Ch3 Bernie & the Plant from Outer Space (FE3H) [Patreon Reward]

[Contains bodysnatching, mild body horror, seduction hypnosis, identity theft, and MTF TG]

“Oh, you look adorable, Bern! Doesn’t she, Edie?” Dorothea’s warm smile made Bernie’s heart melt. The former songstress rocked her school uniform and stylish hat like nobody else could.

“Quite!” The Empire’s crown princess agreed with a genuine grin. Edelgard’s tight red leggings and asymmetrical cape stood out in her non-standard academy attire.

Professor Byleth pushed a lock of her ashy blue hair out of her eyes as she quietly watched with a smile of her own. It was so rare to see emotion on her face, yet here her joy was plain to see.

<This felt familiar>

“Th-thanks!” Bernie heard herself say. “Does it, um, fit me right?”

“Perfectly.”

“Here, see for yourself!” Dorothea pointed to the vanity mirror on her desk.

<She remembered this>

“Wow… Is that… really me?” Staring back at Bernie was the reflection of a young woman, with done-up hair and light makeup, wearing a dazzling, sparkly violet dress with matching opera gloves - a hand-me-down outfit that Dorothea had occasionally worn on-stage.

“Of course it’s you! That look suits you well!”

“I dare say you’re absolutely glowing! But enough about us, do you like what you see?” Edelgard sounded so happy; so relaxed.

<This wasn’t real>

The affirmations of her two classmates made Bernie’s heart flutter. “Y-yes! I feel so pretty!” Tears ran down her face, but they didn’t affect her perfect makeup.

“Aww, Bern…” Dorothea cooed lovingly.

“You’re safe now, I swear.” Byleth added.

“We will never abandon you.” Edelgard promised.

The trio all embraced the shy girl, sharing their warmth and love.

<It had been a long time since Bernie last had this dream - the one she so frequently had in her schooldays>

Bernie stared at the mirror, looking at the serene expressions on her crushes’ faces. She watched as their light smiles grew abnormally large, revealing sharp, planty teeth. The sickly sweet scent of lavender overwhelmed her from out of nowhere, and she felt something wrapping around her ankles.

<This wasn’t right>

“We know you love us, Bernie~” The three said in identical, monotonous voices. Their grips tightened on Bernadetta’s shoulders, and vines were appearing from nowhere to slowly coil her body.

<This was all wrong>

“You’d be better off as one of us, Bernie~”

All three other women had now lost every feature on their faces save for identical, thorny sneers. Every second, their skin grew greener and greener as their bodies were drained of their humanity: their hair slid off their heads like cheap wigs, as did their clothes; their fingers lengthened into even more prehensile vines; their figures bulged as skin and bone became leaf and root; and finally, their bodies began to fuse together! Where once stood Edelgard, Dorothea, and Byleth was now Marlene’s giant bulb!

<This wasn’t how the dream went!>

“You only need me…” Marlene hissed with a thousand voices, all hers. “Stay with me… forever…”

Her room melted away around her, leaving her alone in the forest with nobody but Marlene grasping every inch of her body. No longer was she wearing her beautiful dress, instead appearing as she would on a battlefield in the hellish war she’d been a part of for the past five years.

“AIIIEEEEE! L-let me go!! Marlene!!!”

“I’m not Marlene. I’m Bernadetta von Varley~” Bernie heard a voice - her own voice - right behind her.

Marlene’s vines spun the captive woman so she could come face to face with her own doppelganger! A completely naked replica stared down the original Bernie with an uncharacteristic confidence and gravitas.

<This was no longer her dream>

“NO! NO, DON’T REPLACE ME!! LET ME GOOO!!!” The real Bernie screamed futilely, tugging against the impossibly strong vines restraining her.

“‘Replace you’? Nobody’s being replaced. I am Bernadetta, and I always have been~” The false Bernie gave a wicked grin that almost seemed to bare thorny teeth, but quickly reverted to human-like ones. “I love to sit in my room alone with my plants and stuffies. I fantasise about bringing home some beautiful ladies and holding their hands… kissing their lips… getting in their panties…” Marlene mockingly imitated her prey.

In an instant, Bernie realised her clothes had vacated her body and were now being worn by her planty double! She felt Marlene’s soft vines sliding over her exposed skin, just as she’d seen happen to the original Edelgard some few days prior.

<This was her nightmare>

Being made aware that she was erect, Bernie felt a vine coil around her length as it stimulated the tip of her girlcock!

Then, a strange, rubbery covering encased the real Bernie’s feet and slowly began writhing its way up her body - it was one of Marlene’s pitcher-like plant sacs, and it had come to make sure she never saw the light of day again!

“NO, PLEASE!! YOU CAN’T DO THIS!!”

“Don’t worry, miss plant; I’ll take good care of you~”

The last thing Bernie saw as Marlene’s sac encased her body was her own face warped into a smug, cocky expression it had never before worn.

And then, there was darkness.

—

Four firm, slow knocks on her door roused Bernadetta back to the waking world. Her bed was drenched in sweat - and topped in a light drizzling of fresh girlcum. Her covers had been twisted around from a night of restless tossing and turning. The effects of Marlene’s aphrodisiac had completely worn off, leaving her anxious, uncomfy, and afraid. Four more knocks, slightly firmer this time, demanded her attention.

“Bernadetta, I must ask that you open this door immediately.” Hubert von Vestra’s menacing voice sent a chill down her spine.

“Eeeek! I’m not in here!” Bernie frantically straightened out her blankets so she had something to hide under.

“...Did you really just say-? Tch, I don’t have time for this. You are not in trouble, no harm will befall you. In fact, I need your help. Now, the sooner you let me in, the sooner I’ll leave.”

Begrudgingly, Bernie slid out of bed, hastily dried herself off, and quickly threw on some clothes. Just as she was reaching for her door handle, she paused. “W-wait! How do I know you’re the real Hubert!?”

“Intriguing… So my hypothesis was correct; you do know something.” Hubert almost sounded impressed.

“Know something? …a-about what?”

“I cannot say until you let me in.” He muttered under his breath.

Reluctantly giving in, Bernadetta unlocked her door and opened it to face the tall, shadowy figure of Edelgard’s right hand man looming over her. Whisking himself past the frightened woman, Hubert wasted no time in examining the various nooks and crannies of the tiny academy bedroom.

“Uhh…”

“Close the door, quickly!” He hissed, not stopping his search for whatever he was looking for. A minute or so later, he stood up straight and swept the dust off his shoulders. “Alright, this room is secure.”

“H-Hubert?”

“Yes?”

“It is really you… right?” Leaning forward, Bernie sniffed the air and detected no sign of any lavender scent.

“I am indeed who I appear to be, and I know you are too; there is no need to convince me. If you were anyone else, I would know immediately.” Hubert said quite forwardly. “Now, tell me about all the time you spent with Lady Edelgard over the past two weeks, in as great a detail as possible.”

“I-! Um! Uhhh…” All Bernie’s work towards conquering her fear of Hubert slipped away when he was alone with her, in her room, sternly interrogating her. “I- I- I, um! Y-you wouldn’t b-believe me if I told you!”

“On the contrary, I have more knowledge and experience with situations like this than any other. I see it in your eyes; you know the truth, too. You know that facsimile strutting around out there is not the real Edelgard.” Hubert seethed with a venom Bernie seldom heard.

“You… You know?”

“Of course I do. Do you think I wouldn’t notice that Her Majesty has been replaced? I’ve known this was a possibility for over five years! I had precautions, countermeasures, protections! I thought I was prepared for them to try a stunt like this…” The pale, almost sickly man irritably scratched his chin, losing himself to his thoughts for a moment before snapping out of it. “Bah, never mind that; just tell me what you know so that we may find a solution to this crisis.”

“W-well… I…” Bernadetta’s mind spun as she tried to make sense of the eventful past few weeks. “I don’t know where to start…”

“Names; places; suspicious actions or comments - anything that will give us more insight into our foes.”

“Marlene…”

“Marlene?”

“Yeah… Sh-she b-became Lady Edelgard!”

“When? How? Where?” Hubert anxiously pressed for more.

“I was p-painting, out in the woods! And- and then she was in my room, and she told me!!”

“She told you!?” Hubert spat in astonishment.

“Sh-she was here! And then she was th-there! And I was scared so I hid here but then I tried to tell the Professor but Marlene became her and Dorothea too and said they were all the same together as they merged with her and were being held in her plant sac by her vines because I helped Marlene grow from just a sapling and they were-! Th-they were-!!” Bernie couldn’t bring herself to describe the very erotic nature of what Marlene was up to - and was too out of breath to continue rambling anyway.

Hubert began to respond. “I knew they were arrogant, but for Those Who Slith-” He stopped mid-sentence when all of what Bernie said began to sink in. “Pardon me?”

“Sh-she did things to me! Very… thingy things!” Bernie lowered her voice to an inaudible murmur. “And I think I might have actually enjoyed it…”

“Did you say…?” Hubert took another long, slow breath, then spoke as calmly as possible. “Please repeat what it was you were saying about ‘Marlene growing from a sapling’.”

“I… I found Marlene out in the forest… She was withering away, so I t-tried to help her…”

“Bernadetta… Who is Marlene?”

“She’s the p-plant I found…” After fidgeting nervously for a moment, Bernie lunged back into bed and hid under her covers. “Ohhhh, I knew you wouldn’t believe me!!” Her voice was muffled in her pillow.

“Could they have the ability to mimic other lifeforms now, too?” Lady Edelgard’s right hand man spoke to himself, once again getting lost in thought. “No, no it can’t be… But sacs and vines? What kind of magic…?”

Listening from within her cocoon of blankets, Bernie curled up tighter and squeezed her armored bear stuffy. All she wanted was to live happily and peacefully with her loved ones. She just wanted it all to be ok.

“Bernadetta, would you please show me where this plant is?”

“Wha-what!? Y-you want me to take you back to her!? T-to… to Marlene!?” Bernie shuddered at the thought of returning to the place where that sapient plant held her loved ones in tight, unending coils within soft planty sacs - but she didn’t know if it was from fear, arousal, or both. “I-I can’t! I won’t! You can’t make me! Sh-she’ll eat you! She’ll t-take you away and make you just like them! Just like h-her…”

“We must resolve this before the situation gets out of hand. Surely you wouldn’t want to sit here and let them replace us all one by one; surely you wouldn’t want to be the only real one left. Right, Bernadetta?” Though he was clearly trying to be as amiable as possible, Hubert simply couldn’t prevent a sinister undertone from creeping into his voice.

The traumatised girl simply whimpered and shook as she awaited Hubert to get fed up and leave.

A moment passed in silence.

“You know, Lady Edelgard truly is quite fond of you.” Changing his approach, the shadowy man spun the seat at Bernie’s desk and sat facing the bed. “Loathe as I am to divulge what I know of Her Majesty’s heart, sometimes needs must.” Hubert took a deep breath and continued. “You are one of her favourites. When this conflict is at its end - and it will end - Lady Edelgard wishes to live out her remaining days by your side.”

Now, for perhaps the first time, Bernie heard what Hubert’s voice was like when it completely lacked the menacing tone. Instead, he was calm and a little sorrowful - perhaps even a tad envious.

The man continued. “That future cannot come to pass unless you help me save her.”

Bernadetta poked her head out from her covers. Sitting on the chair was Hubert in a more casual position than normal, with his arms folded and one leg crossed over the other. His eyes were… teary? She wormed her way out of her blankets, and by the time she emerged Hubert had already stood up and composed himself - as if he hadn’t just been on the brink of sobbing.

“F-fine… b-but we need to bring everyone! Caspar, Ferdinand, Petra! Sylvain, Mercedes, Ingrid, Alois, Lysithea, Shamir! W-we need healers and snipers and-! And-!!”

“No. We go alone.” Hubert stated firmly.

“WHAT!? B-but why!? She’s dangerous! She’ll take you too! And then she’ll-! She…!” Bernie still couldn’t vocalise all the lewd acts she was imagining Marlene doing to her: vines exploring every inch of her body; plump lips kissing her most sensitive regions; stolen bodies being pressed up against her own… It was all too much! Bernie felt her face heating up and blood rushing to her nether regions, so quickly turned away from Hubert’s gaze.

“Listen to me. At play here are forces beyond what most in our army are aware of. Do you remember Monica, back from the academy? What about Tomas, the ‘librarian’? They were part of a group more cunning and duplicitous than the church of Seiros itself. Fighting them head on would be a mistake; they must be fended off from the shadows until the time is right.” Seething with a slight growl in his voice, Hubert realised he was showing emotion and quickly corrected his mistake. “Ahem… My point is that we must do this simply and swiftly on our own.”

“Ohhh!” Bernie whined quietly, dreading the idea of facing Marlene again without more people there to handle things. The archer reluctantly grabbed her bow and quiver. “You better know what you’re doing…”

“Of course I do. Now, lead on.” Hubert opened the door and gestured outward.

—

Before they got too close to Marlene’s bulb, Bernie halted her careful trudging and turned to face Hubert. His silhouette looked even more horrific than normal, almost like a vampire in the gloomy, foggy forest. Oddly, though, the idea of having a vampire on her side gave Bernie just a bit more resolve.

“Sh-she’s up ahead…” Whispering shakily, Bernie pointed towards their destination. “Watch where you step, she has d-dozens of vines that could snatch you up!”

The vampiric shadow silently nodded, and the pair slowly proceeded. Of all the days for the woodland to be cloaked in fog, today was certainly the most unfortunate; Bernie recognised from the stones and roots at her feet that she’d normally have Marlene’s bulb easily in sight, but before her was naught but an abyssal expanse of grey. Each bated breath she took rang in her ears and visibly displaced the thick, cloudy air in front of her face. The forest was abnormally silent, free from even the rustling of leaves and the sound of insects.

But then, Bernie noticed the familiar, ominous aroma of lavender tickle her nose. She fell almost completely still, darting her eyes left and right in search of any doppelgangers in proximity of her. There was still nothing but grey in her line of sight, but she certainly felt a spooky presence nearby. She slowly turned to slink away, but Hubert was no longer behind her!

“...!” Bernie nearly gasped, but caught herself just in time. “Huuubeeert!” She mouthed almost silently. “Huuubeeeeeert!! Where are you!?”

A slow gust of air from beside her made Bernie instinctually leap aside; she had to cover her mouth so she didn’t make a sound. Catching a glimpse of Hubert’s tall, thin silhouette fade into the fog, Bernie could only conclude that her comrade had been snatched - that is, until the fog suddenly began to clear.

All around her, Marlene’s vines were waving around, acting as a series of fans dispersing the low cloud layer. Now, she had clear enough vision to witness the chilling truth: Hubert had seemingly thrown caution and stealth to the wind and was walking slowly, almost dopily, towards one of the intelligent plant’s vacant sacs! Marlene’s bulb was as lush and vibrant as ever, and was surrounded by a growing number of pitcher-like sacks - three of which were sealed and formed in the outline of human figures.

Bernadetta’s mind was racing, as was her fragile heart. Before she even knew what she was doing, the archer raced towards the vampiric man, bobbing and weaving around the many waving vines as she moved.

“H-Hubert!! What are you d-doing!? H… Hubert…?”

The man in question was unresponsive; with a dazed, almost blank expression on his face, he slowly continued forward until he arrived at the nearest pitcher sac.

“Laven…der… Nnng…” Hubert moaned hypnotically. He barely reacted to several vines slithering around his legs and up his body - that is, until they reached his crotch. “Nnng! Huh… Horn…ny…!”

Another, stronger wave of lavender scent was emitted in a concentrated puff from Marlene’s sac, which caused Hubert’s eyes to nearly roll back into his skull! His limbs went limp and his knees gave out, making Marlene’s vines the only thing keeping him upright. That didn’t last for long, though, as they reoriented him horizontally on the forest floor once every major part of his body was secured by vines.

Simply watching in horror, Bernie witnessed Marlene gently dragging the calm, docile man into her sac! The plant matter gradually tightened until Hubert was simply another figure encased inside the menacing plant from who-knows-where.

Minutes, hours; Bernie didn’t know how long she simply stood there dumbfounded by how willingly Hubert submitted. The blob within the sac eventually began to writhe and moan, just like the others.

Having dissociated due to the extreme situation she’d found herself in, Bernie was pulled back to full consciousness by a gentle green glow emanating from Marlene’s bulb.

“Oh no-! Oh gods-! Ohhh! R-run! I have to run!!” Despite telling herself what to do, her feet refused to move. “Stupid Bernie, don’t just stand here!! We have to move!!”

But it was too late: the petals of Marlene’s bulb peeled away to reveal a familiar - yet unexpected - figure within: a tall, lithe, naked body with feminine curves and a modest bust; slightly wavy black hair that reached almost to the shoulders; a smoother and rounder face that was still recognisable; and a big, beautiful cock between her soft thighs.

“Hello, Bernie~ Remember me?~” A deep, sultry, feminine voice called out as the body stepped out of Marlene’s bulb. Once it was empty, the petals withdrew back into a closed configuration and the green glow ceased. “You can call me Avelina von Vestra~”