me by. From what I could tell, I had several broken ribs, a punctured lung and maybe a few pulped organs to top it off. I felt like I was drowning in my own blood.
It took much longer than I thought it would to die. It also hurt, very much.
---
I sat up with a start, I must have fallen asleep at my study. There was even a little patch of drool on the Contract, I cleaned it with a wave of my skinless arm.
My arm! The memories came rushing back as the Contract filled itself in.
You have died. You were serving a master outside of this Contract. Normally you would lose all points earned and awards accrued, however you may instead choose from one of these options:
* Lose all accrued points.
* Gain an Anathema relative to the cause of death.
* E̶̦͔̭̿̃̍Ñ̷̼Ḏ̶̬͓̃͐͘ ̸̢̛̜̦̈́͜͝T̶̗͛Ḩ̴̗̉I̴̦̰͎̿S̶̬͕͂̓̔ ̵̥̗̦͓̽C̷͓͙͙̈́̈̎̊Ǫ̶͔́̀͌̚Ņ̷̲̈́̕T̴̮͍͠R̷̞̼̎Ạ̷̛̒͐C̷̖̏̌̈́͛T̵͙̾̀͒̽
Something tells me that last option is not supposed to be there. I put off the decision for now. I needed to figure out what happened. The windows to the outside were black and picking up my phone left a dial tone no matter what I tried. I asked the contract what was up.
You will not recover until you settle this Contract. Please choose an option:
* Ş̴̮͉͚̈͗̿T̷̩̺̱̟̤̀͆̈́͝R̷̨͓̆̑̊̓̄ͅI̸̢̤̙̜̰͂̂̚͠P̴̢̮̫̫̕͘͝ ̸͇̲͎̗̔̽Y̷͎̳̯͕̦̙͋Ȯ̶̤U̴̦̪̤̫̹̐͂͗̾͂̎ͅR̶͈̜͗͑́̾̂̚ ̸̟̩̄̾S̴̨̼̦̺̠̋̾́͋K̴͖̘͈̫̼͒̔̑I̸̻͈̞̞͔̥̾̈́͛͂͝Ñ̵̫͙̜̈̓
* E̶̦͔̭̿̃̍Ñ̷̼Ḏ̶̬͓̃͐͘ ̸̢̛̜̦̈́͜͝T̶̗͛Ḩ̴̗̉I̴̦̰͎̿S̶̬͕͂̓̔ ̵̥̗̦͓̽C̷͓͙͙̈́̈̎̊Ǫ̶͔́̀͌̚Ņ̷̲̈́̕T̴̮͍͠R̷̞̼̎Ạ̷̛̒͐C̷̖̏̌̈́͛T̵͙̾̀͒̽
* G̴̢̛͓͕̘̹̲̭̓͛̾̋I̵͈͇͂̈́̋͛̇̄̂͒̄̈V̸̨̠̬̟̝̖͈͈̗̆̒͐̆̋́͊͒̕ͅĘ̷̛̲̯̙͙̩̪́͐̇̎͛ ̵̗͉̦̕Ì̵͍͔̩̟̩̰̍̆̔͋́͠N̷̡̞͈͊̏̽̀͌ͅ
The Contacts ink undried and started to run down the paper, luckily disappearing as it flowed off. I needed to make a choice. Soon.
"Give into what?" I wrote.
G̶̲͎͇̳̤̭̺͎̟̰̈́̎̑̆̕͝͝ỉ̶̦̞̍̐͜ṿ̷̛̛̤̪̩͔̭̝̞͍͂̈́̅̈́͌ḛ̶̥̬͍̣̝̱̜̯̟̃͠͠ ̸̖̩̒̋̓i̵̥̯̠͇̙̬̜͎̲͌̍́͊̾́̔̊̑͜͝n̵̢͕̖̺̆͆͑̈̅ ̸͋͐̊̓͋̇͜t̸̩̪̦̣͉̙̣̖̆̀̽̔̍̒̄͜o̵̧͇͓͋̔̕ ̴̪̓M̴̢͖̟͖̯͕͓͈͉͑͊̊̈̚͠Ȩ̷̳̖̱̘̩̂̅̽̐̄͘ Tristan. Come back HELP ME End this world's freedom.
