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Chapter Text

Once upon a time, in a faraway land, a young prince and princess lived together in a shining castle. To their subjects, they were the perfect pair, both kind and compassionate toward their subjects and completely in love. But the princess’ heart grew jealous. She became controlling and cruel toward her prince, seeing signs of his infidelity everywhere she looked. The prince’s servants begged him to sever ties with her, to realize that she was no longer the princess he knew, but the prince clung to the hope that his princess was still there.

One day, the prince went into town to buy some flowers for his princess. It was her birthday and he wished to surprise her. As soon as the princess saw the prince’s carriage leave the castle, she resolved to follow him. Surely the reason he had left without telling her was that he was going out to meet a secret lover. She followed her prince to the market, where she saw him buying flowers from the red-haired florist. The princess was distraught upon seeing the prince holding hands with the florist, refusing to acknowledge that he was simply handing her money for the flowers. When the prince returned, flowers in hand, the princess flew into a rage. The prince tried to reason with her, offering her a rose, but the princess would not listen to him. To her, this was proof that she had been right all along. Her prince had been unfaithful to her.

As punishment for his supposed transgressions, she transformed him into a hideous beast, and placed a powerful spell on the castle and all who lived there. Once the spell was cast, she flew from the castle, still in a rage. Ashamed of his monstrous form, the beast concealed himself inside his castle, with a magic mirror as his only window to the outside world. The rose he had offered became an enchanted rose, which would bloom until his 31rst year. If one could learn to love him by the time the last petal fell, then the spell would be broken. If not, he would be doomed to remain a beast for all time. As the years passed, he fell into despair and lost all hope. For who could ever learn to love a beast?

Chapter Text

Hat Kid wanted a family. Her dream from the time she’d been very small had been to have a family of her very own. One like the kind she saw in picture books. A mom, a dad, her, and Bow. Because Bow was her sister, no matter what anyone else said. Tim, the man who ran the orphanage she and Bow had grown up in, had always assured her that she’d find a family of her own someday.

“Family isn’t just blood.” He’d often told them. “You choose your family.” Timmy, no relation to Tim, always rolled his eyes at this but Hat Kid took Tim’s words very seriously. And so, when she and Bow were ten, she decided that they needed to leave the orphanage and find their family. Tim had been worried about them going out on their own. He’d always told them that the world was a dangerous place and that they needed to be careful and cautious. Still, he knew that once Hat Kid set her mind on something she wasn’t easily swayed.

“Stay safe, you two.” He’d said, kissing them both on the forehead. “Harriet, take care of Bow. Bow, make sure Harriet doesn’t do anything reckless.”

“Yes, sir.” Bow had given him a mock salute while Hat Kid pouted at the insinuation that she was reckless. Tim gave them supplies for the road, food, water, blankets, and a map of the country. Then he’d sent them on their way.

They’d traveled for almost a week before finally arriving at the village that they current resided in. It was called Subcon and bordered on a massive forest that had quite a lot of strange rumors surrounding it. There they’d been taken in by a local florist named Peony who fed them, sheltered them, and kept them clothed. Peony was nice and all, and Hat Kid did like her, but she didn’t want to be a mother. Peony took care of Bow and Hat Kid, but she’d made it abundantly clear that she wasn’t looking to be a mother to anyone. Hat Kid didn’t take it personally. Besides, her quest for a family was on hold for the moment.

The town they lived in was run by the mafia, who weren’t all that fond of children and were even less fond of Peony. Luckily, Peony wasn’t the sort to back down when it came to threats. The mafia had tried to threaten her before, but it had never ended well for any of them. Hat Kid and Bow tried to stay away from the mafia most of the time. It was easier to avoid them rather than engage. Unfortunately, they’d made friends with a local girl named Mu who liked antagonizing the mafia whenever she could. Like Bow and Hat Kid, she was an orphan and lived with Peony, although that was mostly because Peony had found out Mu had been sleeping in an alley. She’d been born in this village, before the mafia had gotten there, and was determined to get revenge on them for what they’d done to her town. According to her and Peony, the mafia had only moved in 3 or 4 years ago, before Bow and Hat Kid had ever arrived.

“We used to have a couple of monarchs who ruled the area, but they disappeared a while back.” Peony had once said. “I don’t know what happened to them. They just vanished one day, and everyone forgot about them.” Hat Kid had wanted to ask why Peony hadn’t forgotten, but it seemed like Peony had only let slip this tidbit because she hadn’t been paying attention. She didn’t want to talk about the monarchs of the area. This only made Hat Kid even more determined to find out about these mysterious rulers.

That was what she was doing today. She’d snuck into the restricted area of the library with Mu and Bow to see if she could find any information. Well, the current library.

The original library building had been taken over by the Mafia Boss due to how large and lavish design. The current library was a small brick building on the outskirts of town. It had once been a grocery store, which was readily apparent when one took a look inside. The shelving units holding the books had once been used to hold food, and the desk to check out books had been where patrons paid for their groceries. The restricted area of the library was where the stock had been held, a massive warehouse area with a few bookcases holding the books the Mafia didn’t want open to the public.  

Mu had been pretty excited by the prospect of breaking and entering. Bow had not.

“We’re going to get in trouble!” She whispered as Mu managed to pop the lock off the back door.

“Psh! We’ll be fine!” Mu said, opening the door. “Those idiots never come back here! They probably don’t even know how to read!” Hat Kid stuck her head in, scanning the room for any signs of life. The one thing about the fact that it was so large and wide-open was that she could easily tell if there were people around. It looked as though it hadn’t been touched in ages. There was a thin layer of dust on the concrete floor and bookshelves, and cobwebs hung from the ceiling.

“Alright, the coast’s cl-” Hat Kid started to say, only to have Mu barge right in, kicking up large clouds of dust as she strode about.

“What’s so special about this stuff anyway?” She asked before launching into a sneezing fit because of the dust. Hat Kid stared at her for a moment before making an irritated noise, prompting an undignified snort from Bow.

“Technically there’s nothing special about it.” Hat Kid replied, dragging Bow in and shutting the door behind them. “But they might be able to tell me stuff about the people who used to be in charge. It’s pretty hard to just erase stuff from books.”

“How do you know?” Mu folded her arms, raising one eyebrow in an almost challenging manner.

“Well, you can’t just erase words.” Hat Kid said. “They’re printed in ink. So you’d have to just scribble over it or just rip the page out.”

“That sounds right.” Mu nodded sagely. “Okay. Let’s look for your weird nerd stuff.” She turned away from Hat Kid, starting to pick up books and flip through them.

“It’s not weird nerd stuff.” Hat Kid grumbled.

“Just let it go.” Bow whispered, gently patting Hat Kid’s back. Hat Kid let out a small huff, going to look through the books too. It didn’t take long for her mood to improve. Thankfully, as she’d hoped, the restricted books had the information she was looking for. They were thick tomes, bound in leather with yellowed and brittle pages. These books had detailed records of the royal family of the area, as well as a bit on the magic that tended to be practiced in the area. Hat Kid and Bow hadn’t been gifted with natural magical capabilities, but Tim had been rather well versed in time magic.

“This is so cool!” Hat Kid squealed, shoving one of the books in Bow’s face. “Look! It has stuff about all kinds of magic! Even the illegals kinds!”

“Really?” Bow’s face lit up. She didn’t like doing crime, but she loved learning about magic. Another reason Mu liked to call her and Hat Kid nerds.

“If we take this, we could figure out how to do magic!” Hat Kid pointed excitedly at a page. “Wouldn’t that be so cool?” Bow looked ready to agree, but her look of excitement quickly turned to one of worry.

“But what if Peony found it?” She asked. “She’d be really mad.”

“She’s not gonna find it.” Hat Kid scoffed, shoving the book into her bag. “I know how to hide stuff.”

“She found Mu’s chocolate stash.”

“That was only because the flies showed up!” Mu yelled from the other side of the room where she was poking at a spider in the corner. “I did a good job hiding it!”

“Chocolate is different than a book.” Hat Kid rolled her eyes. “It’ll be fine.”

“Peony always finds out.” Bow insisted.

“She’s not going to find out.” Hat Kid insisted with a frown. “Now let’s keep looking.”

“She’s going to find out.” Bow whispered, but not loud enough that Hat Kid could hear.

It took Hat Kid a little before she finally found the book that had the most recent generation of royals. While she’d initially been excited by the amount of information, she was finding a lot of it was kind of useless. Whoever had recorded these things had written down literally everything. Nobody wanted to know about Reginald VI’s weird obsession with cheese. At least, Hat Kid didn’t want to know about the weird cheese obsession.

“Why is royalty so weird?” She muttered to herself as she flipped the page. Okay, this should be the page with the current royals. She stopped, then flipped back a page, then flipped forward again.

“What the-?” Hat Kid stared at the page in disbelief.

“What’s wrong?” Bow asked.

“The entry’s all weird!” Hat Kid jabbed her finger at the entry. The birthdates of the royals were listed, but that was practically the only clear thing. The words on the page were smudged, as though water had been spilled on them. But there was no sign of water damage on any other pages. And the portraits that were supposed to be on the pages were just not there. The gilded frames were simply empty.

“That is weird.” Bow agreed, her brow furrowing. “Are any of the other pages like that?”

“No! It’s just this one!” Hat Kid slammed the book shut, shoving it into her bag with the other one.

“Are you nerds done? I’m bored.” Mu announced. She’d managed to throw all the books off of one table and was now laying on it, staring up at the ceiling. There wasn’t much to look at on the ceiling. Just more spiderwebs and a few nests of birds that had flown in.

“Not yet.” Bow said as she gently patted Hat Kid’s back. “Maybe another book can tell you something.”

“Okay…” Hat Kid allowed her sister to lead her to another bookshelf. She was still fuming a little. She’d broken in here for nothing!

“What are you children doing in here?” A voice suddenly came from behind Bow and Hat Kid. Both girls jumped, turning frantically around to find the librarian standing there. The librarian was a rather unsettling being who had previously sold badges before taking over the library. Most called them the Badge Seller due to their former occupation. It wasn’t clear what they were since the visible parts of their body were dark purple and it didn’t seem like they had any face behind their strange mask.

Hat Kid’s heart was pounding. How had they come in without them hearing? Those big doors creaked loudly. She knew because she’d tried to sneak back here from the library proper a few times.

“H-Hello, sir.” Hat Kid laughed nervously. Bow squeaked and clung to Hat Kid’s arm. Mu unceremoniously fell off the table, kicking up more dust.

“You should not be back here.” The Badge Seller said, staring down at Bow and Hat Kid with their one glowing eye. “There are fragile items that should be touched.”

“We were just looking for some books.” Hat Kid put up her hands. “We’ll get out of your hair now.” She moved to run but was quickly grabbed by her cape.

“Hey! Put me down!” She heard Mu yelling.

“Red hood girl should stop kicking or she will fall on her face.” Hat Kid’s heart sunk at the familiar voice.

“Peck.” She muttered. Peony was going to be so pissed.

Chapter Text

When Peony opened the door, she found two mafia goons holding the three children she sheltered by their collars. She wished this was the first time this scenario had played out.

“What did they do this time?” She asked.

“Little girls sneak into part of library they are not supposed to be in. Librarian is not happy.” The first mafia goon said. Peony stared at the girls with tired resignation.

“Thank you for bringing them back.” She sighed. “I’ll take care of this.” The mafia goons nodded, dumping the girls on the ground and departing. Peony closed the door, turning back to the girls.

“Alright, whose idea was it?”

All fingers pointed at Hat Kid, who was trying desperately to hide beneath her hat. Thankfully, neither the Badge Seller nor the mafia goons had found the books she’d taken. That wasn’t going to save her from Peony’s disapproval.

“Huh.” Peony raised an eyebrow. “It’s usually Mu’s idea.”

“Hey!” Mu protested, jumping up.

“Doing crimes is usually your idea.” Bow said weakly.

“So, why’d you break into the library?” Peony asked, turning her attention to Hat Kid. She had her patented disapproving look, arms crossed and foot tapping.

“I wanted to find out about the royals no one talks about.” Hat Kid crossed her arms right back at her. “You weren’t going to tell me and I was pretty sure the library had some stuff.” Peony stared at her, getting very quiet. Her look of disapproval had shifted to an unreadable one. She almost looked…sad. All three girls were a little taken aback by this strange expression.

“You don’t want to go looking into them, Harriet.” Peony said after a long period of silence. Hat Kid was even more freaked out by this. Peony never called her Harriet. Never.

“Why?” Hat Kid asked, her voice wavering a bit. Peony sighed heavily. It wasn’t the usual exasperated sigh that came from her. She sounded…defeated. Bow was slowly backing away, as was Mu. They’d gotten past the dining room table Peony had shoved in the main room. Both had almost tripped over the chairs as they’d walked backward. 

“Nothing good ever comes from getting involved with them,” Peony said, touching her gloved hand. Peony always wore a glove on her left hand. Hat Kid had never seen her without it.

“Did they…do something to you?” Hat Kid asked quietly. Peony looked at the girls, then at her glove. She sighed again and took off her glove. Hat Kid let out a small yell, stumbling back. Mu screamed and ran out of the room. Bow just stood frozen. Peony’s hand, all the way up to a little above her wrist, was black and purple. It almost looked like the pictures Hat Kid had seen of frostbite.  But Peony could still use her hand and her fingers hadn’t fallen off.

“The princess cursed me.” Peony turned her hand over, regarding it wearily. “At least, she tried to. She probably meant to kill me, but someone came by before she could finish.”

“What does the curse do then?” Hat Kid drew closer, peering curiously at Peony’s hand.

“Does it hurt?” Bow asked quietly.

“No, it doesn’t hurt. Mostly it just makes me sick.” Peony replied. “My lifespan’s probably been drastically shortened.” Hat Kid frowned as she stared at the cursed mark.

“What if…I broke the curse?” She asked slowly.

“Hattie!” Bow hissed, running over to grab her sister’s sleeve.

“It’s dangerous to deal with her, especially when it comes to her magic.” Peony put her glove back on. “Don’t go looking for trouble, kid. Curiosity killed the cat and all that.”

“But satisfaction brought it back.” Hat Kid shot back. This elicited a small smile and a snort from Peony, but both expressions were soon gone.

“Please, don’t go looking for the princess.” She said. “I don’t want you to get hurt.” And, without another word, she left. As soon as she was gone, Hat Kid turned to Bow with a determined look.

“I’m gonna go find the princess.”

Bow let out a small whimper, resting her head in one hand. “Didn’t you listen to Peony? It’s dangerous! You’re gonna get cursed!”

“I just won’t get cursed then.” Hat Kid put her hands on her hips, completely confident that this was something that she could do.

“I…Don’t think that’s how it works.” Bow said slowly. “Seriously, this is dangerous.”

“I have to break the curse!” Hat Kid insisted. “I’m sure Peony didn’t deserve to get cursed! Besides, I want to know why the princess cursed her!” Bow stared at Hat Kid with an almost defeated expression.

“You’re not giving this up, are you?”

“Nope!”

Bow groaned. “At least wait until tomorrow. It’s starting to get dark.”

“Okay.” Hat Kid nodded, starting to head for the bedroom. She needed to get some supplies together anyway. Who knew what the forest might hold.

“And be careful,” Bow added, following behind her. “That forest is supposed to have wolves!”

“I’ll be fine.” Hat Kid waved a hand dismissively. “I survived the trek over here. I’ll survive this.” Bow just hoped she was right. She didn’t want to lose the only family she’d ever had.

In their bedroom, Mu was freaking out. What the Hell had that thing on Peony’s arm been?! She’d always wondered why Peony wore gloves all the time, but she hadn’t thought it would be something like this! Peony had said something about a princess…She must have been talking about someone living in the castle in the forest. She’d seen it when she’d gone exploring a few times. People didn’t live in that forest. The only thing there was monsters. She couldn’t let Hat Kid go in there. She’d end up killed! Or worse!

“I’ve gotta burn down that forest,” Mu muttered to herself. Those monsters couldn’t be allowed to hurt anyone. Especially not her town.

Chapter Text

The next day, when Peony went off to her flower shop and Mu left to terrorize the mafia, Hat Kid made for the forest. The flower shop was on the other end of town from Peony’s house, as was the original library building that Mu liked to graffiti, so they’d likely be gone for a while. Bow was coming with her too, but just to the forest’s edge. She didn’t want to go wandering around in the spooky maybe haunted forest. Plus, Hat Kid needed her to stay behind and cover for her if Peony and Mu got suspicious. Which they invariably would.

“Are you sure you want to do this?” Bow asked for what felt like the millionth time as they approached the edge of the forest.

“I’m sure.” Hat Kid rolled her eyes. “It’s going to be fine, Bow. You don’t need to worry.”

“Yes, I do!” Bow said. “Whenever you go off on your own you end up getting in trouble!”

“I do not!” Hat Kid huffed.

Bow stopped, giving her an incredulous look. “Our first day here, you attacked the mafia with an umbrella and I had to rescue you.”

“They took Mu’s cookie and they needed to pay!”

“I’m just saying.” Bow sighed. “I worry about you.” She was playing with her cardigan, worrying on a loose thread. She needed to repair it eventually, but she hadn’t felt like it lately.

“I know.” Hat Kid stopped walking, turning back to her sister. Bow stopped as well. They were almost at the edge of the forest now, the grass getting longer, littered with pine cones and fallen leaves. For a moment or two, they just stood there in silence, listening to the sound of the birds and insects.

“I don’t want to lose you.”  Bow said quietly, staring down at her feet. Hat Kid was all she had. All she’d ever had. If she lost her, she lost everything.

“You won’t.” Hat Kid assured her with a gentle smile. She hugged Bow tightly, patting her back. “I’m gonna go find that princess and then I’m gonna come back. Everything’s gonna be fine.”

“Whenever you say that stuff goes wrong.” Bow mumbled, hugging Hat Kid back. She was trying to fight back a smile herself. She would always trust Hat Kid, no matter what. No matter how many bad situations her sister led her into, she would always trust Hat Kid.

“Boooowww!” Hat Kid groaned, flopping all over Bow. “Pleeeeaaassseee. You gotta trust meeee.” Bow rolled her eyes at this but it did elicit a smile.

“Just stay safe, okay?” She said, putting Hat Kid back on her feet.

“Will do!” Hat Kid did a mock salute. “Hopefully, I’ll be back before dinner! If I’m not, make excuses!”

“I hate lying.” Bow said, but Hat Kid was already bounding into the woods. Bow sighed, watching her sister’s purple hat disappear into the brush. She wasn’t looking forward to when Peony and Mu found out about this. Mu was fiercely protective of the people she cared about, and she cared about Bow and Hat Kid a lot. Peony was just plain scary, but it was even worse when she was just disappointed. Bow groaned to herself, starting to head back to town. This wasn’t going to be fun.

.

Everyone always said to stay away from Subcon Forest. There were supposedly wolves and bears and all manner of unsightly creatures. But that wasn’t the real reason. People said monsters lived in the woods. One who stole travelers away and ate their souls, one who froze trespassers and kept them as statues, others whose appearances were strange and intentions unknown. Hat Kid had heard a few of the monster stories, but not enough to associate the forest with Death. Besides, the stories were just that. Stories. They weren’t real. They couldn’t be.

So she made her way through the forest, humming to herself. It couldn’t be that hard to find a princess, could it? Princesses lived in castles and castles were big and easy to find. Everything was going to be fine. She’d find the princess and then demand that the princess break the curse on Peony. She had great confidence that she’d be able to get the princess to see her side of things, even though Peony had literally said the princess had meant to kill her. She was a very persuasive person, or so she’d been told. Mostly because she was incredibly persistent and tended to annoy people into doing what she wanted. It had worked before and it would work again. This would be easy-peasy.

However, the longer she wandered through the forest, the more her confidence began to plummet. The further in she got, the less sunlight there was. It almost seemed like the forest was stuck in some kind of perpetual night. Nooses hung from the trees, huge spiders skittered across the branches, and she kept hearing strange voices at the edge of her perception. It was also cold. Incredibly so. It was summer on the outside, but it felt almost like the beginning of winter within the forest. She could even see snow in the distance. Her breath billowed in front of her in big clouds.

“H-Hello?” She squeaked, trying desperately to sound like she wasn’t scared. “I’m, um, I’m looking for the princess?” A growl from deeper within the forest caused her to jump. It sounded a bit like that of an animal, but deeper and almost…human. Obviously, something was there with her. Hat Kid screwed up her face in determination.

“She- She cursed my friend!” She raised her voice a bit. “And I want to get her to break it! Or just get rid of it!”

“Didn’t your parents ever tell you not to go walking alone, kid?” The voice that spoke seemed to come from all around her, whispering through the leaves and bouncing off the trees. She was pretty sure it was a man’s voice. It had a weird echoey quality to it, though.

“Jokes on you!” Hat Kid put her hands on her hips. “I don’t have parents!” There was a beat of silence before the voice spoke again.

“Yeesh, kid. That’s depressing.” He laughed. “What, were they having a buy-one-get-one-free for tragic backstories?” Hat Kid felt her face beginning to burn at the laughter. It was the kind of laughter she’d heard from adults who’d come to the orphanage who’d told her she was “unadoptable”.

“Were they having a sale at the…the jerk store?!” She shot back. “‘Cause you’re being a jerk!”

“That the best you can do, kiddo?” The unseen man started to snicker.

“Shut up!” Hat Kid stamped her foot.

“I mean, come on. The jerk store? Really? That was your best comeback?”

“I’m very tired!”

The man’s laughter started to build in volume, becoming a booming cackle. It echoed all around her as the shadows moved and encircled her. The forest around her was obscured by blackness, leaving her in the sole patch of light in the clearing.

“You have no idea what you’ve walked into, kid.” The man’s voice suddenly sounded incredibly sinister. “This is my forest.” Hat Kid whimpered, drawing into herself. She frantically looked around, trying to find a way out. Bow had been right. This had been a bad idea. Gods, why didn’t she just listen to Bow all the time?

“Do you know what I do to trespassers in my forest, kid?” The man’s voice came from all around her, slithering and soft.

“You…let them go?” Hat Kid smiled nervously. The man laughed again, the sound sending shivers down her spine.

“Nice try. But no.” The man got very quiet. “I. Kill. Them.” Hat Kid’s blood ran cold.

“FOOL!” Suddenly a ghostlike creature popped out at her from the shadows, with glowing eyes and what appeared to be fangs. Its expression was indescribably horrifying, enough to terrify the most stoic of adventurers. Hat Kid screamed and ran, immediately running into a tree and knocking herself unconsciousness. The ghost creature stopped, its expression turning puzzled. The shadows abruptly vanished, leaving the clearing mostly normal.

“Kid? You okay?” He asked, poking her with one long finger. Hat Kid didn’t move. The ghost creature groaned, running a hand over his face.

“For the love of- Not again.” He muttered, starting to score the dirt with his claws. “Why do they always run?” He sounded the least bit concerned, although he was trying desperately to hide it under annoyance.

“What did you do this time?” A woman asked from the foliage to his left.

“Nothing!” The ghost creature insisted as a cat wearing a chef’s outfit, complete with hat, clambered out of a bush.

“Uh-huh.” The cat gave the ghost an incredulous look. “Because it looks to me like you were trying to scare this little girl.” The ghost deliberately avoided her eyes, digging in the dirt a bit more.

“…I…might have been doing that?” He said slowly. “But she came in here! It’s my job to scare people who trespass in my forest! It’s my forest!”

“I could have sworn your job was to take care of your subjects.” The cat knelt beside Hat Kid, gently patting her face. “She’s out cold, poor baby.” She looked back at the ghost with a decidedly disapproving look in her eyes.

“Hey, I didn’t lay a finger on her.” The ghost put his hands up. “She ran into the tree.” The cat rolled her eyes, picking up Hat Kid.

“What…What are you doing?” The ghost asked.

“I’m taking her back to the castle.” The cat said. It was a bit difficult to move through the bushes and the like with a girl in her arms, but she was managing it as best she could. Even if the branches kept catching on both of their clothing.

“What?! Why?!” The ghost floated after her. He had no such struggles navigating the bushes and undergrowth.

“She’ll freeze to death on her own.” The cat replied. “You can play cruel all you like, but I know you wouldn’t want a little girl’s death on your conscience.” The ghost avoided her gaze again as his cheeks turned a darker shade of purple.

“I’m not letting her stay too long.” He said. “I’m not running a charity here.”

“Yes, yes.” The cat smiled knowingly. “Whatever you say.”

Chapter Text

Hat Kid woke up in a bed that was definitely not hers. She sat up abruptly, looking frantically around. The bedroom she was in was breathtaking, like something out of a fairytale picture book. There were high ceilings, furnishings, huge velvet curtains, a giant mirror. The bed she’d woken up in was a big four-poster one with see-through curtains, lots of pillows, and sheets nicer than anything Hat Kid had ever seen in her life.

“Whoa.” She whispered. She felt like it was too nice to be sleeping on. Like she was bringing its value down just by touching it with her filthy hands. Wait…She looked down at her hands. They were clean. She was certain she’d been all dirty and dusty from trudging through the woods all day. And these weren’t her clothes! She was wearing a nightgown that was softer than anything she’d ever worn before and had cute little lace and ribbon decorations. Had someone washed and dressed her?

“Weird.” She wrinkled her nose, clambering out of the bed. Once she was off the bed, she started exploring the room, looking for anything to tell her where she was. Despite its lavish appearance, the room was surprisingly bare. There were a few outfits here size in the large wardrobe, but the drawers of the dressers were empty and there was nothing in the bedside table. There were no paintings of people, no photographs.

“Something’s going on here.” Hat Kid said to herself, tapping her chin. If only she had her detective hat. She always detected better with it on. As she made a pass around the room again, she heard voices speaking out in the hallway. She crept toward the door, listening to the voices on the other side.

“Please, at least try to be nice to her while she’s here.” A woman was saying. “Who knows how long this blizzard will last. She could be here a while.”

“The blizzard’ll let up soon. She’s just having another tantrum.” A different voice replied. It was strange, unlike any voice Hat Kid had ever heard before. She was pretty sure it was a man’s voice, but it was all distorted and echoey. It was the voice of the creature that had scared her in the woods.

“Well, even if it does, I’d still like you to be nice to the girl.” The woman sighed.

“I don’t have to listen to you!” The ghost creature snapped.

“True, you don’t have to, but I’m the one who makes your food. And I can withhold your bacon.” Hat Kid tried to stifle a giggle at the absolute smugness radiating from the woman’s voice. There was a sharp intake of breath, presumably from the ghost, then an irritated groan.

“Fine. I’ll be nice.” He growled. “But that little brat’s not staying more than a week.”

“We’ll see how long the blizzard lasts.” The woman said.

The ghost groaned again. “Whatever. And kid? You can come out now. We’re done talking.”

Hat Kid stiffened, then sheepishly pushed the door open. Sure enough, there was the ghost in the hallway. And beside him was…

“A talking cat!” Hat Kid screamed. Said talking cat was a small portly orange cat wearing a chef’s outfit. She gave off the undeniable aura of a mother, both comforting and ready to tell you off.

“Hello, honey.” The cat smiled warmly.

“Ohmygoshyou’reatalkingcat.” Hat Kid gasped, her eyes going wide. This was absolutely the coolest thing. She’d always wanted to meet a talking animal.

“Man, you’re pretty easily impressed, huh?” The ghost smiled but the smile inevitably came across as a smirk due to his, well, everything. “I bet I could blow your mind with some amateur magic. Wouldn’t even need to use my powers.”

“Snatcher.” The cat swatted at the ghost’s arm before turning back to Hat Kid. “I’m sorry about him. We haven’t had guests in a long time.” She held her paw out to Hat Kid. “I’m Cookie.”

“Your name is Snatcher?” Hat Kid asked incredulously as she shook Cookie’s paw.

“Yours is Hat Kid. You don’t get to throw stones.” Snatcher sneered.

“Wait, you know my name?!” Hat Kid stumbled back.

“It’s embroidered on the brim of your hat,” Snatcher said. “I mean, seriously, who embroiders their name in their clothing? What are you, 12?” Cookie swatted at his arm again.

“Oh. Yeah.” This calmed her for a moment, but some new questions quickly arose. “Wait- Where is my hat?!”

“Oh, they’re being washed by the seals right now.” Cookie explained. “I hope you don’t mind. Your clothes were filthy.”

“The seals?” Hat Kid frowned. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“The seals run the laundry room. They’re sweethearts, but they’re not very good when it comes to delicate tasks. They’re children, after all. They like to play.” Cookie sighed and shook her head. “It’s a good thing the Captain is down there, otherwise I’m afraid the castle might get filled with suds.” Hat Kid just stared at her. She was talking like the seals had human-level intelligence and sapience.  

“There’s a lot of weird stuff in the castle, kid.” Snatcher snickered at her confusion. “Those seals are the least of it.” Hat Kid glared at him. Whoever this guy was, he was annoying.

“Alright, let’s move on.” Cookie got between the two of them, shooting Snatcher a warning look. “We’re not going to get anywhere if you two keep bickering.” Hat Kid and Snatcher both grumbled, but they backed off.

“Now, would you like a tour of the castle?” Cookie asked, turning to Hat Kid. “You might be here for a little bit. A blizzard’s started up and I wouldn’t feel comfortable letting you go out in it.”

“We’re in a castle?” Hat Kid’s eyes widened before a thought suddenly struck her. “Wait, um, does the princess live here? I’m looking for the princess.”

“Oh yeah. You did say that.” Snatcher started to examine his claws as though he was bored with the whole situation.

“She said she was looking for her?” Cookie asked, suddenly sounding more than a bit nervous.

“Yeah. Said her friend got cursed or something.” Snatcher shrugged. “What’s the big deal? It’s not like she’s the first person to try and find her royal pain in the-”

“She’s a child!” Cookie hissed, lowering her voice and casting furtive glances at Hat Kid. Hat Kid could still hear Cookie just fine, though.

“What’s wrong?” She demanded. “Why can’t I see the princess?”

“The princess tends to be a bit…unpredictable.” Cookie forced a smile. “I don’t think it’s a good idea for you to go looking for her, honey.”

“I just want to talk to her.” Hat Kid insisted. “I want her to break the curse on my friend.”

Snatcher started to laugh. “Good luck with that. I doubt you’ll get five feet before she turns you into an ice statue.”

“An…An ice statue?” Hat Kid squeaked. No one had said anything about ice statues, nor about her getting turned into one.

“What? You thought she just cursed people?” Snatcher laughed derisively. “Oh no, kiddo. She’s got crazy ice powers. You have any idea how many saps she’s turned into statues over the years? You go looking for her, you’re going to end up just like that.”

“Snatcher!” Cookie grabbed his hand, trying to pull him back.

“I…I’m not gonna die!” Hat Kid tried to stop her voice from faltering.

“That’s what all the others said.” Snatcher slipped out of Cookie’s grasp to float in front of Hat Kid. “Know where they are now?”

“N-No?”

“They’re ice statues in her castle.” Snatcher’s smile widened to an almost creepy degree. “But, hey. If you want to throw your life away, that’s fine with me. No skin off my nose.” Hat Kid stared at him for a moment, then started to loudly sniffle.  

“Alright, that’s enough.” Cookie gathered Hat Kid to her chest, patting the girl’s back as she began to cry. Snatcher floated back, folding his arms.

“I’m just telling her the risks.” He said. “You said you didn’t want her to die.”

“Go to your room.” Cookie turned away from him, starting to lead Hat Kid down the hallway.

“Wha-? You can’t just tell me to do that!” Snatcher sputtered.

“Go. To. Your. Room.” Cookie turned her head ever so slightly so that she could glare at him. Snatcher muttered something and floated away, disappearing through a wall.

“I’m sorry about him, honey.” Cookie’s voice softened. “He shouldn’t act like that. He knows better.” Hat Kid just continued to cling to Cookie as she cried.

Chapter Text

Once Hat Kid had stopped crying, Cookie started her tour of the castle in the hopes that that would cheer her up.

“We’ll start in the laundry room.” Cookie said. “I just know the seals will cheer you up. And if they’re finished with your clothes, you can put them back on.”

“Okay.” Hat Kid nodded dejectedly. Cookie’s ears drooped.

“I’m sorry about him.” She said, drawing Hat Kid to her chest in a hug. “He shouldn’t have said that to you. I’ve told him he needs to be nicer to people.”

“He’s a buttface.” Hat Kid muttered.

Cookie couldn’t help but laugh. “Yes, yes he is.”

Hat Kid smiled a little at Cookie’s laugh. She had a nice laugh. And her fur was so soft. Hat Kid kind of wanted to snuggle up and fall asleep against her. She’d just woken up, though, so it wasn’t time to go to bed again.

“So, um, who else lives here?” Hat Kid asked as Cookie led her through the castle. She could hear other people’s voices echoing off the stone hallways.

“Oh, a lot of people.” Cookie said, starting to count on her paws. “There’s the castle staff, myself included, the Dwellers, the Captain and his seals. And now you!” She poked Hat Kid’s nose.

“I mean, I don’t know if I’m living here.” Hat Kid frowned slightly. “I’m just trying to find the princess.”

“Right. Of course.” Cookie’s smile fell.

The journey down to the laundry room was mostly silent. On their way down, they passed a lot of strange creatures in cloaks. They were small and purple, about the same size of Hat Kid, and had an orb of light inside the head of their cloaks. They spoke in distorted high-pitched voices and waved excitedly to Hat Kid and Cookie as they passed.

“Who’re they?” Hat Kid asked, pointed to the cloaked creatures.

“We call them Subcon Dwellers.” Cookie said with a sad smile. “They were children once.” Hat Kid didn’t ask what that meant. She was afraid of what the answer would be.

Thankfully, the laundry room wasn’t much further. Upon Cookie opening the door, both of them were greeted with a flood of bubbles drifting up from the center of the room. Cookie sighed and shook her head, smiling to herself.

“Captain? Is everything alright?” She called out. There was a long drawn out sigh from deeper inside.

“Just fine.” A gruff voice replied. “The seals just had a bit of an…accident.”

“Oh dear.” Cookie stifled a giggle. She headed inside, starting down the staircase that circled the room. Hat Kid quickly followed behind. The laundry room was a large cylindrical room with a staircase around it and the washing machines in the center. The machines were overflowing with bubbles and suds, the floor covered in both. A walrus wearing a nautical captain’s hat and jacket sat on a chair in the middle of the chaos, surrounded by a dozen white baby seals. Almost immediately upon seeing them, Hat Kid squealed and ran down to pick one up.

“You’re so cute!” She squished the seal’s cheeks. “So cute and fluffy and soft!!”

“Thank woo miss.” The seal said in the kind of voice one mostly associated with overly cutesy cartoon characters. Hat Kid squealed again, hugging the seal to her chest.

“A visitow?” Another seal asked. “We nevew get visitows!” The seals all excitedly began to congregate around Hat Kid as Cookie reached the bottom of the stairs.

“This is the girl from the forest.” The Captain gestured toward Hat Kid.

“Yes, this is her.” Cookie nodded. “Are her clothes done?”

“On the washer. Seals managed to get ‘em done before they overloaded the washers.”

“Thank you, Captain.” Cookie bowed her head to him before going to retrieve Hat Kid’s clothes. Hat Kid was still fawning over the seals, all of whom were absolutely delighted by this new person.

“You’re so fluffy! How are you so fluffy?!” Hat Kid was sitting down in the suds now, letting the seals flop all over her.

“Your clothes are done when you’re ready.” Cookie went to sit on the stairs.

“Okay!”

They spent about half an hour with the seals before the Captain announced that he and the seals needed to fix the washers before they were permanently damaged. The seals were saddened that their new friend had to leave, but they understood.

“You can talk to her more later.” He reassured the dejected seals. “I doubt she’s going anywhere with the storm going on.”

“Okay! See woo latew Miss!” The seals waved to Hat Kid as she left. Her nightgown was pretty soaked by this point, so Cookie took her back to the bedroom she’d woken up in so she could change.

“Did somebody used to live here?” Hat Kid asked, pointing around the room. “It’s really empty.”

“It was a guest room.” Cookie said. “Snatcher’s friend used to sleep here when she visited. But…She hasn’t visited for quite a while.” She turned her gaze away from Hat Kid, instinctively beginning to play with her hat.

Hat Kid briefly paused in getting her clothes on. “Did something happen?”

Cookie nodded. Hat Kid waited for Cookie to explain, but the cat didn’t. She just kept playing with her hat, staring at the floor. Hat Kid frowned, going back to getting dressed. Once she had her hat on, she tapped Cookie on the shoulder.

“Okay, I’m done.” She gave her a big smile.

“Alright.” Cookie put her hat back on. “Let’s get back to the tour.” Hat Kid nodded, allowing Cookie to lead her back out. The look on the cat’s face had reminded her of a look Tim had gotten when someone had asked him about his children. Hat Kid didn’t know what had happened to Tim’s children, but she knew it had been something that made him very sad and that he didn’t want to talk about. Something had happened in the castle that Cookie didn’t want to talk about it, Hat Kid was sure of it. Normally, she would have tried to figure out what it was…But Cookie looked so sad. So distraught. Did she really want to rip open what must have been a deep wound?

The sound of an argument snapped her out of her thoughts. It sounded like two men yelling at each other. Well, one man yelling at the other, who was responding fairly calmly. The yelling man sounded very Scottish. Hat Kid had never met someone from Scotland.

“Oh dear.” Cookie sighed. “They’re at it again.”

“Who’s at it again?” Hat Kid asked as they came into view of the argument. Standing in the middle of the hallway were two birds. Two human-sized birds wearing clothes. One was a penguin, dressed like some kind of 70’s disco DJ, complete with a huge afro. The other was…a chicken? An owl? She wasn’t really sure. Either way, he was dressed like a train conductor.

“Gentlemen!” Cookie loudly cleared her throat. The birds stopped arguing, turning to face her.

“Thank you.” Cookie smiled warmly, gently pushing Hat Kid forward. “This is Hat Kid. She’s going to our guest while the blizzard is going on.”

“Hi.” Hat Kid waved.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, darling.” The penguin did a spin before bowing to her. Hat Kid’s eyes went wide and she immediately smushed his cheeks between her hands.

“You are the coolest person I’ve ever met.” She whispered.

“Why, thank you, darling.” The penguin said, his voice a bit muffled by his squished cheeks.

“What?!” The conductor bird screeched. “Why is he the cool one?!”

“Conductor, darling, you might want to use your inside voice.” The penguin gently removed Hat Kid’s hands from his cheeks. “We wouldn’t want to damage our guest’s eardrums.”

“What makes him so ‘cool’!?” The Conductor persisted, folding his arms. “I can be cool too!”

“He’s got a cool outfit and cool hair.” Hat Kid said. “And fun sunglasses You look like a grandpa.” The penguin and Cookie stifled giggles as the Conductor started to loudly sputter.

“To be fair, darling, you are a grandfather.” The penguin gasped out in between bursts of laughter. "It's only natural you would look like one."

“That doesn’t me I can’t be cool, you peckneck!” The Conductor yelled, stamping his foot. “I’m just as cool as you, DJ Grooves!” The way he said the penguin’s name was likely supposed to be filled with malice, but instead sounded like an upset child.

“Of course, darling.” Grooves slid over to pat the Conductor’s head and kiss his cheek. The Conductor grumbled to himself but calmed upon the contact.

“Are they, like, dating?” Hat Kid whispered. She didn’t have a lot of examples of relationships, so she wasn’t sure if she was seeing the wrong signs. Because they’d been arguing, but then Grooves had kissed the Conductor?

“Sort of.” Cookie put up her hands out in a show of surrender. “They certainly aren’t going admit it, though.”

“But…Why were they arguing?”

“They just like it. I doubt they were arguing about anything significant.” Cookie glanced back at the two birds. The Conductor was still sulking while Grooves comforted him.

"I can too be cool." The Conductor grumbled to himself. "I'm hip. I know...stuff."

"Of course you are, darling." Grooves nodded and kept stroking the Conductor's feathers. "You're very cool. You know so much about trains."

“Let’s move along.” Cookie suggested. “I think they need some time to themselves.”

“Okay.” Hat Kid nodded, looking at the birds too. Adults were so weird.

Chapter Text

“Do you have a library here?” Hat Kid asked as Cookie led her away once more. “I like reading.”

“We do.” Cookie said. “But I don’t know if you’d find anything interesting there. It’s mostly law books.”

“Law books?” Hat Kid wrinkled her nose in distaste. “Those are boring!” She’d seen a few in the library in town. Peony had tried to redirect Mu’s whole ‘justice’ thing in that direction. But the law books were long and had a lot of words and Mu was 12.

“Yes, well, Snatcher was studying law before…this…” Cookie trailed off, biting her lip.

“Before this?” Hat Kid frowned, tilting her head to the side.

“It’s a long story.” Cookie said. “Why don’t we go to the kitchen? I’m sure you’re hungry. I can make you something to eat.” Hat Kid was about to protest when her stomach started growling.

“Well, it sounds like that’s a yes.” Cookie couldn’t help but laugh.

“I guess I am kinda hungry.” Hat Kid admitted. She hadn’t eaten anything since she’d left Peony’s house.

“Then let’s get you some food.” Cookie said.

And so Hat Kid was led down to the kitchen. She dedicated her attention to studying the hallways while Cookie led her. There wasn’t much in terms of decoration. There were weapons on the walls at various points, and some landscape paintings, but nothing with people in it. She’d expected tapestries and stuff.

“Why’s everything so bare?” She asked as she walked behind Cookie.

“There used to be quite a lot of family portraits.” Cookie explained. “But Snatcher took them down.”

“Why?”

“He was having a bit of a moody teenager moment.” Cookie laughed wearily. “Which wasn’t a good look for a 21-year-old man, but, well…” She shrugged. “It was warranted I guess.”

“How old is Snatcher anyway?” It was hard to know since he looked like a big purple noodle ghost.

“He’s…30.” Cookie said, slowing down a bit. “But don’t bring it up to him. He doesn’t like being reminded of his age.” She had that look on her face again. The one she’d had when Hat Kid had asked about the guest room. 30 wasn’t even that old. Hat Kid was pretty sure Peony was about 30 too. Mu had asked, and upon Peony’s reply, she’d announced that Peony was really old. Peony had given her a noogie for that.

“I guess he doesn’t like people saying he’s old.” Hat Kid forced herself to smile, channeling her inner Mu.

“Something like that.” Cookie laughed. It sounded more genuine this time, allowing Hat Kid to relax a little.

“So…Are you the cook here or something?” She asked. Even if Cookie was feeling better, it was probably best to change the subject anyway.

“I am. Someone has to make sure Snatcher eats something other than bacon.” Cookie said with a wry smile.

“Are you his mom?” The only reason Hat Kid could think of for why Cookie would want to keep track of what Snatcher ate was if she was his mom. Well, maybe that wasn’t the only reason. Peony worried about what Hat Kid, Bow, and Mu ate. But that was because she was taking care of them. Was Cookie taking care of Snatcher?

Several expressions flashed across Cookie’s face, too fast for Hat Kid to notice all of them. Then Cookie began to laugh.

“Oh no, honey. I’m not,” she said, her voice going soft. “I’m the royal cook, that’s all.”

Hat Kid was about to continue down the ‘why do you care what he eats’ path when what Cookie had said hit her.

“Wait, Snatcher is royalty?!”

Cookie laughed again. “He sure is.”

“But…Aren’t princes supposed to be charming?” In all the stories she’d read, the princes were handsome and charming and just…Not Snatcher. Hat Kid couldn’t wrap her head around it.

“He can be charming.” Cookie tried to sound offended, but she was starting to giggle again. Hat Kid gave her an incredulous look. Cookie laughed even harder.

“What?” Hat Kid demanded, stamping her foot.

“I’m not laughing at you, honey.” Cookie assured her. “You’re right, he’s not much like a fairytale prince.”

“Thank you.” Hat Kid huffed, folding her arms.

“Let’s get you to the kitchen now.” Cookie let out another small giggle, pushing Hat Kid along.

The castle kitchens were about what she would have expected from the kitchen in a castle in that they were absolutely massive. There were counters and stoves and ovens everywhere, as well as a huge pantry filled with all kinds of spices and dried goods. Hat Kid spent a good few minutes running around and looking and touching everything. Cookie followed behind her, trying to keep her from touching anything too dangerous.

“There’s so much food here!” Hat Kid squealed, pointing excitedly to all the food in the pantry. “I’ve never seen so much food in my life!!!”

“Well, we’ve got a whole castle to feed.” Cookie laughed weakly, gently pulling Hat Kid away from climbing the shelves. Hat Kid wriggled in her grasp, still trying to get free so she could explore and touch everything.  Thankfully her attention was diverted when the kitchen door burst open and a hoard of Subconites came flooding in.

“Miss Cookie! We’re hungry!” They said.

“You’re in luck, I was just about to cook something for Hat Kid here,” Cookie replied, putting Hat Kid down. “Honey, would you mind waiting with them while I cook?” She had a desperate sort of look in her eyes. She couldn’t wrangle Hat Kid and the Subconites at the same time.

“Okay…” Hat Kid pouted a bit, but went and sat with the Subconites.

“Thank you, dear.” Cookie said before turning away and starting on the food she’d promised them.

Hat Kid turned her attention to the Subconites, her expression serious and determined.

“So. Snatcher’s a prince.”

“Yep!” They said.

“He sure is!”

“But he’s so…” Hat Kid trailed off, wincing.

“Aw, the boss isn’t so bad.” A Subconite said. “He’s one of those, whatchamacallits.”

“Tsundere?” Another supplied.

“Yeah! That!”

“What does that mean?” Hat Kid asked, frowning. She’d heard the word before, but she couldn’t remember where.

“It means he’s mean to people he cares about to hide his feelings.” A Subconite said with what was probably a big grin. It sounded like they were grinning.

“That’s weird.” It honestly kind of sounded like Mu, but Hat Kid wasn’t about to say it. Wheels were starting to turn in her mind. If Snatcher was anything like Mu, there was some reason why he was acting this way. If she could figure out the reason why he was such a butt, she could help him get better!

That was when Hat Kid decided that she and Snatcher were going to be BFFs and there was absolutely nothing anyone could do to stop her.

“What does Snatcher eat?” Hat Kid asked, turning back to the Subconites with determination in her eyes. The first step to becoming friends was to give him food. That had worked with Mu so it had to work with Snatcher.

“We don’t know.” The Subconites shrugged. “He doesn’t eat with us.”

“Who does he eat with?”

“Nobody. The boss doesn’t eat.”

“He doesn’t?” Hat Kid’s eyes widened. Was he actually a ghost? Was he dead?!

“Oh, yes he does.” Cookie interjected. “He just decides not to until I make him.”

“Why would he not want to eat?” Hat Kid frowned.

“That’s…a complicated question.” Cookie’s tail curled around her leg. “Anyway, I’ve got your food, honey.” She set a bowl of mac and cheese down in front of Hat Kid. Hat Kid’s eyes widened once more, this time in awe. Steam rose from the bowl, allowing the sweet and cheesy scent to slip into Hat Kid’s nose. Her mouth watered.

“Don’t eat it too quickly,” Cookie warned her. “It’s hot.”

Hat Kid hardly noticed as Cookie presented the Subconites with a large plate of tiny hot dogs wrapped in pastry dough. Giving Snatcher food could wait, she decided. Right now…She needed to savor this mac and cheese.

Chapter Text

While Hat Kid and the Subconites ate, DJ Grooves and the Conductor entered the kitchen, also in search of food. The Conductor was still sulking a bit, although he seemed in slightly better spirits. He leaned against one of the massive islands that housed the burners while Grooves continued on. His feathers were all puffed up and he was grumbling to himself.

“Darlin’, do we still have some of that apple pie from the other day?” Grooves asked Cookie, beginning to rummage through the pantry. The pantry was big enough that he disappeared inside. His voice echoed a bit from within. Hat Kid craned her neck to try and see what he was doing. Some of the shelves in the pantry were pretty high up. She didn’t think Grooves would be able to reach them. Not without a stool, that was.

“There’s still a piece left.” Cookie replied. She was keeping a close eye on the Conductor to make sure he didn’t start drinking in front of the children. She’d locked up all the alcohol in the liquor cabinet at the back of the pantry, but he was a destructive force all his own.

“Hey!” Hat Kid sprung up, going over to tug on the Conductor’s sleeve. “What does Snatcher eat?”

“What does he eat?” The Conductor frowned. “Hey, Grooves, what does the ghost eat?”

“Beats me.” Grooves’ voice came from the back of the pantry. There was some shuffling and scraping as he pulled up a stool to reach the wrapped apple pie on a higher shelf.

“He likes bacon.” Cookie supplied, since she was the one who actually gave Snatcher food.

“Bacon…” Hat Kid nodded thoughtfully, looking around the kitchen. The burners were at a height suitable for an average-sized adult, so if she wanted to cook bacon she’d probably have to get a stool or something. There were pans hung up along a wall, all black and cast iron and shiny. She could use those to cook with. And she could see some spatulas in a little container on a counter.

“Why’re you asking what the boss likes to eat?” A Subconite asked, in the middle of stuffing food into the hole in the head of their cloak.

“I’m gonna make him food.” Hat Kid announced, hands on her hips.

“By yourself?” Cookie frowned, drifting closer to her.

“Yeah!” Hat Kid gave her a big smile. She could definitely do it. It would be fine. She’d cooked back at Peony’s place a ton! Granted, she’d also burned a lot of food, but bacon couldn’t be that hard to make.

“Are you sure that’s a good idea, darling?” Grooves appeared from the pantry, the pie held in front of him. It was hard to tell due to his sunglasses, but Hat Kid was almost certain he was frowning.

“You could get yourself hurt, lassie.” The Conductor agreed. As he spoke, he snatched the pie out of Grooves’ hands and returned to where he’d been standing against the island holding the center burners. He nibbled on the pie, crumbs getting all over the front of his jacket and spilling onto the floor. Cookie let out a small huff of irritation. She’d just swept that morning.

“I’ll be fine!” Hat Kid puffed up in indignation. “I’ve cooked before!”

“I’m not doubting you, honey.” Cookie reassured her, returning her attention to Hat Kid. “It’s just that these are very big burners.” She gestured to the burners as if to prove her point. They were big, Hat Kid had to admit that. Far bigger than the burners on Peony’s stove at home.

“Why don’t we help you?” Cookie suggested, glancing pointedly back at the Conductor and Grooves. Both froze where they stood, huddled against the counter with the pie tin between them. “I think we could all use something to do.”

Hat Kid considered this for a moment, her mind drifting back to afternoons spent in Peony’s kitchen, all four of them crammed into the tiny space together. She, Bow, and Mu had always liked to ‘help’ Peony cook, even though they never really helped. It usually ended with a food fight, often instigated by Mu or Hat Kid. Eyeing the Conductor and Grooves, she wondered if she could instigate a food fight with them.

“Yeah! That sounds fun!” She finally said.  

“Wonderful!” Cookie clapped her paws together. “Let’s all wash our hands and we can get started.”

The Conductor and Grooves quickly shoved the rest of the pie into their respective mouths before discarding the tin in a trashcan beside the pantry door. As soon as they’d gotten rid of the tin, they rushed to the sink in the back left corner to wash their hands, lest Cookie scold them. The sink itself was as massive as everything else in the kitchen. There were a few dishes at the bottom of the sink that needed to be washed, but those could wait.

“You too, dear.” Cookie gently nudged Hat Kid toward the sink.

“I was gonna!” Hat Kid replied indignantly before stomping over to wash her hands. Cookie laughed to herself and went to fetch the stools. After the incident, she’d begun to require a stool to be able to cook and wash dishes. Luckily they’d had some laying around. Which was good, since none of them could leave Subcon Forest.

Once they’d all washed their hands to Cookie’s satisfaction, she pulled up a few stools for herself, Hat Kid, and the Conductor. Grooves didn’t need one because of his platforms, something he took great pleasure in teasing the Conductor about.

“Oh, darling, I think you’re shrinking in your old age,” he said, patting the top of the Conductor’s hat.

"Don't you patronize me, Grooves!" The Conductor snapped, swatting Grooves' hand away.

"Play nice you two," Cookie warned them. She'd already gotten out the pan and greased it up before putting it on one of the kitchen's massive burners.

"So...Bacon?" Hat Kid asked. She'd pilfered a chef's hat and apron from a drawer, although they were far too big for her. Her top hat and cloak rested on the table near the Subconites.

"Yes, bacon." Cookie smiled warmly at her. "I'll go fetch the meat from the refrigerator." She hopped off her stool and went to fetch the strips from the fridge. Since everything had happened, she'd been forced to hunt for food in the forest to get the meat for Snatcher's bacon. Because of this, she tried not to give him bacon too often, saving it for when he was in a foul mood. She thought this was a good enough occasion. He wasn't exactly delighted to have Hat Kid present.

Hat Kid bounced on her stool, watching the pan with its sizzling oil. Well, it wasn't sizzling yet. But it would be soon, she knew that much. She could feel the heat coming off the pan. She was starting to get excited now.

"Don't lean in too far, lassie," the Conductor said, his voice taking on a surprisingly gentle tone as he pulled her back.

"I'm not gonna get hurt," Hat Kid huffed.

"You don't know that," the Conductor said. "It's a pan with hot oil in it! You could get burned!"

Hat Kid folded her arms, pouting a bit. She wasn't a baby. They didn't need to treat her like one.

"I'm sorry, darling, he's got a bit of a fathering instinct," Grooves stifled a giggle.

"Alright! I've got the bacon!" Cookie returned, holding a bundle of wax paper that smelled distinctly porcine.

"Awesome!" Hat Kid grinned, gripping her spatula tightly.

"Excuse me, dear." Cookie shifted Hat Kid and the Conductor's stools a bit so she could get her own in between them. She laid the wax paper on the counter, opening the bundle and drawing out a few long strips of bacon. Carefully, she laid three strips down on the surface of the pan. As soon as the meat hit the oil, the air was filled with the familiar hissing and crackling.

"So, when do I flip it?" Hat Kid asked, peering curiously down at the pan.

"I'll tell you, don't worry," Cookie said. She didn't entirely like the idea of allowing Hat Kid to cook near hot oil, but surely it was fine since she was supervising her. Grooves and the Conductor watched intently as the two of them worked. They both found it fascinating to watch Cookie cook. She moved with such purpose and ease. It was almost enchanting.

And so, under Cookie's guidance, Hat Kid cooked 9 strips of bacon, flipping them every time Cookie told her it was time. She was rather proud of herself when she saw the completed bacon. It looked even better than Peony's!

"It looks so good!" She squealed, hopping up and down on her stool.

"It certainly does," Cookie agreed. "You did a wonderful job."

"The Conductor always burns his bacon." Grooves grinned at the Conductor over his shades. The Conductor grumbled a few curses, swatting at Grooves' shoulder.

"That only happened twice," he snarled. "I haven't burned it in ages!" Once more, his voice lacked any real venom.

"I know, and I'm very proud of you."

"I'm gonna go take it to Snatcher!" Hat Kid hopped off the stool, reaching to take the plate from Cookie. Unfortunately, Cookie held it out of her reach.

"I'm...not sure that's a good idea, dear," she said. "He's in his room right now."

"So?"

"The ghost doesn't like being disturbed when he's in his room," the Conductor said. It was hard to miss the irritation in his voice. Like a parent talking about their unruly teenager.

"Exactly," Cookie continued. "Snatcher doesn't like people going into his room. Especially not strangers."

"But I just wanna give him food!" Hat Kid protested.

"I know, and I'm sure he'll appreciate it very much," Cookie said. "But you can't go into his room. I'll take this to him and tell him it was from you." She left the room too quickly for Hat Kid to stop her, leaving the young girl dumbfounded. The Subconites had left halfway through their cooking session, so it was just her and the birds.

"This is dumb," Hat Kid repeated, kicking a stool.

"I'm sorry, darling," Grooves said gently, putting a 'hand' on Hat Kid's shoulder.

"You'd think he would've grown out of this," the Conductor said. "He's 30! He shouldn't be holing up in his room and moping like some kind of emo teenager!" Grumbling to himself, he began dragging the stools to the closet they were usually kept in.

"He has a lot on his plate, you know that." Grooves turned his attention to the Conductor. "I think he's allowed a little bit of moping now and again."

"It's not like he's alone in all this!" The Conductor slammed the closet door open. "He doesn't have to do the whole lone hero thing!"

"What do you mean, 'he's not alone in all this'?" Hat Kid asked. This argument had briefly taken her mind off of her anger at not being allowed into Snatcher's room.

Almost immediately, the Conductor and Grooves froze, as if just remembering that Hat Kid was still in the room with them. For a moment or two, everything was silent, save for the occasional sizzle and pop as the pan cooled.

“We were cursed,” Grooves finally said.

“Cursed?” Hat Kid’s eyes widened. “How? What happened?”

"It's...a long story," Grooves said slowly, looking uncomfortably away from her. He pressed himself against the center island as the Conductor had when first entering the kitchen, shoulders hunched.  

"That's what Cookie said too! Why won't you guys talk about it?" Hat Kid demanded, stamping her foot.

"It's not our story to tell, lass," the Conductor said. His voice lacked all the fire it had previously possessed. His shoulders slumped and he quietly slid the stools into the closet before closing the door.

"But I wanna know what's going on!" Hat Kid said. She was so tired of adults not telling her things. She wanted to know what was going on. She didn't want to be in the dark anymore.

"Why don't you ask him, then?" Grooves suggested.

“I…” Hat Kid trailed off, frowning. That actually was a pretty good point.

“But what if he doesn’t tell me?” She asked.

“Then at least you tried.” The Conductor shrugged wearily. Grooves separated himself from the island to stand beside the Conductor, holding his hand. They left without a word, leaving Hat Kid alone.

She lingered for a bit longer, considering what the best way to ask Snatcher would be. He’d already proven himself to be a bit of a jerk, so it was perfectly possible he just wouldn’t tell her. But she needed to ask. She needed to know. With this resolve, she too left the kitchen. She was going to find out what had happened here.

Chapter Text

Snatcher wouldn’t tell her.

After she’d tracked him down, which had taken some effort due to how big the castle was, she’d found him in his library and demanded to know how he and the other members of the castle had gotten cursed. Snatcher looked at her over his plate of bacon, floating a few inches over a plush red armchair, his expression decidedly bored. After she’d finished her torrent of questions, he finally spoke,

“Nope.”

“Nope?” Hat Kid blinked.

“I’m not telling you anything,” Snatcher said, popping another piece of bacon into his mouth. “Thanks for the bacon, though.”

“But I wanna know!” Hat Kid whined, trying to grab him. She ended up just running face-first into the chair cushion. Because Snatcher could fly. How had she forgotten that?

“Too bad! I don’t have to tell you squat, kiddo!” Snatcher cackled as he floated out of her reach.

Hat Kid pouted, narrowing her eyes. Well, if Snatcher wasn’t going to tell her outright, maybe she could ask some leading questions.

“Did the princess curse you like she cursed Peony?” She asked.

“You think there’s anyone else here who curses people?” Snatcher asked through another piece of bacon. “I mean, other than me.” He snickered at what he perceived to be his clever joke, shoving the rest of the bacon into his mouth.

“You curse people?” This gave Hat Kid some pause. She hadn’t heard of anyone else getting cursed around here. Was he lying?

“I steal their souls, so…about the same.” Snatcher made a so-so gesture with his free hand. As he did this, he disturbed some dust from the top of the bookshelf behind him. He looked at his dusty hand with some irritation before shaking off the dust.

“That is not the same,” Hat Kid said incredulously, folding her arms.

“And when did you become an expert on curses?” Snatcher sneered. “Look, take my advice. Don’t go poking your nose where it doesn’t belong. It’s safer that way. Now go take this back to the kitchen.” He floated down and shoved the plate at her.

“I’m not your maid!” Hat Kid protested.

“You’re right. You’re not. But you’re the one who made me bacon so you’re the one who has to do the dishes.” He grinned wide. “Them’s the rules, kiddo.”

Hat Kid glared at him. Snatcher just kept grinning, holding the plate out.

After a few minutes of the two of them just staring at each other, neither budging, Hat Kid finally grumbled and snatched the plate away before storming off for the kitchen. Grooves and the Conductor weren’t there, but Cookie was. She was washing some of the dishes from their cooking session while humming to herself.

“Something wrong?” She asked as Hat Kid stomped over.

“Snatcher’s a butthead,” Hat Kid grumbled, practically slamming the plate into the sink. She ended up splashing herself with the soapy water, which only made her even more upset.

“He is,” Cookie laughed, taking the plate from her. “But why was he specifically being a butthead this time?”

“He won’t tell me how you guys got cursed.”

“Ah…” Cookie’s smile immediately fell. She stared down into the soapy water in the sink in front of her. Hat Kid suddenly felt rather guilty. Everyone other than Snatcher was always so sad when she brought this up. Maybe she should just leave it be.

“Why do you want to know that, honey?” Cookie asked after a moment or two.

Hat Kid opened her mouth to answer, then stopped. She hadn’t thought about why she wanted to know. She just did.

“Um….” Hat Kid started chewing on her lip.

“Oh, honey.” Cookie laughed and patted the top of Hat Kid’s hat. “I think it’s better if you just let this go.”

“But why?” Hat Kid demanded.

“Because Snatcher’s response to people prying is to clam up and lash out and if you keep pushing, he will end up doing that,” Cookie replied calmly, turning her attention back to the dishes. “I don’t want to see you get hurt because of him.”

“But why does he do that?” Hat Kid frowned, looking up at Cookie.

“It’s just how he is.” Cookie shrugged slightly, removing a plate to put on the drying rack. “I guess he thinks if he pretends everything is fine it won’t hurt.” That wasn’t true, of course, but no matter how many times Cookie pointed it out, he just wouldn’t listen to her.

Hat Kid leaned against the counter, face screwed up in thought. Something was going on here. Something involving the princess that she’d come here to see. Snatcher was hiding something. She tapped her fingers on the tiles behind her. Maybe she could sneak into that area she’d been told not to go in. That had to be where Snatcher hid his secrets.

Cookie sighed to herself, recognizing the look in Hat Kid’s eyes. The girl honestly reminded her quite a bit of Snatcher in a way. Both of them so determined and stubborn.

“You’re going to go look for his secrets, aren’t you?”

“…Maybe,” Hat Kid said slowly, sinking a bit in shame at being called out. Her boots slipped on the tiles and she ended up on the floor, although she quickly righted herself.

“You know he’s not going to like that, don’t you?”

“Well, yeah, but how am I supposed to help if I don’t know what’s wrong?”

“You want to help?” Cookie raised an eyebrow, glancing down at Hat Kid once more.

“If I can figure out how to break his curse, I can figure out how to break Peony’s!” Hat Kid replied brightly.

Cookie watched her for a moment before laughing and shaking her head. “Be careful, honey. Snatcher doesn’t play nice, especially when he’s hurt.”

“I will be!” Hat Kid said before immediately running off with that gleam in her eyes.

Cookie kept her focus on the dishes before her. This wasn’t going to end well. She knew that for a fact. But something needed to change around here. Someone needed to drag Snatcher out of his spiral of self-destruction. It might as well be this girl.

.

Hat Kid crept down the passageway to the east wing. She felt rather sneaky. It was like breaking into the library with Mu and Bow. Cookie’s warning about Snatcher echoed in her mind, but she had to know what was going on.

This part of the castle wasn’t as well-lit as the rest she’d seen. The cobwebs and dust said that no one had been there for a while. It was in a state of disarray, with destroyed furniture and smashed knickknacks littering the stone floor. Hat Kid stepped gingerly over a broken vase, looking for anything that could give her some information about Snatcher. She spotted a room at the end of the hall. Lighting up, Hat Kid scrambled toward it. It was small in comparison to some of the other rooms she’d seen. She assumed it was a bedroom, judging from the ruined bed shoved in the corner. There was a portrait on the wall, ripped beyond recognition by claws. Presumably Snatcher’s. She could still make out the fine clothes of those in the portrait. A lovely green gown, a red jacket with gold accents.

“The prince and the princess?” Hat Kid whispered, touching the shreds of canvas. Lifting one of the strips, she found a man’s face. A young man, a bit younger than Peony. He smiled out at the viewer, his brown eyes kind and understanding. But he also looked incredibly sad. Hat Kid lifted the other pieces, trying to find the face of the princess. But that part had been destroyed completely.

“Weird.” Hat Kid frowned. Well, she already knew Snatcher didn’t like the princess much. She turned away from the painting, searching the rest of the room.

It was upon opening the wardrobe that she found it. The rose. It was beautiful, unlike anything Hat Kid had ever seen before. Red, the petals looking soft as silk, and glowing with an unearthly light. Half of it was encased in crystalline ice, keeping it from falling over.

“Whoa.” Hat Kid’s eyes widened. This thing was magic. She was sure of it. But what could it mean? Was it a part of the curse? She reached toward it, feeling the chill radiating from the flower.

“And just what do you think you’re doing, kiddo?”

Hat Kid froze, slowly turning around. Snatcher floated in the doorway, his eyes glowing brighter than they ever had before. He was still smiling, but it wasn’t a happy smile. She knew it wasn’t a happy smile. She could feel it.

“I’m pretty sure you know you’re not supposed to be here.” He floated closer. The shadows on the walls began to move, seemingly creeping closer to Hat Kid.

“I-I’m sorry.” Hat Kid squeaked, stumbling back.

“Is this really how you thank me, brat?” He asked, his voice menacingly calm. “I let you in and you start snooping around like a little rat. Poking your nose where it doesn’t belong. Invading my privacy. I’ve got half a mind to just throw you out.”

“I just wanted to know about you.” Hat Kid felt tears welling up in her eyes. “I-I wanted to know why you got cursed.”

The shadows were even closer now, pulling at her clothing, brushing against her legs.

“I should have let you go to Vanessa’s castle,” Snatcher said. He was right above her now. She could feel the anger lurking behind his smile.

“You want to meet her so badly? Go. I won’t stop you.” He leaned down, his face right in front of hers. “It’s not like anyone will miss you when you’re gone.”

Hat Kid sniffled loudly, then pushed past him. She ran through the castle and into the raging blizzard. She would go to the princess’ castle! She’d find her and then go back to Peony. Who needed Snatcher?! He was a jerk face! She was crying so hard she could barely see where she was going. She just wanted to get away. She kept running until her legs gave out and she fell, still sobbing, into the snow. She lay there, whimpering. She wanted to go home. She wanted to sleep in her bed and see Peony’s face. This had been a mistake.

Suddenly, though, she heard something like heavy breathing. The sound sent shivers down her spine. It was slow, deliberate, as though the person had to remind themselves to breathe. Slowly, she looked up. Standing before her was a woman. Or…something shaped like a woman. Her body seemed to be made of shadows, facial features and details outlined with thin luminous red lines. A tarnished crown sat upon her head and her eyes were twin points of fire. She stared down at Hat Kid. Hat Kid felt very much like prey caught in the gaze of a predator. This was the princess. She knew it instinctively. This was Vanessa. She wasn’t the princess Hat Kid had been expecting. Vanessa wasn’t going to help her. She was going to kill her.

Chapter Text

Snatcher remained floating in the middle of his room long after Hat Kid had run away. He was still too angry to be around other people. How dare she come here? How dare she see this? No one was allowed to see this. No one was allowed to see the person he’d once been.

“What were you thinking?!”  Cookie demanded, slamming the doors open and stalking inside.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Snatcher replied, his voice short and clipped.

“Really? Then you weren’t the one who yelled at that little girl and sent her running to Vanessa’s castle?” Cookie asked in the tone of voice that hinted she was not in the mood to play this game.

Due to how small the room was, she was right in front of Snatcher now, arms folded and foot tapping. Her tail lashed back and forth as she watched him.

“She knew she wasn’t supposed to come in here,” Snatcher replied. “She’s a nuisance. More trouble than she’s worth. Might as well let her run off and throw her life away. You heard her before, she doesn’t have any parents. No one will miss her when she’s gone.” He waved a hand vaguely, turning away from her to slink over to the wardrobe. It had been left open after Hat Kid’s discovery.

“You can’t seriously think that!” Cookie yelled, her ears flattening against her head.

“And if I do?” Snatcher asked. He had his hand on the wardrobe door, staring at the rose inside. He hated looking at it. Hated remembering the look on Vanessa’s face when he’d come back to the castle with that bouquet. Hated remembering the moment she’d enacted the curse. He’d been so weak. It was his fault that all of this had happened. He had gotten everyone into this mess.

“You can’t keep doing this!” Cookie stormed over to him, grabbing him by the shoulder and spinning him around. “You can’t keep lashing out and pushing everyone away! All it does is hurt everyone else!”

“It’s better this way!” Snatcher snapped back. “No one else will get hurt if no one else is close to me! I won’t get hurt!”

“Not everything is about you!”

Snatcher recoiled a bit at Cookie’s sudden escalation in volume. She looked downright furious, her ears flattened against her head and all her fur poofed up.

“Everyone here was affected by Vanessa’s curse! Not just you!” She yelled. “We’re all hurting!” She paused, taking a deep breath and pinching approximately where the bridge of her nose would be.

“Look,” she continued, a bit quieter. “I love you, darling, but your self-destructive attitude is hurting everyone.” She pushed past him and closed the wardrobe door, sealing away the rose once more. “None of us want to stay like this. We need to find some way to break the curse, but you don’t even seem to care.”

“What am I supposed to do?” Snatcher asked. “Vanessa’s magic is incredibly strong. I don’t know how I’d even go about breaking it.” The anger and poison had gone out of him at Cookie’s words. He was floating lower, his tail dragging on the ground.

“You need to try,” Cookie said, taking his face in her hands. “You can’t just give up.” Snatcher tensed a bit at her touch, letting himself flop to the ground as she ran a thumb over where his cheek would be.

“Alright,” he whispered. “Alright. I’ll try.”

“Good.” Cookie kissed his forehead. “Now go get that girl. You need to apologize.”

“Do I have to?” A whine entered Snatcher’s voice as he recoiled.

“Yes. You have too.” Cookie said firmly. “Now go.”

Snatcher made a frustrated sound, but all the same, he rose from the ground and floated out of the room and into the snow beyond.

It didn’t take much effort to find Hat Kid and Vanessa. He just needed to follow the metallic tang of Vanessa’s magic in the air. And there she was, standing over Hat Kid. She was still beautiful, even now. Even with her eyes burning red with rage. Even with her clothes tattered and hair wild. He still loved her. And he hated it.

“My prince,” she cooed when she saw him. “You’ve come to me!” She reached for him but Snatcher moved out of her reach.

“Give me the kid,” he growled.

“But she’s a trespasser,” Vanessa said. “I know how you hate trespassers. Let me take care of her for you.” She reached for Hat Kid now, long fingers grazing the little girl’s cheek. Her claws were cold as ice.

“I don’t need you to do this for me,” Snatcher snapped. His voice was still unsure, though. His bravado always faded when he was faced with her. She terrified him.

“Why won’t you let me help you?” Vanessa shrieked. “I love you! Can’t you see?!” The wind whipped around them, the air suddenly colder. Snatcher’s breathing quickened. He found himself frozen in place, unable to force movement.

“Leave him alone!” Hat Kid put herself between Snatcher and Vanessa.

“This doesn’t concern you, pest,” Vanessa hissed.

“Yes, it does!” Hat Kid tried to make herself bigger. “Snatcher’s my BFF! And you’re being a peckneck!”

Peony and Cookie would be furious if they found out Hat Kid had used that word, but they weren’t there and Hat Kid wanted to make her point.

“How dare you?!” Vanessa’s voice was shrill enough it could have shattered glass.

“He doesn’t want to be around you!” Hat Kid stood her ground. “So get lost!”

“You brat!” Vanessa lunged for her, intending to turn the girl to ice. But Snatcher got in her way, his body taking the blow instead.

“My Prince!” Vanessa wailed as Snatcher fell, ice spreading out from the scratches on his chest.

Hat Kid saw red.

“Get. Lost!” She screaming, picking up a branch and hitting Vanessa with it. “Go away! You don’t get to hurt him!”

This shouldn’t logically have done anything. Vanessa was powerful, with the ability to turn people into ice statues with a flick of her wrist. And yet this little girl with a branch was driving her back. Faced with Hat Kid’s wrath, Vanessa fled. Hat Kid was left alone with Snatcher, breathing heavily from the exertion.

“Snatcher!” She gasped, dropping the branch and turning back to him. Snatcher lay in the snow, eyes closed, breathing shallow. Blue veins snaked out from the scratches in his chest, pulsing with a cold light.

“Don’t you dare die!” Hat Kid yelled, starting to drag him along. “You still need to tell me what’s going on!”

Chapter Text

It took quite a bit to drag Snatcher back to the castle given Hat Kid was small and Snatcher was surprisingly heavy. Making her way back allowed her to get a good look at the forest around her. Despite it not being winter outside the forest, it looked to be the dead of winter here. Snow covered the ground and the trees were bare and lifeless. And yet, Hat Kid didn’t feel cold. It must be magic, she decided. Vanessa was clearly magic.

Cookie was waiting at the front door with the Conductor and Grooves when she got back. Upon seeing a battered Hat Kid dragging an unconscious Snatcher, all three became distressed.

“What happened?” Grooves asked as Cookie hurried to get both of them inside.

“He protected me.” Hat Kid said, the events just now hitting her. “He…He saved me.”

“Well, I’ll be darned.” Conductor said. “The ghost does have a heart.”

“Help me get him upstairs!” Cookie snapped her fingers at the birds, jolting both of them into action.

“I-I can get first aid stuff!” Hat Kid piped up. “Where is it?”

“It’s in a box in the kitchen,” Cookie said, although most of her concentration was on moving Snatcher. “Thank you, honey.”

Hat Kid nodded, scrambling off to get the first aid supplies. Now that it was all sinking in, she was shaking. She’d almost died. Was Snatcher going to die? He’d looked pretty bad. She couldn’t stop thinking about him the entire time she searched for the first aid supplies. Snatcher was a butthead, but she didn’t want him to die. Not after he’d protected her like that.

Snatcher was laid out on the bed when she returned with the box. Cookie had put him in the guest bedroom that Hat Kid had woken up in, likely wanting to avoid anyone else going into Snatcher’s actual bedroom for the moment. He still looked pretty rough, the glowing blue veins having spread across his chest. Cookie, Grooves, and the Conductor were all crowded around the bed, with Cookie on the bed applying some kind of lotion onto the veins. As she applied the lotion, the veins began to recede.

“Is he gonna be okay?” Hat Kid asked, putting the box down.

“He’ll be fine, darling,” Grooves assured her with a gentle pat on her back.

“This ain’t the first time he’s tangled with her,” the Conductor agreed. “We know how to deal with it.”

“What?!” Hat Kid’s eyes went wide. “Why would he fight her?!”

“He never tried to fight her,” Grooves corrected her. “He tried to reason with her in the beginning.”

“But that lass was never one for talking once she got an idea in her head.” The Conductor’s expression was grim as he watched Snatcher and Cookie. Grooves moved closer to him, squeezing his hand in an attempt to comfort him. The Conductor leaned against him.

“He’ll wake up soon.” Cookie said, clambering off the bed and wiping her paws on her apron. “She didn’t scratch him too deeply this time.”

“So, he is gonna be okay?” Hat Kid asked.

“He’ll be fine, honey,” Cookie replied with a gentle smile.

“Okay…” Hat Kid looked at her feet, playing with the edge of her cape. “Is…Is there anything I can do to help?”

“Why don’t you put some bandages on the scratches?” Cookie suggested. “He tends to pick at them.”

“Okay!” Hat Kid nodded fervently, opening the first aid box and digging out some bandages. She clambered onto the bed and started wrapping the bandages around Snatcher’s chest. His ‘fur’ was surprisingly soft. She paused a few times to just pet the fur and marvel had how soft it was. It was like petting a cat. She failed to notice Cookie, Grooves, and the Conductor leave while she was working.

Thus, when Snatcher woke up, it was just him and Hat Kid in the room. He opened his eyes and was greeted by Hat Kid sitting on his chest, consumed in trying to tie off the bandages. Groaning loudly, he closed his eyes again.

“You’re awake!” Hat Kid looked up from the bandages, scrambling closer.

“Unfortunately.” Snatcher covered his face with one hand. He was about to ask her to hold off on her questions, but the questions never came. What he did get, though, was the sound of sobs. Confused, he lifted his hand. Tears were running down Hat Kid’s cheeks as she sniffled loudly.

“Whoa, what’s with the waterworks, kid?” He asked.

“Y-You got h-hurt beca-cause of me,” she sniffled before full on starting to wail. “I’m so sorry! I shouldn’t have gone into your room when you told me not to! I shouldn’t have run away!” She threw herself down, crying into his chest.

“Hey…Don’t…do that,” Snatcher said, awkwardly patting her head. “I…I overreacted.”

“But you got hurt!”

“I get hurt a lot.” Snatcher shrugged. “It’s fine.”

“It’s not!” Hat Kid insisted, raising her head. Her face was red and blotchy, her eyes puffy from crying, and her nose running aggressively. She looked a mess. Snatcher wanted to just shove her off. People crying was so gross when you had to have them on you.

“It’s not fine that she hurt you!” Hat Kid insisted again. “Hurting people is bad!”

“There are exceptions, kiddo,” Snatcher replied dryly.

“But you didn’t do anything wrong!” Hat Kid said.

Snatcher got very quiet, looking away.

“I’ve done a lot of things wrong.” His voice was flat, lacking the energy and pageantry of his usual tone. He sounded…tired. Defeated.

Hat Kid frowned. This was way more serious than she thought.

“You didn’t deserve to get hurt,” she repeated in a lower voice. “You didn’t.”

“I got everyone in the castle cursed,” Snatcher snapped, shoving Hat Kid away and sending her tumbling off him and onto the bed. “I deprived everyone here of their freedom, cut them off from their families, basically got them erased from the world outside the forest. I’m pretty sure that deserves some punishment.”

“But you didn’t curse them,” Hat Kid said, quickly crawling back. “That lady did. She cursed all of you.”

“Yeah, because it wasn’t enough for her to curse just me. She had to curse everyone else in the castle too! Because that makes sense! Punish everyone else because I was an idiot!” Snatcher’s voice rose, the shadows in the room beginning to swirl and creep closer as they had in his bedroom.

Hat Kid didn’t flinch, settling herself on his chest again. “What happened?” She asked. “I wanna help.”

“There’s nothing you can do to help,” Snatcher growled, turning away from her. “You should just leave. I’ve done enough damage to you.”

“No.” Hat Kid screwed her face up in adorable determination. “I’m not gonna leave you! You need help! Now tell me what happened!”

Snatcher said nothing, continuing to avoid looking at Hat Kid. The shadows retreated, thankfully, so it seemed he’d calmed down for the moment. For a long time, neither spoke. Hat Kid kept staring and Snatcher kept avoiding looking at her.

Finally, he sighed and turned back to her. “You’re not going to give this up, are you, kid?”

“Nope!” Hat Kid replied brightly.

Snatcher sighed again, looking out the window at the raging blizzard outside.

“We were promised to each other before we were even born,” he said. “Some dumb royalty thing. It was for strengthening relations between our kingdoms or something. We didn’t get any choice in the matter. It was happening whether we liked it or not.”

“Did you not want to marry her?” Hat Kid asked.

“The opposite. I was thrilled.” Snatcher snorted derisively. “Spent almost my whole life thinking we were soulmates. Just shows you what an idiot I was.”

“I don’t think that makes you an idiot.” Hat Kid frowned, folding her arms.

“Well, it did,” Snatcher said flatly. “I was stupid to think everything was going to be like a fairytale. I should have seen the signs.” He hunched his shoulders. Hat Kid’s frown turned to concern and she moved up to snuggle against him.

“You don’t have to tell me all the really bad stuff,” she assured him. “I think I get it now.” Snatcher hesitated, then shook his head.

“No, I’ll…I’ll tell you. She got…controlling.” His voice was small. “I wasn’t allowed to talk to women that weren’t her, I wasn’t allowed to do things she thought I loved more than her, she got jealous of my royal tutor, I couldn’t go anywhere without telling her…It was a nightmare…” He took a moment to compose himself as his breathing picked up.

“I’m sorry.” Hat Kid hugged him as best she could. “That sounds awful.”

“She cursed everyone because she thought I was cheating on her,” Snatcher continued slowly as if it was difficult to force the words out. “She saw me handing money to the florist in the village and thought I was holding hands with her. But I was just buying flowers for our anniversary. She wouldn’t listen no matter how many times I told her!” The shadows began to swirl again, but Hat Kid knew it wasn’t out of anger this time. She didn’t feel like she was in danger.

“Why wouldn’t she listen to me?!” Snatcher screamed, slamming his fist into the back wall. “What did I do wrong?!”

“You didn’t do anything wrong.” Hat Kid said, moving so that he could see her face. “You may be a butthead, but you didn’t do anything wrong.” She put her hands on Snatcher’s cheeks. “This isn’t your fault.”

Snatcher stared at her, eyes wide in what looked like surprise and confusion. Then he began to laugh. His laugh filled the room, reverberating along the walls and making the glass on the window shake with its volume and force.

“What’s so funny?” Hat Kid demanded, although there wasn’t much force in her voice.

“You’re too nice for your good, kid,” Snatcher said, wiping away a glowing yellow tear.

“Does this mean you’ll let me help you?” Hat Kid lit up, sitting up straighter on his chest.

“I don’t see how you could,” Snatcher chuckled. “But sure, you’ve got a deal.”

“Yay!” Hat Kid threw herself onto Snatcher’s head in a hug. “We’re gonna be BFFs!”

Snatcher just rolled his eyes, awkwardly patting Hat Kid’s head. He was going to regret this, he just knew it.

Chapter Text

Peony was worried. Well, worried might have been an understatement. She had a feeling of dread in the pit of her stomach that she couldn’t get rid of no matter how hard she tried.

Hat Kid had been gone for nearly 3 days now. Although Bow had told her Hat Kid was just out exploring as she often did, something felt wrong. She knew Hat Kid had gone looking for Vanessa. It wasn’t a difficult leap to make, especially after all the questions Hat Kid had been asking. Not to mention, Bow seemed equally nervous, which she wouldn’t be if Hat Kid was just exploring.

Mu had been acting strangely as well after having seen Peony’s curse mark. She’d been holing up in her room a lot, muttering about the forest and destruction. Mu had had a lot of plans involving destruction, usually of mafia members, but she’d never been this secretive or serious about it. And she’d certainly never mentioned fire. It was concerning, to say the least. She’d also been sneaking into the library more often, for reasons she refused to tell Peony about.

Mu sneaking into the library had also led to Peony talking to the Badge Seller more often. It had been a long time since she’d talked to the Badge Seller. After the whole…thing with Vanessa, Peony had withdrawn into herself, not talking to anyone else in the village unless she was interacting with them while working. But over the past few days, she’d been talking to the Badge Seller quite a bit. It had started with the Badge Seller inviting her to have some tea after they’d called her over to pick up Mu again. As they’d had their tea, Peony had started confessing her fears to them.

Soon, she’d started going over to the library to speak with the Badge Seller even when she didn’t have to go pick up Mu. It made her feel better to be able to talk to someone who would understand.

“You seem troubled,” the Badge Seller remarked one day as Peony collapsed into the chair across from their desk, sending up a large cloud of dust as she did so. “Is something wrong?”

“I’m worried about Hattie,” Peony admitted. “She’s been gone for 3 days now. She’s never been gone this long before.” She’d just come from her flower shop, so she was covered in pollen and dirt. The Badge Seller didn’t comment on it, thankfully. The library was already pretty dirty.

“I would not worry about the hat-wearing child,” they said, folding their hands on the desk. “She has proven capable of taking care of herself.”

“But it’s Subcon Forest!” Peony said, worrying with the end of her braid. “And she went look for V-” She quickly stopped herself, taking a deep breath. “She went looking for the Queen.”

“There is no need to censor yourself. I remember the queen.” The Badge Seller’s single green eye flared in the darkness behind their porcelain mask.

Peony allowed herself to relax a bit. The Badge Seller was the only person aside from her in the village who hadn’t been affected by Vanessa’s memory magic. The magic hadn’t affected Peony because Vanessa had intended to kill her. She didn’t know why the Badge Seller hadn’t been affected. She didn’t think she wanted to question it either.

“She went looking for Vanessa,” Peony continued, undoing her braid so that she could stress braid it again. “You know how dangerous Vanessa can be. She might kill Hattie!”

“And what of the prince?” The Badge Seller asked. “Would he not protect the child?”

“If he’s not dead by now, Vanessa probably has him locked up,” Peony replied. “Even if he wanted to protect her, I doubt he could.” She sighed, letting her arms fall at her sides and her hair escape its braid. It formed a cloud around her head.

“I hope he’s alright,” she whispered.

“Why have you not tried to visit him?” The Badge Seller leaned on the desk. “You two are friends, are you not? I’m sure he would be happy to see you.”

“Because Vanessa’s in that forest and in case you hadn’t noticed, she wants to kill me.” Peony held up the hand that bore the curse mark, waving it around and causing her chair to screech back a bit from her movement. She didn’t feel like she needed to wear the glove around them, which was another reason she found herself enjoying talking to the Badge Seller. She had nothing to hide from them.

The Badge Seller almost seemed to laugh. It was difficult to tell if the breathy gasping sound was a laugh or not.

“You have a point,” they said. “Still, I do believe you should see him at some point.”

“That’s not going to happen.” Peony drew into herself, ducking her head and letting her curtain of hair cover her face. “Not unless Vanessa suddenly decides she doesn’t want to kill me.”

“Mm.” The Badge Seller watched her, hands folded in front of them. “Do you see any end in sight?”

“To what?”

“To this situation.” The Badge Seller made their way out from behind the desk, stopping in front of her. “Are you prepared to live in fear until you die?”

“I’m not living in fear!” Peony snapped, raising her head so she could face the Badge Seller. “As long as I stay out of the forest, everything is fine!”

“Not for the prince. Not for those in his household trapped by the queen’s magic,” the Badge Seller said, their voice remaining calm and even. “This is no way to live. Something needs to be done.” Their body was unnaturally still as they looked down on her.

“What am I supposed to do?” Peony demanded, standing up with such force that her chair flew back. “I don’t have magic, I can’t fight. I sell flowers. I’m not exactly some sort of fantasy hero.”

“Sadly, I don’t have the answer to that question,” the Badge Seller said. “All I know is that something must be done.”

Despite their faces being inches from each other, neither one flinched.

Peony was the one to break the gaze. She sighed heavily, her shoulders sagging. She collected her chair and sat back down, hanging her head.

“I don’t know what to do.” She felt tears welling up in her eyes. “I can’t go on some adventure to fix things. I have to take care of the girls. They don’t have anywhere else to go.”

“I know.” The Badge Seller gently patted her back. “I’ll go prepare some tea.”

“Thanks.” Peony sniffled.

The Badge Seller turned away, disappearing into a different room to begin preparing the tea. Peony rested her face in her hands and began to cry.

.

“Bow. Bow!”

“Huh?” Bow was startled awake by Mu’s voice and the other girl violently shaking her shoulder.

“Wake up, Bow!” Mu hissed. She was crouched next to Bow on the bed, staring at her with an intensity that was honestly rather unsettling.

“What? What is it?” Bow sat up, suddenly worried. “Is something wrong? Did something happen?”

“I need your help,” Mu said. She remained crouched, still staring. She wasn’t wearing her shoes, thankfully. Bow had yelled at her more than once for climbing on her bed with her shoes on.

“My help? With what?” Bow frowned.

“I wanna burn down the forest.”

“What?!”

“Sssh!” Mu slapped a hand over Bow’s mouth. “Not so loud! Someone’ll hear you!”

“Why do you want to burn down the forest?!” Bow hissed, lowering her voice. “That’s dangerous!”

“There’s dangerous stuff in the forest!” Mu shot back. “You saw Peony’s arm! We gotta destroy the monsters!” She looked genuinely scared. Bow had never seen Mu look scared like this before.

“Other stuff lives in the forest too,” Bow said. “Not just monsters. “Plus, you don’t know if that’s actually gonna kill the stuff you wanna kill.”

Mu frowned. She sat down, face screwed up in thought.

“I guess you’re right,” she admitted after a moment or two. “If I wanna kill the monster, I gotta go to the source.”

“I mean, I don’t know if going into the forest to try and kill the monster is a good idea,” Bow said, but it was too late. Mu was already hopping off the bed and scrambling away to formulate her new plan. Bow groaned, laying back down. None of her friends ever thought stuff through. First Hat Kid went galivanting off into the forest to talk to the princess and now Mu was going to go into the forest to kill the princess.

“I gotta tell Peony about this,” she said to herself. Peony would definitely be mad at her for not stopping Hat Kid, but at least she’d probably know what to do. Hopping out of bed, she ran off to find Peony.

Chapter Text

“Hey. Kid.” Hat Kid looked up, only to have Snatcher dump a bunch of letters and packages on her. Hat Kid was practically buried under the pile.

She was in the middle of the library, surrounded by a pile of books. After learning of the particulars of Snatcher’s curse she’d decided she was going to find some way to break it the same way she was going to break Peony’s curse. Snatcher had, of course, told her not to bother, but Hat Kid wasn’t hearing it. Because of this, she’d started looking through the books in the castle library for anything that could help. She wasn’t getting anywhere, unfortunately.

“What the heck!” She demanded once she’d dug herself out. “Is this…mail?”

“I’m not heartless,” Snatcher said, floating above her with his usual grin. “Every so often I go highjack a mail truck and steal letters to deliver to my minions.” Hat Kid assumed by minions he meant the strange cloaked children. “That way, it’s almost like someone cares about them!” He cackled. Hat Kid didn’t take the cackle all that seriously. He was a secret softie. She knew he was.  

“So…Why do I have to deliver this stuff?” She asked, picking up a few of the letters. They looked pretty normal, just white envelopes with names on the front in black pen. The names were weird, though. They weren’t names like she was used to, just stuff like Minion 3 or Minion 4.

“Our last mailman went ‘poof’.” Snatcher did a ‘poof’ gesture with his hands. “So, you’ll have to do.”

“But how will I know who to give them too?” Hat Kid demanded. “All you wrote on here is Minion 1 and Minion 2 and stuff!”

“That’s for you to figure out, kiddo.” Snatcher’s grin widened.

“But that’s not fair!” Hat Kid protested, standing up and stamping her foot on the floor. “What if I give them to the wrong person?”

“That’s your problem, not mine,” Snatcher cackled, settling down in his plush red armchair.

Hat Kid pouted, folding her arms. “You’re a butthead.”

“And your insults are getting predictable,” Snatcher replied, reaching out to tap her nose with one clawed finger. “You’ve used that one quite a lot.”

“Well, it’s true.” Hat Kid grumbled.

Snatcher just smiled, his “tail” curling in the way a cat’s would. It was hard to tell what Snatcher was feeling a lot of the time due to his constant smile, but Hat Kid couldn’t help but feel like this smile was a smug one.

Hat Kid narrowed her eyes at him. He was lucky they’d had that talk, otherwise she’d still think he was a heartless jerk. He still was kind of a jerk, though.

“Fine!” Hat Kid huffed, picking up as many packages as she could carry. “But I’m not doing this for you! I’m doing this for them!”

“Whatever floats your boat, kiddo,” Snatcher snickered, snapping his fingers and conjuring a book.

Hat Kid stuck her tongue out at him, then left to deliver the packages.

“The ghost’s got you on mail duty, eh?” The Conductor remarked when he saw Hat Kid dragging the wagon she’d borrowed for the packages.

Cookie had provided her with a red wagon that some of the children had used before the curse when Hat Kid had explained the situation to her. Getting the wagon up the stairs in the castle had been a nightmare thus far, but it had gotten easier as she’d handed the packages and letters out. She hadn’t expected the minions to respond to things like Minion 1 or Minion 2, but they did. They seemed happy to get the letters as well, although Hat Kid didn’t know what they said. She hadn’t thought they’d be so excited to get someone else’s mail.

“I wonder what he’s written for them this time.” DJ Grooves chuckled to himself.

“What do you mean?” Hat Kid asked, stopping to stare at the two birds. They were on one of the lower floors as Hat Kid was headed to the laundry room to give mail to the seals.

“Sometimes he writes letters for his little ‘minions’,” DJ Grooves replied, making air quotes around the word minions.

“So…He doesn’t steal mail?” Hat Kid asked hopefully. After learning the truth about Snatcher, she was hoping that he wasn’t as bad as she’d been led to believe. After all, he was trying to protect the people in the castle. He was secretly at least a little nice.

“Oh no, he definitely does,” the Conductor cackled. “That lad’s scared many a mailman half to death.”

“Oh.” Hat Kid’s hopeful expression turned to one of irritation and frustration.

 “Anyway, you got any mail for us in there, darling?” DJ Grooves asked, peering into the wagon.

“I dunno.” Hat Kid started looking through the mass of letters and packages. “Most of them are labeled for Minion 3 or whatever.”

“He’ll ‘ve put our names on it.” The Conductor knelt by the wagon, beginning to look through the packages as well.

There did turn out to be two letters addressed to the Conductor and DJ Grooves. The letter addressed to the Conductor said, “Stop screaming at 3 am. Some of us actually sleep.” The one addressed to DJ Grooves said, “I get that the minions like your little parties, but don’t keep them up so late. They get cranky when they don’t regularly get to bed on time.”

“Why couldn’t he just say that stuff to your faces?” Hat Kid asked. She was puzzled as to why Snatcher would go to the trouble of writing letters just to say stuff that he could just tell them in person.

“You spend enough time stuck in one place, you run out of things to do.” DJ Grooves shrugged. “It wouldn’t be any fun if he just told us this outright.”

“Besides, it’s nice to get mail,” the Conductor pointed out. “Makes you feel like you’re not forgotten.”

That way it’s almost like someone cares about them!

Hat Kid got quiet.

The castle inhabitants probably had families. All of them. People who missed them. People who they’d been separated from because of the curse.

“Do…Do you guys have families?” She asked quietly.

DJ Grooves and the Conductor both stiffened, instinctively reaching for each other.

“What makes you ask, darling?” DJ Grooves asked, his voice getting a bit louder to hide the weariness that was creeping in.

“I was just thinking about something Snatcher said,” she said, taking off her hat and playing with the ribbon on it. “And…You guys’ve got people who miss you, right?”

“Not anymore, thanks to that blasted curse,” the Conductor snarled, his grip on Groove’s hand tightening.

“Oh…Right…”

The curse made the world outside the castle forget the people inside. That had been why the book had been all messed up.

“But…Do you have families?” Hat Kid asked again.

Grooves and the Conductor were silent for a moment or two, moving closer to one another.

“Aye,” the Conductor finally said.

“Connie’s got a couple of kids and a whole boatload of grandkids,” DJ Grooves added, trying to sound jovial.

“Connie?” Hat Kid repeated, stifling a giggle.

“What? What’s so funny?” The Conductor demanded, his feathers puffing up.

“I thought your name was Conductor!” Hat Kid giggled louder, even more delighted by the way his feathers had puffed up. The mood lifted as Grooves began to laugh as well.

“Well, it’d be a bit awkward to call him Conductor all the time,” he said, pulling the Conductor closer and kissing roughly where Hat Kid thought his nose was. “So, I like comin’ up with nicknames for him.”

“You’re embarrassin’ me!” The Conductor whined as he tried to wriggle free of Grooves’ grasp. Unfortunately, the penguin had him in a tight hold, and his embarrassment only served to embolden Grooves, who continued kissing the Conductor’s head.

“Is Conductor even your real name?” Hat Kid asked.

“Oh, it’s not.” Grooves’ smile widened.

The Conductor protested again, although his words were muffled by his own sputtering and DJ Grooves’ grip.

“Then why does everyone call you Conductor?” Hat Kid demanded through giggles.

“Why do you think, lassie?!” The Conductor snapped, although his voice lacked any malice. “I used to be a train conductor!”

By this point, some Subconites had gathered, drawn by the yelling. The massive stone corridors carried sound pretty well, after all. The assembled Subconits were now going through the mail in Hat Kid’s wagon to find the letters addressed to them, completely ignoring Hat Kid and the birds.

“What’s your real name then?” Hat Kid drew closer, a huge grin on her face.

“It’s none of your business!” The Conductor said.

“Oh, don’t be like that, darling,” Grooves said, kissing the Conductor’s cheek again. “It’s not like she’s a faerie.”

“I can confirm, I’m not a faerie.” Hat Kid nodded solemnly. She wasn’t entirely sure what Grooves was talking about, but she was pretty sure she wasn’t a fairy. She wasn’t tiny and she didn’t have wings either. Although maybe that wasn’t what Grooves was referring to.

“Still…” The Conductor whined, hunching his shoulders.

“Please~” Hat Kid begged, pulling out her cutest puppy dog eyes.

“Are we gonna learn the Conductor’s name?” One of the Subconites looked up, suddenly very interested.

“Oh! I wanna know!” Another looked up.

Soon, several Subconites had clambered over the wagon, spilling letters over the floor as they did, and stood behind Hat Kid. All of them stared up at the Conductor, still clasped in Grooves’ arms, with the biggest and cutest puppy dog eyes they could.

“Now, this ain’t fair,” the Conductor grumbled, already feeling his resolve crumbling under the gaze of all those children.

“Are you really going to disappoint the children, darling?” Grooves asked innocently.

The Conductor let out a high-pitched whining sound, wriggling in Grooves’ grip. Grooves could tell the Conductor was uncomfortable being held at this point so he put the owl down.

“Pleeeeeeaaaaaasssseeeee?” Hat Kid begged, making her eyes extra big and her voice extra adorable.

The Conductor let out a long drawn out sigh, taking off his hat and shaking his head. “Connal Rattray.”

“Huh?”

“That’s me name!” The Conductor spat. “Connal Rattray!”

“Oh.” Hat Kid couldn’t help but be a little disappointed. The Conductor’s name wasn’t as cool as she’d hoped it would be.

“But you’re an owl, not a rat,” one of the Subconites piped up.

“I may be an owl now, but I was a man first,” the Conductor grumbled, folding his arms. It didn’t escape Hat Kid’s notice that there was a mournfulness in his tone.

“I’m sure you got plenty of jokes about your last name, though, didn’t you, darling?” Grooves asked with a sly smile. There seemed to be some element of desperation in his voice, some attempt to move the conversation away from their curse.

“It does kinda sound like the kinda name that’d get made fun of,” Hat Kid agreed. She’d heard plenty of jokes about people’s names at Tim’s place. Kids were ruthless.

“Oh, don’t get me started.” The Conductor rolled his eyes. Or, Hat Kid was pretty sure he had. “The lads on the schoolyard had a field day with it. Rat this and rat that. Drove me crazy.”

“You’re not much of a rat, though. More of a bear.” Grooves’ voice dipped low as he leaned in close to the Conductor once more.

“Oh really now?” The Conductor replied with a smirk, his own voice equally low. “And what’s that make you?”

Hat Kid wasn’t entirely sure what was going on but she was pretty sure this was something she was not supposed to see.

“Um…I’m gonna go deliver the rest of my mail now!” She announced loudly. “Okaygottagobye!”

She took off down the corridor as quickly as she could, the wagon jostling behind her. Along the way, it kept hitting protruding stones, which caused it to jump and letters to go spilling out. The Subconites descended on these letters, picking them up and parsing them out to others in the hallway.

“Look at what you did.” The Conductor slapped Grooves’ arm. “You scared her away!”

“I think we both did that, darling,” Grooves laughed. “Probably should’ve saved that for when the kids weren’t present.” He did feel a bit bad for driving Hat Kid off like that. Sometimes he got a bit carried away.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” The Conductor folded his arms. “I was just respondin’ to you.”

Grooves chuckled, shaking his head. “Of course, darling.”

“Mister Conductor! Mister Grooves!” One of the Subconites called from further down the passage. “Can you help with the letters?”

Grooves and the Conductor exchanged a look before both going over to assist the Subconites.  

Meanwhile, Snatcher was interrupted from his reading by Cookie slamming the library doors open.

“Hey! What was that for?” He demanded, putting down his book. “You’re always telling me not to slam doors. Why do you get to do it?”

“We’re going to throw a party for Hattie,” Cookie announced, hands on her hips.

“What? Why?”

“She deserves a thank you for saving your sorry butt.”

“She didn’t save me!” Snatcher protested. One incredulous look from Cookie shut him up, though.

“Alright, fine,” he conceded. “She saved me. But why does she deserve a party?”

“Because she saved you and she deserves thanks,” Cookie replied. “Now, what kind of foods do you think would be good?” She pulled a pen and a pad of paper out of her coat pocket, smiling brightly.

Snatcher rolled his eyes, sighing heavily. Well, at least he was getting a party out of this. Might as well go along with it.

Chapter Text

The next day, Hat Kid was awoken by someone poking her.

“Hey. Kid. Hey.”

Hat Kid groaned, rolling over and trying to bury herself in the ocean that was her comforter. She didn’t particularly feel like getting up and didn’t appreciate the rude interruption of her sleep. She had been having a rather nice dream and was in no hurry to be removed from it.

“Kiiiiiid.” There was another jab in the back of her head.

“Lemme sleep,” Hat Kid whined, burrowing further under the blankets. “I don’t wanna get up.”

“If you don’t get up, I’m gonna yank the blanket off of you.”

Hat Kid whined, hiding her head under the blanket.

“Well, don’t say I didn’t warn you, kid.”

Abruptly, the blanket was yanked off of Hat Kid, exposing her to the light and cold air. Hat Kid shrieked, trying to curl up in a ball and block out the light. Snatcher stood above her, his grin wide.

“Rise and shine, kiddo.”

“What was that for?” Hat Kid demanded, springing up at the sound of his voice.

“You weren’t getting up.” Snatcher shrugged, floating back so that he was out of her reach. “I had to do something.”

“Why’d you get me up, anyway?” Hat Kid sat up. She looked even smaller in comparison to the huge bed, but no less angry. Then again, she always looked small to Snatcher

“Everyone is setting up something and I’m supposed to distract you while they’re doing it,” Snatcher replied. “I figured the best distraction would be to get you out of the castle.”

“They’re setting something up?” Hat Kid frowned. “What are they setting up? Why can’t I be around for it?” Her interest was immediately piqued, her eyes shining as she scooted closer.

“That’s a surprise.” Snatcher tapped her nose with one long finger, which served to push her back. “Now get dressed. I’ve got stuff I need to do.”

“Hey! Wait! I wanna know what the surprise is!” Hat Kid protested as Snatcher floated toward the door.

“Wouldn’t be a surprise if you knew what it was, kid!” Snatcher called back before exiting into the hallway.

Hat Kid huffed. Well, at least she was going to get a surprise at the end of this. Even if it meant being jerked around in the dark by Snatcher. She slid off the bed and dutifully got dressed.

She found Snatcher waiting out in the hallway, surrounded by some Subconites. Seeing him in the hallway made her realize he wasn’t nearly as large as she’d thought he was. The stone hallways of the castle were massive, making Hat Kid wonder if they’d been built to accommodate giants. Hat Kid had assumed Snatcher would fill up the hallway, given how massive he appeared to her. But he didn’t. The hallway almost seemed to swallow him up, making him look so much smaller against the stark stone walls.

“Okay! I’m ready!” Hat Kid announced, heading over.

Snatcher nodded, making a shooing motion at the Subconites. They all erupted into giggles before running off at top speed.

“Alright. C’mon.” Snatcher began to float away down the hall. “I’ve got a toilet that needs fixing.”

“You’re gonna make me fix a toilet?!” Hat Kid sputtered as she ran after him.

“Yep.” Snatcher grinned back at her, slowing down just enough to allow her to keep pace.

“This sucks,” Hat Kid huffed, but she kept pace with Snatcher all the same.

However, she grew confused as Snatcher made his way through the hallways and to the front door. She knew there were toilets inside. She’d seen them. She’d used them. There was no reason for them to go outside to fix a toilet, right? Unless they had outside toilets, that was.

“Why are we going outside?” She asked. “The toilets are inside.”

“Not all of them,” Snatcher answered, pushing the massive wooden front door open. He did it so easily like it weighed nothing.

“Not all of them?” Hat Kid repeated as they exited the castle. It was still strange to her that it wasn’t actually cold. Magic was crazy. “Do you have weird outside toilets? Why would you want to go to the bathroom outside?”

“Kid, do you really think anyone wants to go to the bathroom outside?” Snatcher asked. “Especially with her royal pain in the butt roaming around.” He seemed to shiver a bit at the memory of Vanessa, picking up his pace a tad.

“I dunno. Old people want to.” Some of the older village residents had their bathrooms in separate buildings. Hat Kid didn’t really get it, especially in the wintertime, but it was a thing all the same.

Snatcher snorted, rolling his eyes. “None of the old people I know wanna use the outhouse. Except maybe the Conductor.” He cackled a bit. “He’s the old-fashioned sort.”

“An outhouse?” Hat Kid wrinkled her nose. She had seen exactly one outhouse in her life and it had been so gross and smelly. She didn’t want to encounter another one.

“Yep. From the oooold days.” Snatcher drew out the syllables and flourished his hands. “No one uses it anymore.”

“If no one uses it, then why do we have to fix it?” Hat Kid demanded.

Just then, they arrived at the outhouse. Which was currently shaking so violently it was airborne while spewing what appeared to be plumes of black smoke. Screaming shades ran for the sky along the plumes tinged with green.

“Oh, it’s haunted,” Snatcher said nonchalantly while Hat Kid stared in abject horror. He handed her an umbrella and patted her back. “I believe in you, kid.”

Before she could ask what he meant, he’d disappeared and the outhouse was suddenly throwing mud and souls at her.

“Snatcher!” She wailed as she frantically dodged out of the way of the attacks. “Help me!”

“You can do it yourself, kiddo!” Snatcher’s voice called back from somewhere she couldn’t place.

.

Hat Kid ended up being the one to do the most work in defeating the ‘haunted’ outhouse. A lot of it involved her running around screaming and frantically throwing rocks and branches at the outhouse. Snatcher ended up taking over and dispelling the “ghosts”, leaving her exhausted and covered with mud and something that she was pretty sure was soot. She flopped down face-first into the snow, groaning.

“Yeesh, kid.” Snatcher floated over. “That was a pretty sorry show.”

“Well, I’ve never fought a haunted bathroom before!” Hat Kid snapped, her head popping up to glare at Snatcher.

“Eh, I guess that’s true.” Snatcher shrugged. “Anyway, let’s head back. You need a bath.” He started to float away, arms folded behind his back.

“But I’m tired!” Hat Kid whined, turning so that she was laying on her back. “You just made me fight for like an hour! I can’t walk all the way back!”

Snatcher stopped, turning around and floating back. He loomed over Hat Kid, staring down at her in vague irritation. “Seriously, kid?”

“Yeah, seriously.” Hat Kid folded her arms with a smirk.

They stared at each other, Hat Kid practically daring him to do something about it. She was almost completely certain he wouldn’t want to touch her since she was covered in dirt and soot.

She was wrong.

Snatcher grabbed her by the ankle and started to drag her.

“What are you doing?” Hat Kid demanded, grabbing onto her hat to make sure it didn’t get left behind.

“I’m taking you back,” Snatcher answered.

“But why are you dragging me?” Hat Kid wriggled around a bit. “Couldn’t you just pick me up?”

Snatcher stopped, glancing incredulously back at her. “You’re covered in dirt, kid.” Then he resumed dragging.

Hat Kid huffed, but didn’t protest. It wasn’t like Snatcher was going to stop. Instead, she focused on the sky above her and the trees around her. The sky was dark, as though it were night. But she could still see as well as she could in the daytime. There was no sun, just dark grey clouds. Everything looked so bleak in the forest. The colors were darker, harsher, and all the plants were so dead and lifeless. Every so often, she saw large blocks of ice that she thought she saw figures inside.

“Why does the forest look like this?” She asked.

There was a long period of silence before Snatcher finally answered.

“…You know why.”

Hat Kid fell silent, the image of Vanessa flashing across her mind. She still remembered how cold the queen’s finger had been on her skin. She shivered, holding her hat tighter to her chest. She couldn’t imagine being touched by those cold fingers on a daily basis. Or maybe Vanessa hadn’t always been that cold. There must have been a time when she’d been warm. Otherwise, Snatcher wouldn’t have been happy to marry her. What had changed?

“How are things in the village?”

“Huh?” Hat Kid snapped back to reality, suddenly realizing she’d been spoken to.

“I said, how are things in the village?” Snatcher repeated. “You live there, right?”

“I guess it’s fine,” Hat Kid said. “But the mafia kinda took over. So that sucks. Mu’s been trying to take them down but there’s not much we can do.”

Snatcher tensed, his grip on Hat Kid’s ankle tightening.

“The…mafia took over?” He asked slowly.

“Mm-hm.” Hat Kid nodded. “Peony said they took over like six years ago ‘cause there was no protection. So now they run the place. Most of the people who used to live there left, so now it’s just me, Peony, Mu, Bow, the Badge Seller, and the mafia guys.”

She waited for Snatcher’s response, but none came. She lifted her head a bit so she could look at him. His shoulders were shaking and hunched. Blue sparks shot off of his free hand, threatening to turn into flames.

“Are you okay?” She asked quietly.

“I’m fine, kiddo,” Snatcher snapped.

“You don’t sound fine. And you don’t look fine either.”

“I’m fine. Let it go.”

Hat Kid huffed a bit but did as he asked. She could hear Snatcher metaphorically digging his heels in. She knew from living with Mu that pushing someone stubborn wouldn’t get you anywhere. So, she just let Snatcher drag her back to the castle. She could hear Snatcher muttering darkly to himself as they went, though.

“I can’t believe her, leaving the village exposed like that. At least I have an excuse. I can’t leave this damn forest. What’s her excuse? Why doesn’t she help them?” He scoffed. “She’s a shitty queen.”

“She is a shitty queen,” Hat Kid agreed.

“Hey. Don’t repeat that.” Snatcher shot a warning glance back at her. “I’ll get in big trouble if Cookie finds out I said that in front of you.”

“Then I won’t say it around her,” Hat Kid replied with a smirk.

Snatcher stopped moving, looking back at her again in something that might have been awe. Then he chuckled to himself and shook his head, starting to move again.

Once they got back, they were quickly ushered to the upper floors by giggling Subconites who insisted that ‘it’ wasn’t ready yet and they weren’t allowed to see. This made Hat Kid even more curious, bringing the “surprise” back to the forefront of her mind.

“What’s going on?” She asked as Snatcher pushed her into the bathroom. “What’s everyone doing?”

“I told you, kid, it’s not a surprise if you know what it is,” Snatcher said. “Besides, we gotta get you cleaned up right now.”

Hat Kid froze, watching Snatcher turn on the bathtub and pull out some bottles of shampoo and soap.

“Wait…Are you gonna clean me yourself?” She asked in a hushed voice.

“What?! No!” Snatcher sputtered, nearly dropping the shampoo bottles. “What kind of person do you think I am, kid?” He shoved the bottles and soap onto a shelf beside the bathtub. “You can do it yourself.”

“Well, I didn’t know if you were gonna.” Hat Kid said indignantly. “Peony sometimes washes me.”

“Yeah, well, I’m not gonna do that.” He then immediately left, slamming the door behind him.

Hat Kid stared at the door, then giggled to herself. Snatcher had actually seemed embarrassed. She wondered what other reactions she could get out of him. She’d have to test that after she got clean. She undressed, throwing her dirty clothes in a corner and hopping into the bathtub.

She hadn’t taken too many baths at the castle, so the novelty of the massive tub and many perfumed soaps hadn’t worn off yet. The bathtub at Peony’s house was minuscule, used mostly for laundry or storing plants. They usually just used the shower to clean off. Taking a bath was a luxury. Which meant she took her time getting clean and enjoying the warm water and perfumed soaps.

She only got out when Snatcher banged on the door and yelled for her to hurry up.

“Killjoy,” she muttered to herself, clambering out of the tub. She grabbed a towel and wrapped it around herself.

“Okay, I’m clean,” she announced, opening the door to the bathroom.

“Great.” Snatcher threw something at her head. “Put this on.”

Hat Kid pulled the offending object off of her head, revealing it to be a small purple dress, about her size. It was one of the most beautiful items of clothing she’d ever seen, with gold embroidery and red and gold accents.

“Whoa…” She whispered, holding the dress up. “This is so pretty!” It looked like the kind of dress that a princess would wear. And given where she was, a princess probably had.

“Make sure it fits,” Snatcher said. “If it’s not your size we’ll need to find you a different dress.”

“Why do I need a pretty dress, though?” Hat Kid asked, lowering the dress.

It was then that she noticed that Snatcher was wearing clothing. The whole time she’d been in the castle, she’d never seen him wear clothing. But now he was wearing a waistcoat, a dress shirt, and a jacket.

“Well, kid.” Snatcher grinned. “That’s the surprise.”

That absolutely did not answer her question, but thankfully she didn’t seem to care. Her mind went wild with the possibilities of what that could mean. Her eyes got wide and she scrambled to put the dress on. It fit pretty well but was a little big on her.

“Okay! I’m ready!” Hat Kid jumped up and down, tugging on Snatcher’s sleeve. “Can I see the surprise now?”

“Yeesh, hold your horses.” Snatcher wrenched his sleeve away. “I have to make sure they’re done first.”

“Well then, you’re in luck, darling!” Grooves slammed the door open. He was dressed in a sequined red suit, his afro pulled back into a puffy ponytail. He shimmered and shone with every movement. At his side was the Conductor, dressed in a much more understated royal blue suit.

“Everything’s ready!” The Conductor announced.

Hat Kid squealed, jumping up and down and going back to grabbing at Snatcher’s sleeve.

Snatcher made a big show of rolling his eyes, floating to the door. “Alright. C’mon, kid.”

At that, Hat Kid took off, dragging Snatcher behind her like a large worm-shaped kite. Snatcher shrieked, of course, yelling for her to stop. But Hat Kid didn’t. She wasn’t entirely sure where she was going, mostly following the Subconites. They were all headed in one direction and she figured that wherever they were going was where she wanted to go.

“Kid! Slow down!” Snatcher yelled as Hat Kid continued to run. Grooves and the Conductor were following behind the two of them, trying desperately to keep up. They were shouting things too, more pleas for her to slow down, but Hat Kid didn’t listen. She was too swept up in her excitement.

She followed the Subconites to a pair of large gilded double doors on one of the lower floors. They were gilded in gold and painted a warm yellow. She’d never been to this part of the castle before, which made her even more excited.

“A-Alright,” Snatcher said, a tad out of breath. “W-We’re here. You can stop dragging me now.”

“My goodness, darling,” Grooves gasped as he and the Conductor finally caught up. “You certainly move fast.”

“I’m too old for this,” the Conductor groaned, hunching over to try and catch his breath.

“What’s in there?” Hat Kid asked, pointing at the gilded doors with shining eyes.

Snatcher watched her, his expression unreadable due to its constant smile. Then his smile widened and his eyes crinkled. It looked genuine. It felt genuine.

“Why don’t you go find out?” He suggested.

Hat Kid immediately turned to the door, pushing it open. Her eyes widened and she let out an involuntary gasp at the sight before her.

The ballroom was decked out for a party. Tables were piled high with food, decorations hung from the ceiling and the chandelier, and the castle inhabitants that milled about the room wore their finest clothing. Slowly, one by one, each person in the room turned to look at Hat Kid. Their faces lit up upon seeing her, each echoing the same message,

“Surprise!”

“Surprise, honey!” Cookie announced, popping up in front of Hat Kid. She too was dressed up, wearing a red sleeveless evening gown decorated with shimmering crystals and red pumps.

“Is this…for me?” Hat Kid asked slowly.

“We wanted to throw you a party, darling,” Grooves said.

“For saving the ghost’s sorry arse,” the Conductor added.

“Not that I needed saving,” Snatcher grumbled, shifting comfortably back into his grumpy role. “And you didn’t save me, kid.” Once again, he looked smaller when contrasted with the castle’s architecture. He almost looked normal-sized in the massive ballroom.

“She did save you and this is to thank her for it.” Cookie waved a hand dismissively toward Snatcher before taking Hat Kid and guiding her into the ballroom. The other castle inhabitants dispersed a bit so as not to obstruct them.

For a moment, Hat Kid was too stunned to do or say anything. This was for her. This was all for her. Then she was overtaken by joy, throwing herself onto Cookie, Grooves, and the Conductor, yelling thanks and starting to cry a little.

“You’re very welcome, dear.” Cookie held her close, kissing her head.

“We’re more than happy to do something nice for you, darling!” Grooves said brightly.

“Aw, you’re going to make an old man blush,” the Conductor mumbled, tugging his hat over his eyes. At least Hat Kid was pretty sure that was what he was doing. She’d never seen his eyes.

Hat Kid hugged all three of them tightly before turning her attention to Snatcher, still smiling wide. “And thank you to you too, Snatcher!”

“You shouldn’t thank me. I didn’t do anything,” Snatcher said, rolling his eyes. She could have sworn she saw the barest hint of a smile on his face, though.

“Too bad! I’m thanking you anyway~” Hat Kid said in a sing-song voice.

Snatcher rolled his eyes again, his smile widening once more. “Whatever, kiddo. Just enjoy your party.”

.

Hat Kid did enjoy her party. She danced with everyone she could; Cookie, the Conductor, Grooves, the Walrus Captain, the seals, the Subconites, even Snatcher. It had taken quite a lot of convincing to get Snatcher to dance with her, but she’d managed it. Even if he’d remained floating above the ground while they did so. He’d complained the whole time, of course. Still, he’d conceded and danced with her.

Once she was done dancing, she ate and ate and ate until she couldn’t eat anymore. Cookie, the Conductor, and Grooves all warned her to go slow so that she wouldn’t end up choking. Surprisingly, Snatcher agreed with them.

“You can’t enjoy the food if you’re just vacuuming it up,” he said.

“Yeah, alright.” Hat Kid made a big show of rolling her eyes the way he did, but she did listen to him. She slowed down after that, savoring the food.

By the end of the night, she was barely able to stand up, falling asleep from all the food she ate and all the energy she’d expended. Snatcher was the one who carried her up to bed.

He’d surprised everyone when he’d volunteered to do it.

“Really?” Cookie asked, raising an eyebrow. Something close to a knowing smirk twitched on her lips.

“So, the ghost does have a heart,” the Conductor chuckled.

“You’ve said that before,” Snatcher snapped, although he kept his voice low so as not to wake the sleeping little girl in his arms. “And it’s not that big of a deal. She’d be cranky if she slept on the floor here. I’m just saving myself the trouble of having to deal with a cranky kid.”

“Whatever you say, darling.” Grooves winked at him, patting his arm.

Snatcher gave all three of them an incredulous look, grumbling to himself and floating up to the room where Hat Kid slept. The party had been…fun. He didn’t often have fun at parties. All the ones he’d had to go to when he’d been a prince had been boring affairs, or unbearable due to Vanessa’s presence. But this had been…fun. He’d had…fun. Because of the kid.

He looked down at the little girl asleep against his chest and couldn’t help but smile. He found her incredibly irritating most of the time with her curiosity and stubbornness and refusal to leave well enough alone, but also…She was fun. She was bright and fun and even though she called him names, she cared about him. She had defended him from Vanessa. She was determined to break his curse.

“You’re a weird kid,” he chuckled to himself as he laid her on the bed. Hat Kid yawned and snuggled into the duvet. She looked so small, so fragile.

He didn’t want anything bad to happen to her.

He stopped, a bit surprised by the thought that had just popped into his mind. Where had that come from?

He shook his head, quickly tucking Hat Kid in and leaving the room. He needed to do some thinking.

Chapter Text

Everyone had expected the day after the party to be quiet. After all, they didn’t get visitors and it wasn’t as though anyone in the castle was going to be up to anything given how tired they all were from the festivities. So, when the front doors of the castle flew open and a cloaked figure was revealed, those in the front hall started to freak out a little. A few small groups liked to hang out in the entry hall since it was wide open and had good acoustics.

The figure stood in the doorway, silhouetted against the dark sky. The building blizzard behind them gave the scene a decidedly ominous feeling. For a moment, the Subconites in the front hall were frozen in surprise and fear. Then they sprung into action. Some scrambled away to fetch one of the people they deemed in charge while others stood their ground and confronted this stranger.

“Wh-Who are you?” They demanded. “What do you want?”

The stranger lowered their hood, revealing a freckled woman with flaming red hair and a flower tucked behind her ear.

“Who are all of you?” She demanded right back, her face screwing up in a frown. “Where’s Luka?”

At the mention of the prince’s true name, a tense silence descended on the hall. No one had spoken that name in nearly ten years now. Snatcher reacted…badly whenever the name was mentioned. Especially in the beginning.

“Well, where is he?” Peony asked, hands on her hips.

“Why do you want to see him?” One of the Subconites shot right back.

“He’s my friend,” Peony said, irritation beginning to build in her voice.

Peony was not a tall woman, and she looked even smaller when placed in front of the massive front doors. But there was a presence to her, an air of determination and stubbornness, that made the Subconites take a step back. Somehow, they knew that they wouldn’t be able to get her to leave without a fight, and none of them wanted a fight.

Suddenly, the hall began to grow dark and the Subconites relaxed. The swirling shadows meant the approach of Snatcher. Snatcher could deal with this strange woman. Snatcher always knew what to do. Or at least they thought he did.

“You’ve got a lot of nerve coming in here, acting like you own the place.” Snatcher’s voice echoed from the curling and pulsing shadows, suitably booming and menacing. “And invoking that name too. I’ve killed people for a lot less.”

Peony was startled by the sudden distorted voice, but stood her ground. The entire entrance hall had gone pitch black, leaving her in the only spot of light.

“Look,” she said, folding her arms. “I’ve had enough spooky bullshit to last me a lifetime. So cut the crap and tell me where my friend is.”

There was a moment of pause and the shadows vanished, revealing Snatcher floating in the middle of the entry hall. He looked a bit bemused that she hadn’t allowed him his pageantry. However, as he got a better look at her face, the bemusement turned to something akin to horror. He backed up, his eyes going wide. He sunk lower and lower, his tail dragging on the ground.

Snatcher’s clear terror made a wave of fear spread through those assembled in the entry hall. Just who was this woman? The only time they ever saw him this afraid was when it came to Vanessa.

“Peony?” Snatcher’s voice was small, lacking its usual echo and distortion.

Peony’s eyes went wide as well. Without the distortion, she recognized this voice. She’d heard it before.

“Luka?” She whispered, her arms dropping as she took a step toward him.

Snatcher hunched his shoulders, flinching away and lowering his head. “What do you want?” He spat, regaining the echo in his voice as he attempted to make up for his moment of weakness.

Peony blinked, taken aback by this abrupt change in attitude. “What do you mean, what do I want? I wanted to talk to you!”

“What’s there to talk about?” Snatcher asked, floating higher to tower above her.

Peony gave him an incredulous look, gesturing to him and the Subconites huddled behind him. “Uh…Hello??”

“There’s nothing to talk about,” Snatcher said, folding his arms. “You should leave.”

“You have got to be kidding me,” Peony groaned, covering her face. “Seriously?! You’re a giant purple noodle and I don’t even know what’s going on with the kids. I’m pretty sure that’s worth talking about!”

“We got cursed!” One Subconite piped up. The others quickly shushed them. A few recognized Peony now that they got a better look at her.

Slowly, Peony turned to look at Snatcher once more. There was a moment of silence before her shriek “You got CURSED?!”

Snatcher winced, flinching back a bit.

“It’s fine!” He snapped. “Everything is fine!”

“You got cursed!” Peony yelled, gesturing wildly. “I don’t think that’s fine!”

“Well, it is!” Snatcher snapped. “Everything is fine and you don’t need to be here!”

The shadows were beginning to swirl again, reacting to Snatcher’s heightened emotions. All the gathered Subconites had backed up, terrified by the building anger from both participants in the argument.

“Alright, that’s enough.” Cookie appeared, stepping between the two of them. “I think you two need to talk this out in private.” Behind Snatcher, Grooves and the Conductor had also appeared, ushering the Subconites out of the entrance hall

“What’s there to talk about?!” Snatcher snapped.

“A lot!” Peony snapped back.

Cookie sighed heavily, shooting Snatcher a warning glare. “You two need to talk this out in private,” she repeated. “Come on.” She took Snatcher and Peony by the hands and led them away.

Peony focused on looking at the castle around her, trying to focus on anything but Snatcher (since she knew staring at him would only make her even more frustrated). It looked just as she remembered, if a bit more worn. Memories were coming flooding back to her now, dampened by whatever curse Vanessa had put in place. Running through the hallways with Luka from the victim of their latest prank, sneaking down the kitchens at night to get a piece of the pie that Cookie had specifically instructed them not to touch until the next day. A warmth swelled in her chest at the memories. She hadn’t realized how much she’d missed Luka. He’d been her best friend for so long.

Cookie took them to a guest bedroom, not the one that Peony had used, but another one. There were so many after all. It was a smaller one, not quite as extravagant as some of the others. The bed was still massive, though.

“You two can talk here,” Cookie said once Peony and Snatcher were inside, standing beside the bed. “I’ll be outside if you need me.” She turned to Snatcher, who was pointedly looking away from both of them. “You need to talk to you, honey.” Then she slipped out.

Leaving Snatcher and Peony alone.

Peony took a moment to catch her breath and calm down a little.

“Alright. So.” She clapped her hands together. “We need to talk.”

“…I guess we do,” Snatcher grumbled.

“So…” Peony sat down on the bed, patting the space beside her. “What happened?”

Snatcher visibly hesitated but eventually did sit down beside her.

“Vanessa cursed me,” he said, continued to avoid looking at her. “She thought I was cheating on her with you because she saw me handing you money for flowers and…jumped to conclusions.”

“More of the same bullshit from her, then.” Peony’s voice dripped with barely contained venom. “You should’ve told me. I could have-”

“You could have what?” Snatcher cut her off. “Even if you’d known, there wasn’t anything you could have done. There was never a way out for me. I have a duty. My own happiness doesn’t matter.”

“Bullshit!” Peony slapped her hands against the bedspread. “If you’d told me I could have helped you figure out a way to break this stupid curse! And you’re not the only one who’s been affected by this! The whole castle is cursed! I’m cursed!” She yanked off her glove, displaying her black curse marked hand.

Snatcher finally looked at her, getting a good look at the curse mark. That was right, Hat Kid had mentioned wanting to break the curse on Peony. He should have put the pieces together sooner.

“I…I couldn’t have put you in danger like that,” he mumbled, looking away again. “She would have killed you if you’d come to try and help me.”

“She already tried to kill me.” Peony indicated the curse mark again. “I’m not worried.” She moved closer, resting her hand on his. “You’re allowed to ask for help, Luka.”

“I can’t.” He abruptly jerked his hand away.

“You can,” Peony insisted. “You don’t have to just struggle on your own.”

“Yes, I do!” Snatcher snapped, getting up and beginning to pace. “If I get close to people, Vanessa hurts them! So I have to be on my own!”

Peony couldn’t help but be a bit disturbed by this. She’d known Vanessa was possessive and controlling, but did she really hurt anyone Luka got close to? If so…

“She shouldn’t do that,” she said, her voice considerably quieter now. “That’s…Fuck…That’s messed up.”

“But it’s not like I can just tell her not to do it!” Snatcher continued, voice rising in panic. “If I don’t she does shit like this!” He gestured to himself. “Or- Or she’ll lock me in my room for days or refuse to give me food or something like that!”

Peony blinked, horror beginning to creep into her features. “That sounds…a lot like abuse. Fucking Hell, has that been happening the whole time you two have been together?!”

“Men can’t be abused,” Snatcher said without even looking at her. “And I’m a prince! I have power!”

“Anyone can be abused, Luka.” Peony’s voice grew soft again. “This…None of this was your fault. Okay? I need you to understand that. Nothing Vanessa has done to you has ever been your fault.”

She hopped off the bed, pulling Snatcher into a hug. At first, he tried to pull away. But soon enough, he was hugging her back, starting to cry for the first time in a long time.

Neither was sure how long they held each other, crying. But once they’d both stopped, Snatcher pulled away, trying to pretend it hadn’t happened.

“You should go home,” he said.

“I am going to go home,” Peony replied, folding her arms. “But I’m coming back here. Because there is no way I’m letting you go through this alone.”

Snatcher glared wearily at her. “I’m not going to be able to talk you out of this, am I?”

Peony returned his glare with a smug smirk. “Nope.”

Snatcher made a big show of rolling his eyes. “Yeah. Sure. Whatever.”

Peony’s expression softened and she hugged Snatcher again.

“You’re my friend and I love you,” she whispered before slipping out.

Despite himself, Snatcher smiled slightly. She hadn’t changed a bit.

Chapter Text

Hat Kid woke up late. This was pretty common for her back at Peony’s house, but she hadn’t expected it here. Especially since Snatcher had woken her up before. She frowned, clambering out of bed and getting dressed before going to search for Snatcher. The hallways were strangely quiet as she traveled through them. Although, given how large and cavernous the hallways were, the sound still traveled quite well. Because of this, Hat Kid could pick up the vague whispers coming from the Subconites. They were clumped together in groups, whispering to one another. She couldn’t make out much, but she caught the words “visitor” and “boss”. Hat Kid frowned to herself, making a note to ask Snatcher about it once she found him.

She was rather surprised when she discovered him in his room, curled up on his newly repaired bed. The bed was far less lavish than the others she’d seen in the castle, with fewer frills and no canopy. The bedspread was nicer than the ones at Peony’s house, however, and the pillows looked quite a bit fluffier. He’d cleaned up the room too, the various debris she’d seen the first time she’d entered had been cleared away, the ripped portrait stowed away somewhere. She wondered if those piles of books had always been there, or if he’d just dragged a bunch from the library with the intent to hide in his room for a while.

“What’re you doing in here?” Hat Kid asked, hopping onto the bed. Thankfully the blankets weren’t slippery like some of the ones on the guest beds. They were a softer material, worn by use.

“Not in the mood right now, kiddo,” Snatcher muttered, turning away from her to curl further in on himself. “Come back later.”

“Did something happen?” She flopped on him, trying to get a look at his face. She couldn’t help but notice how soft his fur was.

Snatcher groaned slightly, reaching up to drag her down against his chest. Hat Kid was a bit surprised, but didn’t fight the hug.

“Peony came to visit.” Snatcher finally answered a long period of silence.

“Is that why everyone’s so weird and whispery?” Hat Kid wriggled a bit to get a look at Snatcher’s face. His expression was uncharacteristically solemn and weary.

“Probably…” His shoulders moved in a slight shrug.

“Why’re you sad about that?” Hat Kid frowned. “I thought you guys were friends. Weren’t you happy to see her?” She paused, eyes going wide as a thought struck her. “Did she chew you out for not telling her you weren’t dead?”

“Oh, she definitely did.” Snatcher let out a weak laugh. “And I was happy to see her. It’s just…” He trailed off, unconsciously holding Hat Kid closer.

“Just what?” Hat Kid’s frown returned.

Once again, it was a long time before Snatcher spoke. “…She reminds me of a past I’d rather forget.”

“What does that mean?”

“It means I don’t like remembering all the shit that got me here,” Snatcher replied, a hint of a growl entering his voice.

Hat Kid’s immediate instinct was to keep asking ‘why’, she and Bow were incredibly curious after all, but she decided that pushing it probably wouldn’t end well.

“I guess that makes sense,” she finally said. “Remembering stuff that hurt you isn’t fun.”

“No shit.” Snatcher snorted derisively.

“But…If you forget about everything, you’ll forget about the happy stuff too,” Hat Kid continued, undeterred by Snatcher’s derision. “It wasn’t all bad, was it?”

“…No,” Snatcher conceded, the anger ebbing from his voice a bit, only for him to force it back. “But that doesn’t matter. The good wasn’t worth all the shit I had to go through. It’s better to just forget all of it and move on.”

Hat Kid’s face screwed up in a frown again. With a huff, she pressed her face into the fluff of Snatcher’s chest, grumbling to herself. She felt Snatcher stiffen, then soften a bit, wrapping his arms around her.

“You should just stop trying, kid.” His voice was soft now, barely above a whisper. “You can’t fix this.”

“I still wanna try!” Hat Kid protested, hitting his chest with one of her fists. “I don’t want you to be sad! You deserve to be happy!”

“Wish I could agree with you there, kiddo.” The weariness in Snatcher’s voice was heartbreaking and only made Hat Kid even more determined.

“You don’t gotta agree with me,” she huffed. “Because I believe it. And I’m gonna make sure it happens!”

“Don’t think that’s how it’s supposed to work,” Snatcher couldn’t help but snort.

“Doesn’t matter. I’m gonna make it happen.”

They lapsed into silence. Hat Kid felt like she could fall asleep like this, face buried in Snatcher’s fluff. She felt…safe. Already her eyelids were starting to feel heavy.

“I know…I can’t really understand what you’re going through,” she mumbled. “But I wanna be here for you.”

She felt Snatcher stiffen for a moment before gingerly hugging her. “Thanks, kid.”

“You’re welcome.” She smiled and hugged Snatcher back.

It didn’t take long before she was out cold again.

“You just woke up, kid. You can’t just go back to sleep,” Snatcher said, a sort of fond exasperation in his voice.

He didn’t try to wake her, though. Mostly because he…definitely needed this. It had been so long since he’d allowed himself this sort of vulnerability with someone else. After the curse had begun…He hadn’t felt he deserved any kind of comfort.

But holding Hat Kid against his chest and thinking about Peony and her determination to help him…He almost felt as though it really was going to be alright. It was the first time in a long time he’d had any kind of hope regarding his situation.

A part of him wondered when that hope would be snatched away.

.

Meanwhile, in town, Bow was researching. She’d dug out the magic book Hat Kid had taken from the library and was currently pouring over it in an attempt to figure out something that might help with this curse business. She figured it was the best use of her time while Peony was looking for Hat Kid. Plus, if Bow came up with some sort of plan for breaking the curse and defeating the queen, Mu might give up the arson one. She’d been briefly deterred by the talking-to Peony had given her, but Bow knew that wouldn’t last too long.

Unfortunately, on the curse-breaking front, the book didn’t have much specific information. It spoke of curses only in the most general sense, never giving any specific details about how they could be performed or broken. It had probably been written this way to make it harder to for the reader to enact a curse without thinking things through, but made Bow’s curse-breaking research considerably more difficult.

Bow groaned, flopping back on her bed. She’d been holed up in her, Hat Kid, and Mu’s shared bedroom for almost half the day, papers spread out all over the bottom bunk she’d claimed as her own. Bow had written down all the information she could find, as well as everything she knew about magic in general. And there was…not a lot. It didn’t even cover half the bed and the bed wasn’t even that big.

She needed more information. What she was getting from the book wasn’t nearly enough to get her anywhere useful. She had to go back to the library.

Thinking about this made her groan all over again, rolling over to bury her face in her pillow. She didn’t feel like she could break into the library on her own, which meant she’d need to go in the front and talk to the Badge Seller. Whether that would go well was honestly a toss-up. But she had to try.

Still, she kept her face buried in the pillow for a few more minutes before she eventually got up, trying to get up the courage to get up and get going. As she laid there, she could feel her anxiety beginning to creep in. Another reason she’d been researching had been to keep herself from going into an anxiety spiral. Although she was pretty sure Hat Kid and Peony would be alright, she didn’t know for certain, and that was eating her up inside.

Eventually, she did get up, gathering up her research notes and stowing them under her mattress with her diary and other books. Once she’d righted the mattress and made her bed, she headed out for the library. She’d been a bit worried by the fact that she hadn’t seen Mu in the house, but her fears were quickly assuaged when she left the house and saw Mu hunched in a tree with binoculars trained on the mafia HQ. There weren’t a lot of trees in the village since the mafia had cut most of them down, but Peony had managed to keep the pine tree beside her house from being hurt. Mu stuck out like a sore thumb in her red cloak between the green branches. That had never stopped her before, though, and it didn’t seem to be stopping her now. Bow couldn’t help but smile in relief as she walked away. It was a relief to see her falling back on her quest to destroy the mafia. It meant she wasn’t planning arson.

Bow was surprised when she got to the library and found the glass doors already open. There was no way the Badge Seller could have known she was coming, right? They were probably just airing out the building because it was hot out. Yeah, that had to be it.

Tentatively, she entered the library, peering nervously around the shelves. The shelves weren’t actually all that tall, but they seemed to loom above Bow in the dim light. All the fluorescent lights in the store had broken long ago, which meant the new library was now illuminated by camping lanterns placed on and around the shelves, as well as some sort of glowing moss in jars. This lighting, coupled with the fact that the building didn’t have any windows aside from the ones in the front, gave the inside an incredibly eerie feeling.

“Hello?” Bow called out as she crept through the rows. Her voice and footsteps were muffled by the dense carpet that had been put in when the store had been converted into the library.

“Ah, Miss Bow.” The Badge Seller’s voice drifted over to her, their location unable to be determined. “What a lovely surprise. How can I help you?”

“Uh…Could you tell me where you are first?” This wasn’t really a conversation she wanted to have when she didn’t know where the Badge Seller was.

“Keep going straight and you’ll find me.”

Sure enough, straight-ahead Bow found the little space where the Badge Seller resided with their desk. She could have sworn it was in a different place the last time she’d visited, closer to the back. Come to think of it, the whole library felt different.

“Welcome, Miss Bow.” The Badge Seller watched her from behind their desk, strange hands resting on the chipped wooden surface.

Bow took a deep breath, walking over to lean on the counter as best she could. “Sir and/or madam, I’m gonna be real with you. I’m really freaking out right now and I could use some help.”

“What sort of help?” The Badge Seller hummed, head tilting to the side. Their one glowing eye peered curiously out from their mask.

“I need to know about curses,” Bow replied solemnly. “Specifically, how to break them.”

Immediately, the Badge Seller’s expression seemed to darken, causing Bow to instinctively take a step back.

“A curse is an incredibly dangerous thing, Miss Bow,” the Badge Seller said, sounding far more serious than Bow had ever heard them sound.

“I don’t want to cast a curse!” She shot back, trying to keep her voice from shaking too much as she leaned on the counter again. “I just need to know how to break them!”

“That information is still incredibly dangerous,” the Badge Seller stood firm. “There could come a time in the future when you feel an anger at another the likes of which you have never before experienced. If at that time you know how a curse works…” They paused. “It would be hard for anyone to resist the temptation to use that knowledge.”

Bow hunched her shoulders, letting her hands drop from the counter. They had a point, much as she hated it.

“Okay,” she said, letting out a long exhale. “No asking about curses then.” She paused, considering what else the Badge Seller might have information about that could help her. “Do you know stuff about the lady who cursed Peony?”

“I know enough about the former queen.” The air of menace around the Badge Seller vanished, leaving them their usual cheerfully cryptic self.

“Okay…So…” She bounced on the balls of her feet. “Do you know how to beat her?”

“The former queen is a creature of ice and snow, her heart long since frozen over. There is no warmth to her.”

Bow blinked. “So…fire?”

The Badge Seller chuckled, covering the mouth of their mask with one hand. “Fire would likely work, yes.”

Bow turned away from the Badge Seller, staring to pace the length of the rug they had put out between their desk and the chairs leaning against the bookshelves. This was good. This was a start.

“If we…” She stopped, looking back at the Badge Seller. “If we killed her…Would the curse stop?”

The Badge Seller was silent for a moment or two, fingers drumming on the desk. “It might alleviate the curse plaguing Miss Peony. But the one on the prince is a different matter altogether.”

Before Bow could ask about the prince, the doors to the library were slammed open. Bow yelped, stumbling back and onto one of the chairs opposite the desk.

“Ah, Miss Peony.” The Badge Seller turned their attention toward the entrance. "Hello."

It only took a minute for Peony to burst into the clearing area. She looked a bit disheveled, tracking in dirt and leaves, with branches and leaves stuck in her hair and dirt on her cheeks.

“Bow, pack your things!” She announced.

“Uh…Why?” Bow asked, slowly getting up from the chair. “Where are we going?”

Peony grinned, eyes aflame with determination. “We’re going to the castle. We’re going to break a curse.”

Chapter Text

It took some serious convincing to get Mu to agree to come to the castle. She remained convinced that the forest was full of monsters and that going in without weapons was basically a death sentence. Peony let her bring a baseball bat to make her feel better, but Mu remained on edge the entire trip there, jumping and lashing out at every noise. She hit more than a few trees and scared more than a few small animals.

“So, the monster everyone says lives here is actually a prince?” Bow asked as they walked. Peony had explained the rough outline of the situation as they’d packed up so the girls would be up to speed. And also likely so Mu wouldn’t try to attack Snatcher. Although that would probably still happen. “And he was cursed by the same princess who cursed you?”

“Yep.” Peony nodded.

“Why’d the princess curse him?” Mu demanded, looking back at her companions. “Was he bad?”

“No, he wasn’t,” Peony snapped, her voice and face hardening. “He didn’t do anything to deserve this. Vanessa was just being paranoid and insecure.”

Mu flinched back slightly at Peony’s harsher tone. “So…Why did she curse him?” She asked, a bit quieter as she held her bat to her chest.

Bow flinched back a bit as well, moving closer to Mu.

Noting their distress, Peony closed her eyes and took a few deep breaths. She was considerably calmer when she next spoke. “She thought he was cheating on her with me,” she replied.

“But you weren’t,” Bow concluded.

“No, I wasn’t,” Peony confirmed. “Luka and I’ve known each other a long time, but we’ve never been anything more than friends.”

“If you’re friends, why didn’t you look for him after the whole curse thing happened?” Mu asked.

Although there was no malice or accusation in Mu’s voice, merely childish curiosity, the question still made Peony tense. Her pace slowed as she lowered her gaze, shoulders hunching. She knew the curse had affected her to a certain extent as well, blurring her memories of her friend and making it easier for her to forget about him if she wasn’t actively trying, but she still couldn’t help but feel guilty. Her friend and his friends had been suffering by themselves for ten years, and she had never thought to try and help.

Mu and Bow both slowed as well, staying near Peony.

“…I thought he was dead,” Peony finally said after a long period of silence. While this was technically true, it also felt like an excuse, a way for her to dodge her guilt.

Bow drifted closer, latching on to Peony’s arm and squeezing her hand comfortingly.

“Thanks.” Peony smiled softly, patting Bow’s head.

“You’re welcome.” Bow offered a small smile back.

Their group lapsed into silence for a few minutes as they continued. Peony scanned the forest around them for signs of Vanessa while also searching for the snow and ice that indicated proximity to the castle. Once she caught sight of a glimpse of white she headed in that direction, Bow and Mu following behind her.

“Is…Is the princess bad?” Mu asked as they stepped onto a path spattered by snow.

Peony didn’t immediately answer, her gaze firmly fixed on the ground. She knew she needed to set a good example for these kids, give them an answer that would help them learn and grow and develop. She didn’t want to enforce the kind of black and white thinking Mu so often fell into. That kind of thinking was incredibly dangerous and she didn’t want Mu to keep thinking that way as she got older.

But it was so hard to put away her negative feelings toward Vanessa, especially after all the trouble Vanessa had caused for both Peony and Luka.

“She sounds bad,” Mu continued. “She cursed you and she cursed that prince guy.”

“It’s…complicated,” Peony finally answered. “People aren’t just bad or good. You have to judge people on their actions.”

“And her actions are bad,” Mu said, looking slightly annoyed. “She did bad stuff.”

Peony let out a small sigh of frustration. “Yes, she did,” she conceded. “Look, if I’m being honest, I just really don’t like her. And I’m trying to be fair to her here.”

The snow was starting to cover the path more. And yet they didn’t sink into it. Nor did the snow covering seep into their shoes, making them wet and chilly. Which made sense, given it wasn’t normal snow.

“If you don’t like her, then why don’t you just say she’s bad?” Mu asked.

“You can’t just say someone’s bad just because you don’t like them.” Bow frowned.

“Why not?” Mu frowned right back.

“Because it’s a shitty thing to do,” Peony replied. “The fact that you don’t like someone shouldn’t be used as a basis for whether someone is good or bad.”

“So…What should we do?” Bow moved closer to latch on to Peony’s arm.

“Judge people on their actions and how they treat people.” Peony felt a little more confident about this response.

Mu let her bat drop and trail in the snow, watching the furrow it made in the uniform white. “I guess that’s not too hard.”

“It shouldn’t be, but a lot of people find it hard to put away their personal feelings.” A hint of bitterness crept into Peony’s voice. Clearly, she was speaking from experience.

“Are we getting close?” Bow asked, deciding it was best to move on from this topic.

Peony paused, scanning the landscape. Dead tree, dead tree, dead tree, dead- Wait, no…That wasn’t a tree. Peony felt a grin tugging at the corners of her lips as she caught sight of the looming spires of the castle peeking up over the horizon.  

“Yeah. We’re getting close.”

.

Snatcher had been acting weird. He’d been acting weird ever since Hat Kid had woken up. He’d been almost completely silent, only responding to Hat Kid’s attempts at conversation with short answers or vague noises of affirmation, and continually looking out the window. Hat Kid had initially assumed he was probably nervous to talk to Peony again, but when she’d brought her thoughts up to DJ Grooves, the Conductor, and Cookie, they’d all agreed that something was off.

“Wait…Really?” Hat Kid blinked, rather surprised that they had all agreed with her. “You guys think it’s weird too?”

“It’s not like him to get this quiet,” Cookie said.

“Not unless things are getting really serious,” Grooves added.

“That woman could be on the move again,” the Conductor suggested. “The lad usually gets like this when she’s involved.” He didn’t need to elaborate on who he meant.

“Peony’s presence could be riling her up.” Cookie’s brow furrowed.

“Do you think she’s going to try and do something?” Hat Kid’s expression darkened. In her mind, she’d beaten Vanessa once and she wasn’t afraid to square up again.

“I hope not…” Grooves wrapped his arms around himself. “It was bad enough the last time.” His shoulders began to shake, a whimpering escaping him at the memory. The Conductor moved over to pull Grooves into a hug.

“The last time?” Hat Kid echoed, her stormy expression vanishing.

“When she cursed us,” the Conductor growled, feathers standing up on end.

“It was…” Cookie trailed off, wrapping her arms around herself as well.

“It wasn’t a slow process,” she continued after a moment.

The air in the hallway suddenly felt heavier, the stone surrounding them suddenly looking darker. The hallway felt cavernous all of a sudden, and all of them incredibly small. There was no sunlight coming in from the windows. Only the cold light of a cloudy winter day, making their surroundings look starker, harsher. Silence hung over them like a heavy wool blanket.

Hat Kid’s stomach felt funny. She hadn’t considered what the transformation process might have been like for those involved. She’d known in the back of her head that the people she’d met in the castle hadn’t always looked the way they currently did, but she hadn’t thought about how they became that way.

“I’m sorry…” She mumbled.

“It’s alright, darling,” Grooves tried to reassure her with a shaky smile. “You don’t have anything to be sorry for.”

“Wasn’t your fault,” the Conductor agreed. His voice sounded even rougher than usual, as though he was trying to hold back tears.

“That’s not it,” Hat Kid said, shaking her head. Tears were welling up in her eyes. “I’m not sorry ‘cause I think it’s my fault. I’m sorry it happened at all.”

Cookie tilted her head to the side. “I’m not sure I understand what you’re saying.”

“You guys don’t deserve this!” Hat Kid stamped her foot, the sound swallowed up by the plush rug beneath her. “It’s not fair!” Her hands were in trembling fists by her sides.

“Come here, honey.” Cookie pulled Hat Kid to her chest, taking off the girl’s hat to stroke her hair and pat her back.

“It’s not fair,” Hat Kid repeated, sniffling as the tears began to run down her cheeks. “It’s not fair it’s not fair it’s not fair!”

She wasn’t just talking about the cursed inhabitants of the castle. She thought of the Mafia and what they’d done to Mu’s hometown, the terror they instilled in the inhabitants that still remained. She had never thought much about the Mafia before, but now she couldn’t help but see the connections between them and the tyrannical queen. It wasn’t fair that people like them and Vanessa could cause so much suffering and never face punishment for it.

“I know, honey,” Cookie murmured. “I know.”

They stood there until Hat Kid cried herself out, her sobs petering off into little sniffles that were quickly lost in the massive hallway.

“You feeling better now, darling?” Grooves asked gently.

Hat Kid shook her head, sniffling again. “‘M still mad…”

“Why don’t we go wait for Peony and your friends in the entry hall?” Cookie suggested. “We can brainstorm all the things you want to show them here.”

Hat Kid sniffled again, not letting go of Cookie. “…Yeah. Okay.”

And so, the four of them made their way down to the entry hall. Only to find Snatcher already there. He floated in the middle of the entry hall, staring at the massive front doors with an incredibly unsettling intensity.

“Snatcher? Honey? Are you alright?” Cookie asked.

“I’m fine,” Snatcher replied, not taking his eyes off the door. His voice was flat, almost monotone.

“You don’t sound fine,” the Conductor grumbled. “Certainly don’t look it either.”

“I’m fine,” Snatcher repeated, irritation creeping into his voice. Still, his eyes remained on the door.

Cookie, the Conductor, and Grooves all glanced at one another. Something was going on, yet they knew pushing the subject would only make Snatcher clam up. So, they lapsed into silence.

“You’re acting weird,” Hat Kid announced.

There was a twitch of Snatcher’s lips that almost could have been a smile and he reached down to pat Hat Kid’s head, knocking off her hat.

“You’re one to talk, kiddo.”

“I’m not weird!” Hat Kid huffed, grabbing her displaced hat and putting it squarely back on her head.

Snatcher’s face split in a grin. “I don’t know. You’ve gotta be pretty weird to want to befriend a beast living in a castle full of talking animals.”

Hat Kid narrowed her eyes, folding her arms. This just made Snatcher smile wider.

“You’re the one who screams at people in the woods,” Hat Kid finally said, her eyes narrowing further. “You know, if you really want to scare people, you can just open a haunted house or something. People’ll pay you for it.”

The sound of Snatcher’s booming laughter reverberated around the massive entry hall, making the space feel warmer. And Cookie, the Conductor, and Grooves subtly relaxed. If he could still laugh, things weren’t too dire.

“What’s so funny?!” Hat Kid demanded.

“Don’t worry about it, kiddo,” Snatcher said, patting her head again.

Hat Kid opened her mouth to argue again, only to be cut off as the doors to the castle swung open, an icy wind and flurries of snow blowing inside. For a moment, everyone froze, terrified by what the wind and snow might mean. Thankfully, though, it was not the towering black figure of Vanessa that stood in the doorway. Standing out as pops of color against the white abyss were Peony, Mu, and Bow.

“Guys!” Hat Kid lit up, sprinting over to throw herself onto her friends and sister in a hug. “It’s so good to see you!”

“It’s good to see you too!” Bow happily hugged her sister back. “But I’m still mad you made me cover for you, you know.”

“Sorry.” Hat Kid pulled back and smiled sheepishly.

“Peony said this place has a huge library too! I missed out on that!” Bow had her face screwed up in a frown, but Hat Kid knew there was no real anger behind it.

“If I show you the library, will you forgive me?”

Bow made a big show of considering this before nodding in faux solemnity. “Fine.”

Hat Kid grinned and hugged Bow again. “Thanks, Bow!”

Once they separated, it was Peony’s turn to hug Hat Kid. Despite only having seen Hat Kid that morning, Peony still scooped Hat Kid up and held her as tight as if it were the first time she was seeing her after a long time away.

“I’m so glad you’re okay…” She muttered.

“You just saw me this morning!” Hat Kid protested.

“A lot can happen in a few hours,” Peony insisted.

After a minute or two, Peony did put Hat Kid down, which led to Hat Kid huffing and fixing clothing. Once she was satisfied with her appearance, she looked over to see what Mu’s reaction was. Her friend had been uncharacteristically quiet.

Unlike the other two, Mu was not smiling. Instead, she stared up at Snatcher, looming in the entry hall, with utter horror.

“Mu? Are you okay?” Hat Kid asked.

“Mu?” Bow echoed, suddenly getting worried.

Peony closed her eyes and let out a small groan, knowing exactly what was coming.

Mu’s mouth opened and she screamed, “MONSTER!”

Chapter Text

“For fuck’s sake,” Peony muttered.

“Hey! He’s not a monster!” Hat Kid protested. “He’s kind of a jerk, but he’s not a monster!”

“You’re a rude little brat, aren’t you?” The Conductor snarled.

“Darling!” Grooves swatted at the Conductor’s arm.

“So, you think I’m a monster, do you?” Snatcher asked. There was a dangerous softness to his voice that made Hat Kid’s stomach twist. She turned around, ready to scold him, only for her voice to die in her throat.

Snatcher’s expression was darker than anything she’d seen on his face before. He looked every bit the monster she had thought he was before meeting him. He swelled larger, the top of his head almost brushing the chandelier dangling from the vaulted ceiling.

“Luka. What are you doing?” Peony’s voice took on a warning edge.

“Honey…” Cookie’s voice had the same warning edge, although it was also tinged with fear.

The shadows around Snatcher began to swirl menacingly as he loomed above the group with an eerily wide grin. The light from the entry hall was increasingly being blotted out by the roiling shadows.

“You haven’t seen anything yet,” Snatcher laughed darkly, his voice echoing and bouncing off the entry hall walls. His laughter continued to build, getting louder and harsher as the sound continued to reverberate.

Suddenly, Snatcher swooped toward Mu, stopping just in front of her, their faces almost touching. “You have no idea what I’m capable of, little girl,” he whispered.

Mu stumbled away, her breathing speeding up. There were tears in her eyes.

Snatcher’s smile widened, all glowing eyes and teeth far too sharp, and reached out one clawed finger to tap her nose. “Boo.”

At that, Mu screamed, turning and running out of the castle.

“Mu!” Bow started to run after her friend, only for Peony to catch her arm.

“What the fuck was that?” Peony demanded. Her voice was quiet, but they could all feel the roiling anger that lurked behind it.

The shadows abruptly vanished and Snatcher sunk to the ground, looking exhausted. He didn’t answer.

“What the fuck was that?!” Peony demanded, all her anger exploding out as she let go of Bow to stalk up to him, jamming her finger into the fluff on his chest. “You went out of your way to make her leave!”

“Yeah, you made her scared on purpose!” Hat Kid agreed.

“It was really mean!” Bow added, looking disapproving.

Snatcher didn’t raise his gaze to look at them. “Vanessa is coming,” he said. “You all need to leave. And that was the only way I could think of to get that little hero wannabe to get out.”

“She…She’s coming?” Bow asked, eyes going wide. She’d known it was a distinct possibility that they would run into the queen by coming here, but a part of her had hoped that it just…wouldn’t happen. That they wouldn’t encounter her. What were they supposed to do when she arrived? They didn’t know how to beat her!

Both Peony and Hat Kid faltered as well, but Hat Kid recovered quickly.

“If she’s coming, we can’t leave!” She insisted. “We’ll stay and protect you!”

“NO!” Snatcher roared, his form ballooning so large he almost dislodged the chandelier. He then shook his head, shrinking to his normal size. “No,” he repeated. “It’s too dangerous. I won’t have Vanessa hurting you because of me.”

“You can’t just make us go away!” Hat Kid stamped her foot. “You’ll get hurt! Everyone will get hurt!” Angry tears were welling up in her eyes.

“It’s fine if I get hurt,” Snatcher replied with a defeated decisiveness. “This is my fault. I deserve to get hurt.”

“You’re an asshole, Luka.”

The gazes of everyone in the room, which now included a few Subconites peering from the top of the grand staircase at the back of the entry hall down at the scene below, moved to Peony, who had her head lowered and her hands in shaking fists at her sides.

“What?” Snatcher blinked, looking genuinely puzzled.

“You can’t just pretend this doesn’t affect the rest of us!” Peony snapped, her head snapping up so everyone could see the angry tears streaming down her cheeks. “Do you seriously think she’s just going to leave everyone alone after she gets you?!”

“She only wants me,” he began, only for Peony to cut him off.

“Exactly!” She yelled. “And once she gets you, the rest of us are just going to be garbage she wants to get rid of! We’re obstacles in her eyes and she’s going to want us gone so we can’t help you ever again!”

“She’s right, honey,” Cookie said softly.

“You know she never liked us much.” Grooves moved closer to the Conductor, who put an arm protectively around him.

“If…If she’s as bad as she sounds…” Bow piped up, her voice trembling yet somewhat sure. “Then she might even come after me and Mu just for…Just for being connected to Peony and Hattie.”

Snatcher went silent.

“Look.” Peony took a deep breath, her shoulders slumping as the remainder of her anger left her. “I’m going to take Bow and Hattie and we’re going to go get Mu. And then we’re going to come back here and we’re going to help you. Alright?”

Snatcher didn’t respond, looking away.

“Thank you, honey.” Cookie smiled wearily at Peony.

Peony stared at her for a moment. Then a smile slowly cracked her stony mask. “Don’t thank me,” she laughed weakly. “I yelled at Luka and called him an asshole.”

“He deserved it.” The Conductor shrugged, earning him another swat from Grooves.

“He did seem like he needed some perspective,” Bow agreed quietly.

Hat Kid sniffled loudly, wiping her nose on her sleeve as she nodded in agreement.

Peony laughed again, shaking her head. “Come on.” She gently took Hat Kid and Bow’s hands, tugging them toward the door. “Let’s go find Mu.”

“Are you guys going to be okay?” Bow asked, looking back at the three now gathered around Snatcher.

“We’ll manage,” Cookie assured her.

“But what if Vanessa shows up?” Hat Kid asked.

“We’ll handle it,” the Conductor growled, his feathers puffing up.

“We’ll do our best to hold her off until you all get back,” Grooves added, wrapping an arm around the Conductor. He hoped Peony’s group wouldn’t notice the fact that he was using the Conductor to keep himself from falling over. If he tried to stand on his own, he was sure his legs would collapse under him.

Many of the other Subconites were feeling similarly unsteady, but also trying not to let it show. More of them had gathered as the conversation had continued. Peppered around the entry hall, they leaned on everything they could. Columns, walls, the massive staircase, each other. All of them watched the group in the center of the room, waiting with bated breath for the humans to leave so that they could allow themselves to be weak. More of them were gathered just out of view on the upper levels, listening in as they cowered against the cold stone.

“Come on,” Peony repeated softly, gently leading the two children out of the castle.

As soon as the doors shut behind them, it seemed as though the entire castle breathed out. Cookie, Grooves, and the Conductor, as well as all the Subconites, collapsed to the ground.

“You don’t actually think you have a chance against her, do you?” Snatcher’s voice was barely above a whisper, so full of defeat it hurt to hear.

“We have to try,” Cookie replied.

“Didn’t you all have that speech about how Vanessa would kill you?” A hint of derision entered Snatcher’s voice as he drew himself up, arms folded.

“That was to keep you from just givin’ up and sending your friends,” the Conductor snapped back. “But the lasses are gonna be comin’ back. So we just have to hold out until they do.”

“If anyone can take her down, I think it would be them.” Grooves managed a weak smile. “We just have to have faith in them.”

Snatcher huffed, turning away from the door. “We’re all going to die. I hope you know that,” he said. Even as he said this, though, there was a hopeful lilt to his voice that kept the sentence from holding too much conviction.

He just had to have faith in them, huh? It had been a long time since he’d had faith in anything or anyone. Maybe…Maybe he could try it. Just this once.

.

It didn’t take too long to find Mu. She hadn’t gotten very far. Her legs weren’t very long, after all.

She was huddled up against a dead tree, knees hugged to her chest as she tried to keep herself from crying too loudly.

“Oh geez…” Peony’s expression softened and she let go of Bow and Hat Kid to go over and kneel beside Mu. “You okay?”

“I’m fine!” Mu sniffled, furiously wiping at her eyes. “I’m a hero! And- And heroes don’t cry.”

“I think heroes are allowed to cry,” Bow said, kneeling beside Mu as well. “Nobody can be strong forever.”

“Heroes are definitely allowed to cry,” Peony agreed.

Hat Kid was still a little mad at Mu, but she sat down in the snow as well.

Mu sniffled again, slowly lowering her hands so her red and blotchy face was visible. “…I guess I was maybe crying a little,” she conceded. “The purple bad guy was kind of scary. J-Just a little!” She added quickly. “I wasn’t super scared or anything!”

“Sorry he scared you,” Hat Kid said. “That was really mean of him. But he’s not a bad guy.”

“He looks like a bad guy!” Mu insisted, slapping the snow to make her point. “He’s all big and scary and he has a scary face!”

“Just ‘cause he looks scary doesn’t mean he’s a bad guy!” Hat Kid slapped the snow right back.

“You can’t just a book by its cover, hun,” Peony said gently, putting a hand on Mu’s shoulder.

Mu stared incredulously at her. “But that’s what you’re supposed to do. That’s what covers are for.”

Peony stifled a groan, taking a deep breath. “Covers can be misleading,” she said. “Sometimes they look one way to disguise their contents and mislead you.”

Mu continued to stare at Peony as though the older woman had just announced the sky was green.

“I think she’s trying to say that just because someone looks scary doesn’t mean they are,” Bow piped up.

“Snatcher may be a meanie, but he’s not bad,” Hat Kid said, folding her arms definitively. “He protected me when that queen lady tried to attack me.”

“So, he’s…not a bad guy?” Mu asked slowly.

“He’s not,” Peony assured her. “He’s just…got a lot of issues that he doesn’t know how to deal with. He’ll get better with help.”

“He only looks like that because he got cursed, remember?” Bow said.

“Oh…Right…” Mu drew back into herself, shame starting to creep into her expression. “So I…I probably made him feel a lot worse…didn’t I?”

Peony hesitated, but ended up nodding. “Yeah, you probably did. And you should definitely apologize when we get back.”

“I will.” Mu wiped her eyes again, giving another sniffle.

Hat Kid leaned over to put a hand on Mu’s shoulder. “He’s definitely gonna give you a hard time, but he’s not gonna be mad. He likes scaring people.”

“He’s kinda weird, isn’t he?” Bow couldn’t help but smile.

“Definitely.” Peony snorted.

All of them shared a laugh, which was quickly cut short by a horrific shriek from the castle. The group scrambled to their feet.

“We have to get back,” Peony said, her expression dark.

The children all shared a solemn nod, and they all took off toward the castle.

Chapter Text

She arrived almost as soon as the group left. It was as though she’d been waiting, waiting for the obstacles to remove themselves so that she could claim her prize. The doors burst open, a gust of icy wind and chilling snowflakes sweeping into the entry hall. Everyone knew exactly who it was based solely on the oppressive aura that descended upon the room.

Snatcher froze, breath catching in his throat at the sight of Vanessa standing in the doorway.

“My prince~” She sang, practically gliding inside. “I think it’s time we talked ~”

“Run,” Cookie whispered.

Snatcher didn’t even hesitate, turning and flying away as fast as he could. He tried to ignore the screaming and yelling from behind him, as well as the telltale sounds of Vanessa’s ice magic. Memories of that horrible night ten years ago flashed through his mind.

He could see jagged icicles bursting out of the walls around him as he fled. He could hear the clack of her heels behind him, feel the chill wind as she shrieked and tried to freeze him in place. She was going to drag him down to the dungeon, keep him there until he broke, until he did what she wanted.

Snatcher shook his head. The walls were icicle free. For now. Vanessa wasn’t on his tail yet. He just had to find someplace to hide until she gave up and left. Then he could go and…unfreeze everyone. He could do that, right? It would…It would be fine. It had to be fine! He could fix this. He could-

He slammed into the doors to his bedroom. Stunned, he floated back. Wait, why had he come here? This was the first place she’d look aside from the library! His breathing began to speed up, the shadows around him thrashing and swirling. No no no! He hadn’t been paying enough attention! He should have been thinking about where he was going!

It was then that he felt it. That bone-chilling wind that made the already cold hallway feel like a freezer.

“Luka~”

His breath caught in his throat.

“My darling prince.” The clicking of her heels seemed to echo through the hall as she approached. “Why are you running from me?” There was a dangerous edge to her sing-song voice. Like a knife hidden beneath a velvet glove.

Snatcher didn’t reply. Even without Vanessa’s ice magic, he found himself frozen. The sound of her voice set off fight or flight instincts he’d thought long since buried. It was all coming back to him now, as though no time had passed. He didn’t dare speak. He never knew what would set her off.

“I promise I’m not mad, Luka,” Vanessa continued.

She was almost on him now. Why couldn’t he force himself to move?!

“I’ve been too harsh to you, haven’t I?” Vanessa’s voice softened as she finally reached him, gently turning him around.

She looked…human. The shadows that usually cloaked her body were gone, leaving her looking almost normal. Aside from her tattered clothes and messy hair, that was. She looked at him with such tenderness and love, smiling softly as she pulled him toward her. Although every part of him was screaming that he needed to run, some tiny traitorous part of him sang with joy. This was the Vanessa he remembered. She’d finally returned to him. After ten years, she’d finally come back.

“I should never have started this silly curse business. It’s kept you away from me for too long,” Vanessa said, cupping Snatcher’s face in her hands.

As soon as her hands touched his cheeks, suddenly they were both human once more, looking just as they had ten years ago. The Vanessa holding his face and smiling at him was the Vanessa he had loved, the one he had been prepared to marry. Snatcher almost cried.

“I missed you,” he choked out, resting his hand on hers.

He wanted to kick himself. He couldn’t just go crawling back to her. Not after all she’d done to him. He couldn’t let her sucker him in again. But he so badly wanted things to go back to the way they had been before. He wanted his old life back.

“I missed you too,” Vanessa whispered, leaning forward to rest her forehead against his.

The floodgates broke and he began to sob, losing his footing and sinking to the floor. The spell was broken and they were both strange once more, him in his purple ghost state and her tired and ragged. Vanessa drew him to her chest, whispering comforting words and stroking the fur on the top of his head.

“It’s alright,” she murmured. “Everything’s going to be alright now.”

He knew he shouldn’t believe her, but he wanted to so badly. Things would be better now, he told himself. However, this beautiful illusion was shattered with one sentence, bringing him back to the present.

“You just need to apologize to me for the whole business with that flower girl. Then everything can be the way it was.”

And just like that, the rose-tinted glasses came off. Snatcher slowly began to stop crying.

“…It’s never going to be alright.” His voice was barely audible.

“What was that?” Vanessa asked, pausing in her stroking.

Snatcher pushed her away from him, not too forcefully, rubbing furiously at his eyes. “It’s never going to be alright,” he repeated, a bit louder.

“Why do you say that?” He could see the anger beginning to build in her eyes.

“Because it never is.” Snatcher tried to keep calm, gather up his courage. “I told you nothing was going on between us but you still won’t believe me! You never believe me, Nessa!”

The anger flared in her eyes, and suddenly he was back in that day, at that moment.

“I knew you were cheating on me!”

“Wha-? Vanessa, what are you talking about?”

“I saw you! I saw you holding hands with her!”

“Holding hands with who? What are you talking about?”

“That florist! I knew the two of you weren’t only friends! I knew it!”

“I was just handing her money. I was buying flowers for you, see? For your birthday.”

“Don’t lie to me! I know you’ve been cheating with her!”

“I haven’t been cheating! I swear!”

He’d tried to plead with her, tried to get her to see reason. But she hadn’t listened to anything he’d said. She never listened when she’d worked herself up like that. Normally he’d just hidden and waited for her to calm down. But this time…She’d shown no signs of calming down. She’d just kept working herself up, her anger continuing to grow.

“You think she’s so great, don’t you? So much better than me. Well, let’s see if she can fix this for you!”

Then she’d cursed him. And he had a feeling she was about to do something like that again.

“All I want is an apology, Luka,” she growled, her form beginning to grow shadowy once more.

“I have nothing to apologize for!” The shadows began to swirl around Snatcher as he drew on all the anger and frustration that he’d felt those long ten years. “I never cheated with Peony or my tutor or the girl in town who I bought books for or anyone else! I wasn’t a perfect boyfriend, but I was faithful and I tried to do right by you! But it was never enough! No matter how much I tried you always found something to fault me on! You never trusted me! Never!”

The hallway darkened, both from Snatcher’s shadow powers and the oppressive aura emanating from Vanessa. Snatcher knew he was starting to cry again, likely from fear and frustration, but he was trying to stay strong. He had to do this. He had to.

“I needed to make sure you loved me!” Vanessa yelled right back. “I had to make sure you wouldn’t leave!” There were red tear tracks down her cheeks.

“You really had that little faith in me?!” He could feel the glowing tears streaming down his face as well, leaving glowing golden spots on the stones of the floor. “You really thought I’d leave at the first opportunity?!”

“You don’t understand! You never did!” Vanessa grabbed him by the neck, hoisting him up and slamming him into the wall. