Midnight Morals: Princess Chie (P4 MCTF) (Patreon)

Hey folks!

Writing is rolling along, very much enjoying the requests! And as usual I have pretty much nothing else to say, so enjoy some fun with Chie!

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Consider, if you will, a world born parallel to our own. A freakish realm where unreality meets the subconscious in ways that bend both form and mind. That place where monsters roam and mysteries seep. Mind the danger and watch your step.

Welcome… To the Midnight Channel.

Blue.

A woman in a long dark blue dress – a shade darker than those worn by those lovely ladies from the Velvet room – strides into a room, a dusty office that could have been stolen from any Noir detective. Her pale skin seems almost grey by contrast, and as she turns to face you, there’s a flash of red in her eyes, before the upper half of her face is hidden from view by her long brimmed hat.

“Too much?” She asks, a smile on her lips. “I always did like to make a proper entrance. Good evening watchers, and I see we even have a few readers in tonight! Do try to make yourselves comfortable. Welcome to My Midnight Channel.”

She leans back, resting her shapely behind against an abandoned desk, and rests her chin in her hand, her palm protected by a long evening glove. “It’s always nice to have some new guests in. I hope you enjoy the show – it is your wishes that I’m here to grant, after all."

“For those recent arrivals, allow me to explain – This place is a doorway, a window, if you will, into another reality, where humanity’s perverse wishes rule. Here, you may witness all manner of twisted fantasies to tempt and tantalize – even if you’d never ask for them out loud. But then, they may not be your fantasies, precisely – I do have all of the world’s desires to pick from, after all.”

“And who am I? I am but your humble guide – one who sees no reason to trouble ourselves with names. Suffice to say that while my better half may be content playing around with the weather, I still wish to grant the world a little more… pleasure. Interested? I certainly hope so.”

“It’s a step up from being a gas station attendant, at any rate…”

“Anyway…” She smirks, leaning back, and plucking from the desk a battered looking manuscript, flicking through its worn pages. “Tonight’s series of tales involve a young woman who never knew when enough was enough. I’m afraid it seems that she has barged in where she wasn’t wanted, and has now found herself biting off far more than she could chew. No steak in sight this time, dear.”

There’s that red flash under her hat again.

“Are you sitting comfortably? Then let’s investigate this story together. But you should be careful where you snoop, lest you end up delving too deep, and you find yourself helplessly in the grip… of the Midnight Channel~”

---

“It was another bright and cheerful morning in the kingdom. The birds were singing, the sun was shining, and Princess Proper was considering a conundrum…”

“Where the heck am I?”

Chie Satonaka was in trouble. This was not an altogether unusual state of affairs (especially if you asked Yosuke) but this one was pretty bad. Stranded deep in the TV world with no sign of the way back and no party to back her up… Yeah, this rated fairly highly on the badness scale. Ooh, this might suck, actually.

Sure, she was a badass – she’d kicked and blasted her way through countless dungeons, shadows, and even a few gods, but generally she’d never been solo while doing it. And they’d always been careful to make sure they could retreat if they needed to before.

None of that was at the forefront of her mind right now, though. It was in there, yeah, but currently she was more focused on her surroundings. They were weird.

She’d found herself in a small round room, with walls of smooth white marble. It seemed to be a bedroom, with a fluffy pink carpet, a big queen-sized bed, a fancy wardrobe and a dressed with a full length mirror – all decorated as fancily as any dungeon she’d ever seen. And though the window on the far wall, she could see a beautiful view of a sprawling landscape: A fairy tale castle spread out below, and an endless sea of majestic forests and green fields surrounding it.

None of that was the weird part. Or, okay, yes, it was all weird, but she’d dealt with Shadows before, she knew how it went. No, it was weirder because it… How to put this…

It was all a cartoon. Did that describe it right? Every outline had an outline, like those anime Yosuke liked to watch. The walls, the bed, the forest, even the sky. It was kind of freaky, to be honest. And she’d thought that was bad enough, but then she’d noticed the outline around her as well…

Yep. It was affecting her too. Chie Satonaka was currently a toon.

If anyone ever told the boys, she’d kick them to the moon, understood?

And all of that, but no fog in sight, even though she wasn’t wearing her glasses. Hoo dear.

Thus, her question – where the hell was she? And…

“Did someone steal Yukiko’s idea? I’ll kick their ass.”

That was one way of dealing with her confusion, sure. How had this happened? Well, Chie didn’t completely understand the particulars – shut up, she wasn’t a meathead, she’d just been distracted while the others had been talking about it, that was all. There had been something about unusual activity in the TV world – mist creeping back in, shadows starting to appear again, that kind of thing. So they’d decided to go investigate, just like the old days. Investigation Team forever!

Okay, half the investigation team. It had just been her, Yukiko, Naoto and Rise this time – the four of them had gotten together to hang out on one of the rare occasions when all four of them were back in Inaba, when Rise had sensed something weird in the TV. Naturally, they had chosen to go into the TV world to take a look, and…

… And now here she was, sans glasses and sans her friends. The events between point A and point B were a bit of a blur, which was pretty concerning. She remembered the fog getting really, really thick… Then she was here.

So, okay. Priorities:

1: Find her friends.

2: Get out of here.

3: Pound anyone who got in her way.

Simple! She could leave the rest to Naoto and Rise once she’d found them, she was sure. Their sense and sensitivity would guide them through. She was here to be the muscle, and she was damn good at it. As she was about to demonstrate~

"The issue was that she wanted to leave the castle and play with her friends, despite how dangerous it was outside the castle walls..."

Chie paused mid-stride towards he door, looking around. “Uh, who said that?”

No one answered. Everything was silent. There was no sign of the woman who she’d just heard speaking. Was that just another bit of TV world weirdness? The voice of whoever’s Shadow had created this dungeon, maybe?

Eh. Not her problem. If they weren’t going to show themselves, she could ignore them. With a shrug, the brunette shoved her way out of the door, and began to descend the twisting staircase she found beyond. Down, down, down she went, from the top of the tallest tower, all the way to the main entrance hall, where she found…

“Yukiko?!?” Chie froze, stepping down from the last stair. There, in front of her was… No… No, wait. That wasn’t Yukiko. This woman had the same colour hair, yes, but her face was completely different. Just close enough for a mistaken identity at a distance, that was all.

This woman, who was not Yukiko, was wearing a maid outfit, which Yukiko would have totally pulled off better, having been in the middle of dusting when Chie had arrived. She was also a cartoon, of course - and she looked pretty startled to see her, which Yukiko would never have been!

… Look, she was worried about her friend, okay? Not obsessive at all. No way.

“Princess!” The maid interrupted her defensiveness with a deep bow. “It’s so strange to see you out of your room before noon. What brings you down so early?”

Huh. Hm. Right. There was… A lot to process there, quite a few points she wanted to go through, and she had no idea where to start. Princess? Her room? Noon? None of those were- Hey, actually, did she need to go through any of that? There was no way she’d like any of the answers, and it was all definitely TV world nonsense, right? She could just ignore it! Haha, excellent plan, Satonaka.

“I’m leaving. Have fun!” She hopped past the other woman, striding straight for the big doors which, she assumed, would lead her to the exit of this weird little cartoon fairy tale realm.

“Wha- Wait, Princess!” The maid panicked, hurrying after her. “You can’t!”

“Watch me.” Chie didn’t stop walking.

“But- But there’s monsters out there!”

“Oh really?” The brunette grinned. “Good thing I know just what to do about those! Hya!”

She threw open the big doors, revealing the outside world. High white walls surrounded the castle, flying various multicoloured flags that flapped gently in the breeze. There was only one gap in the building’s perfect stone defence – a single gate, through which Chie could see an already lowered drawbridge. And on the other side of the drawbridge, she could see a horde of shadows.

Phew. Honestly, she was kind of relieved to see them. They were refreshingly familiar in this weird cartoon world. A nice grounding element.

Now to go and kick the crap out of them.

"Despite her maid's protests, she confidently strutted across the moat towards the monsters…”

She stopped, looking around. There was that voice again! “Uh, excuse me? I don’t strut anywhere. This is just me walking. Or maybe stomping… Anyway, shut up!”

The voice seemed to oblige her – or, at least, she didn’t say anything else, which was pretty much just as good. Chie gave it a few moments, before continuing forwards. The shadows waiting on the other side of the bridge looked pretty weak – she was sure she hadn’t seen some of them since Yukiko’s dungeon. Absolutely no problem for someone like her, no matter how many of them there were.

“But as she went to attack, she realised something important...”

The brunette twitched, whirling around. “If you have something to say, just say it already!”

… Nothing. Silence. Just a cartoon maid looking at her in fright. Ugh.

“Fine. Whatever. Now…” She finished the crossing, glaring at the shadows. “Haraedo-no-Okami, hear me! Per-”

“She had absolutely no idea how to fight!”

“-Huh?” She stumbled, wobbling on one foot, the other already half raised for a kick. “What- What’s that supposed to mean?”

Again, the voice didn’t respond. It just said something absurd, and then left. What the hell was her problem? Why was she saying these things? It was ridiculous. She knew how to fight. Of course she knew.

“Uh. H-Haraedo… I, I mean, Suzuka Gongen- No, wait, Tomoe! Tomoe, yeah, cast… Uh… Kadizzle… or something?”

… Uh oh.

What was this? What was happening to her? She could feel an emptiness in her head, a growing… absence? Like, she knew that she how to kick something – she knew how to do that really well – but reaching for that knowledge just brought back nothing. It was like her skills had drained right out of her head!

Nervously, she looked around at the looming shadows that were now gathering around this easy prey. “Uh… I don’t suppose we could talk about this…?”

“Luckily, just at that moment, the Galant Ser Knight appeared and scared the monsters away!”

Chie blinked. “Who? Woah!”

She jumped back as suddenly a cartoon knight on a shining white horse charged through the massed shadows, obliterating every beast in his path and scattering the rest.

“Back, dark creatures, back!” The knight yelled, swinging a sword wildly. “Quickly, my lady, we must fall back!”

She just stared at him, slack jawed. “Huh? Oh, I guess… Wait a sec, don’t- Woah!”

Too late. He swept her up with one arm, carrying her over one shoulder as he urged his mount to ride back across the draw bridge. Her frantic kicks did little to dissuade him, nor did her angry cries.

“Hey! Put me down, you jerk! I can handle myself just fine! I swear to god, if anyone out there is watching this I’m going to kick your head off! I mean you Yosuke!”

“Dropping her off at the castle, the brave hero scolded the foolish princess. ‘Fighting is dangerous work, and best left to the big strong men,’ he told her.”

“Eh?” A little disorientated after being set down so easily back inside the castle, it took Chie a moment to work out what had just been said. “Wait, what? Hey, how dare you! I’ll have you know that I can… Uh… That… That I can…”

Chie trailed off, licking her lips nervously. She had thought she could fight, but she’d been pretty firmly proven wrong on that front. Now she was feeling unsteady, her confidence knocked out from under her.

“… Well what else am I supposed to do?” She asked, a little helplessly.

“Poor Princess Proper protested, but he just laughed. ‘There are better things for pretty princesses to be doing than fighting monsters!’ he told her.”

“What’s… What’s that… supposed… to…” The brunette trailed off, her face going slack. Her head felt… kinda fuzzy…

If before it had felt like knowledge was draining out of her, now it felt as thought it was flowing back in. Information. Skills. Etiquette. Propriety. A haze descended over her mind, a kind of rosy tint clouding her view of the world. She knew exactly what a pretty princess like her was supposed to do.

“With a smile, the princess realised that he was right. In fact she knew just how to reward her saviour..."

Giggling, Chie rose up on her tip-toes, and placed her lips against the handsome knight’s cheek, planting a chaste kiss.

“My thanks, good sir knight,” she said, curtsying as she pulled back. “I owe you my life, and I am terribly grateful. If there’s anything you would like in reward, please – you have but to say the word.”

The knight grinned, looking down at her, his eyes roaming her primly presented body and her glazed smile. “You know, Princess,” he said, sliding down off his steed. “I think we can work something out…”

“And so the good Princess Proper learned her lesson: Good girls never fight or make a fuss~”

“The End.”

-

The next day, Chie woke up with a start. What- Where- How- Huh?

She blinked, looking around. Somehow, she was back in the bedroom at the top of the tower, now laying in the bed, the sheets drawn over her. Had she been sleeping? Her memories of the previous day were… foggy. Like the mist had rolled in at one point, just after she’d been rescued from those Shadows, and then… Then…

Hm. She couldn’t remember. Just a faint giddy sensation and a warm, pleasant feeling rolling through her body. Weird.

Oh well. Whatever. Shaking her head, she pulled herself out from under the sheets, and then groaned as she looked down at herself. Where were her clothes? Her normal top and skirt had vanished, replaced with a lacey white nightdress. Maybe she’d gotten changed last night? She thought she remembered stripping down…

The brunette slid to her feet and stalked over to the dresser, peering at herself in the mirror with a frown. There was something odd about her body, something she couldn’t put her finger on. It was more than just her clothes, as annoying as those were. And it wasn’t her weird toony outline or monotone colours, either. No, it was something about the shape. Was… Was she bustier than normal…?

"It was a lovely sunny day in the Kingdom, and Princess Proper was still looking to leave the castle.”

An all too familiar voice interrupted her deliberations, and Chie spun around, glaring at the ceiling. “You’re dooting right I am! And who are you calling a Princess, anyway?!”

Wait, what the heck was ‘dooting’ supposed to mean? She’d meant to say d.. dam… daaaaa-doot!

Um. What?

Before she could dwell on this new strangeness, there was a knock on the door, which immediately swung open, not caring to wait for her answer. From beyond, a trio of maids entered. At first, Chie thought that they were led by the maid she had met the day before – but then, to her astonishment, she realised that all three women looked identical. Same black (almost Yukiko) hair, same (not at all Yukiko) faces, same uniforms, same figures, same… everything.

Had someone cut the budget on this cartoon or something?

“Ah, Princess!” The first of them spotted her, and all three curtsied. “You’re already awake. How can we help you prepare for your day?”

Chie frowned at them. They seemed nice enough – and they weren’t, you know, Shadows, which was pretty unusual in the TV world – but still, could she really trust them?

Maybe she could give them a test. “Well if you could show me the way out of here, that’d be handy…”

“’You can't go out like that,’ her maids told her. ‘No no, that will never do!’”

The brunette blinked. It was that mysterious voice that had spoken, she’d heard it clearly. But she’d also seen the maid’s lips move – all three of them at once. Freaky.

“Uh.” She backed up a little. “Well, I mean, yeah, if you want to tell me where my clothes vanished to, I- Wah!”

Not far enough. As one, the three maids advanced seizing her by the arms and turning her around. Doot it, if only she knew how to fight…

“They guided her over to a mirror, and sat her down. 'See?' they said. 'You look much too plain for a Princess'.”

“Hey!” Chie glowered at the trio. Plain? Plain! How dare they? She was cute, is what she was! Maybe even spunky. But plain?! She was never… She could never…

The brunette paused, her reflection catching her eye again. On second thought, didn’t she look kinda… Maybe just a little bit… you know… plain?

“Realising they were right, she pursed her lips and frowned. 'But how could I ever look like a real Princess?' she asked.”

It had been freaky when the maids had spoken with that mysterious woman’s voice. Watching her own lips do it was something else entirely. Especially when they were spouting such nonsense! A real princess? She didn’t want to look like a real princess!

… Did she…?

“And the maids laughed, frolicking around her with makeup and perfume fit for the grandest occasion. ‘Leave that to us, Princess. You'll be perfect before you know it!'”

Before she could make up her mind, the maids went in to work, and as the voice spoke, she watched her reflection transform. Kind of literally. Her hair was growing longer, all the way down to her ass, her eyes were gaining a bright, toony sparkle… Her nightdress was being replaced with a flowing princess gown… And were her boobs getting bigger again…?

One thing was certain – there was no way anyone could all the Chie in the mirror plain!

“Princess Proper gasped as she gazed at her reflection. She was so pretty!”

She really was! This time the brunette couldn’t even muster the slightest argument – the woman she had become was beautiful. But- but, wait… Why… Why did she… care so much? Her looks shouldn’t have been… so important…

Ugh. Her head was feeling all foggy again…

"’Far too pretty to waste your good looks wandering the countryside,’ her maids suggested - and of course, she was unable to refute them.”

Yes… Far too pretty…

"’But worry not, princess,’ they told her. ‘For there is a grand ball for you to attend, with many suitors waiting to try for your hand...’"

The maids were talking, but it was that voice that was whispering right into Chie’s brain. Filling it with images of happiness and celebration, and handsome men, all fighting over her…

“That sounds… fun…” She half-whispered, a dazed smile spreading over her lips. And she absolutely didn’t protest as the maids guided her to her feet, and then escorted her off into the castle. She was just too busy being pretty to worry about such things.

“She spent the evening in blissful frivolity, dancing, singing, and cavorting the night away, with many a handsome man taking their chance to woo her. Some with great success...”

The world swam, and Chie found herself spinning into a blur of good times and delight. Sweet tasting wine splashed over her tongue, merry tunes dancing through her ears, passionate lips pressed to her own, and devilish hands explored beneath her dress. It felt like her life had become a clip show, a picture book, flipping through still images of perfect fun, before everything faded into foggy bliss…

“And so the good Princess Proper learned her lesson: Good girls always look their best.”

“The End.”

-

“Nnn… Mn.” Princess woke slowly the next day, resting and basking in bed as her mind slowly booted back up. Why get up? What was the rush? It’d be silly to leave when she was feeling so nice and pretty…

Wait.

Wasn’t there supposed to be something she was…

“Gah!” The brunette sat up, shaking her head to try and remove the cotton candy that had apparently clogged her brain. What was she doing?! What had she been doing? Why was her memory so foggy?

Why was she calling herself Princess? Her name was- H-her name was P… Pri…

She had to get out of here.

“As the sun rose on another fine day, once again the princess had determined that she must make to leave.”

“Oh will you just shut up already,” Princess grumbled as she stumbled down the steps of the tower, steadying herself with one hand against the wall while the other held up the hem of her nightdress so she didn’t trip. It was tricky work – her chest was jiggling so much with every step she could have sworn it had gotten bigger again, but doot she had no time to think about that right now.

At the bottom of the stairs, she found herself bursting into the entrance hall again – and once again she paused. This time there wasn’t only one maid waiting for her here – there was an entire crowd of them, stood with their heads bowed between her and the exit.

Growling, she clenched a fist, trying to strike an intimidating pose even if she had none of her combat skills left. “I swear to doot, all of you had better get out of my way, or else I… Huh?”

To her surprised, every single maid just bowed, and politely stepped aside, opening up a pathway for her straight to the entrance.

“No one barred her progress - for of course, she was free to do as she wished! But her maids did make sure to test her.”

“Test me?” Princess looked around. “Test me how?”

“’We know you wish to leave,’ they said. ‘But where will you go?’”

Where would she go? Well that was obvious! She’d… She’d… Uh…

“’I don't know,’ she said, for she did not know where to look for her friends.”

She slapped a hand over her mouth, eyes wide as that other voice spilled from it. But, was it wrong? She really didn’t know where her friends were, or how to find them. That was kind of a problem… Wasn’t it…?

“’And what will you do?’”

She’d… She’d… Well, she would… Um…

“’I don't know’, she repeated, because she'd never been the best at figuring this stuff out.”

This time she didn’t try to silence herself, because she knew it was true. She’d always been a meathead, letting others do the hard thinking for her.

“Then why must you leave?”

Because… Because her friends… B-because…

“’I... I don't know...?’ She realised, her brow furrowing as she tried to recall why she'd ever wanted to go in the first place.”

Why had she wanted to leave, again? It had seemed so important, but now she really couldn’t recall. She bit her lip nervously, fumbling through the fog in her head for answers, but nothing came to mind.

“’It seems,’ her maids giggled, ‘that there is an awful lot you do not know. Maybe you should let someone else do the thinking for you instead.’”

She… She…

‘Let someone else think for me?’ It was such a strange notion to her. But who would do that?

Those words were echoing through her hollow head. She couldn’t fight them. She couldn’t remember how. All she could do was listen and follow.

“’We would be happy to,’ the maids said! ‘It is our duty to serve, after all.’”

Oh, that… sounded… lovely…

“Thus, with a smile, the good Princess relinquished her will, allowing her trusted maids to steer her thoughts from that moment on.”

A blank smile spread itself over Princess’s lips, her eyes glazing as her mind fell completely silent. A moment later, and her breasts swelled up another cup size, drinking down the last of her discarded intellect. They went ‘boing’, for extra toonish effect.

The maids moved swiftly after she went still, after her brain went blank. They quickly wrapped her in her finest green dress, and lifted her lips into a smile, before gently guiding her on towards her next duty. One that she would be all too happy to fulfil – just as soon as someone whispered what to think into her ear.

“And in return, she entered a realm of thoughtless bliss, ever pliant, ever pleasing, to all who crossed her path. The perfect Princess forever more.”

“And so the good Princess Proper learned her lesson: Good girls let others think for them~”

“The End.”

-

“A fine story, I’d say.” The woman in blue gives you a smirk as she sets the final page of the manuscript down. “A lovely tale of a girl finding her place in the world. It's not the world she thought she belonged in, but it's where she'll be staying from now on.”

There’s a chuckle as she slides back to her feet, her dress swishing as she moves through the office. “True, she did end up as a bit of a flat character, but there's only so much you can do in two dimensions, don't you think?”

At the door, she holds it open, ready for you to depart. “Of course, I’d love for you to stay, but the Midnight Chanel can only play but once a night, and only for so long. If you’d like another tale, come back tomorrow, or any other evening as the fog rolls in. Until then…”

A woman all too happy to let others make the difficult decisions for her finds her ability to choose permanently removed. A fighter proud of her strength finds herself only valued for her beauty. A prince looking to save the day finds herself cast as the damsel instead. These, and fates like them, are all that await those who ignore the warnings and lose themselves…

… In the Midnight Channel.