"Jessica?" I wrote.
Of course. I wished to own your Contract remember? Your death grants me a bit of, let's say power of attorney. It was very hard to arrange. I didn't just have a skinstealer lying around. Your friends killed it by the way. The blue one even saved your skin.
If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
"You can't make me do anything, Jessica." I wrote back.
I can do this:
You will not recover until you settle this Contract. Please choose an option:
* Kill your master.
* Emotionally devastate your partner and abandon them
* Serve Jessica MacLennan as your next Master. Gain 25 points.
I stared at the Contract, waiting for more snark, but it seemed Jessica had left at this point. Jessica was forbidden from altering my actual Contract, but it seemed she could still abuse things that I couldn't even predict. I needed to know more about Contract magic. Much more. And I had just the thing, I pulled up my Contract's main page
Name: Tristan MacLennan
Rank: Adept (Inherited)
Please spend 1 point below,
Power: 20
Incarnate: 15
Limits: 15
Domain: 30
Anathemas: Sacred Youth, Murder, Integrity II
Breaks: Magical Mortals, Variable Wishes II, Gifted Incarnate, Philanthropic Reasoning, Contract Amendment, Wish Refusal II, True Form, Wish Fulfillment, Arcane Library(unassigned), Demesnes(the plane of Debauch)
Arcane Library. When I took it I wanted to give myself some time before I decided on what specific magical topic I would use it on, I also didn't think I'd have time to sit and read for a while. Jessica solved that problem at least, I was effectively trapped in my Vessel until I agreed to one of her death penalties. A double edged sword to be sure, for now I had all the time in the world.
I also realized while looking at my breaks that I had forgotten that Debauch counts as my Vessel! I formed a black door in my mansion and opened it, revealing plains of red sands and a sky of broken, colorful glass.
I formed some of the red sand into a sandstone chair and sat and thought for a while. While I could take advantage of a free time-out, I did have friends and family out in the world who might be worse for wear if I disappeared for a few years. There's also the fact that while Debauch might count as mine, something tells me it's much easier to get to than my traditional Vessel.
My thoughts were interrupted when a blue form tackled me to the ground out of nowhere. Before even greeting me, Hestia forced my arm into its skin like a latex glove. The experience was far more unpleasant than repairing my body usually was.
"Three days. He misses you. I was only distraught for a moment before remembering that you are a true immortal like myself." Hestia said, dragging my head into her lap. She seems to think that the gesture is the height of romance, not that I mind.
"What?" I replied.
"You were going to ask how long you were gone, how Samson was, and if I was ok. I see our path much clearer here, or perhaps you are so certain of your next actions that my sight isn't as blurred." She answered.
"Oh. Thanks Hesty."
"You are welcome. You are lucky I wished to accompany you, although I do not know why I wasn't before."
"Me neither." I shrugged, "I'm trying to make a few tough decisions, I want to take advantage of a bad situation."
I explained the situation to Hestia, but besides proclaiming that she would attack my cousin if she saw her, she didn't really have any suggestions.
"I am unfamiliar with Contract magic, so I cannot help you there," She said. "But why not use your strongest affinity instead?"
"What do you mean?" I inquired.
"Contract magic isn't the djinn's most powerful affinity, not by a long shot, and you should know what is."
"Desire magic," I said.
She nodded and continued stroking my hair. I kind of already figured out that Desire magic is my greatest strength. The high I felt while taking over this plane was ridiculous, I was unstoppable. Right now the only thing I knew how to do with it was eat it.
I needed to make a decision soon to capitalize on my studies. Broadly useful Contract magic or extremely powerful, but probably harder to learn Desire magic?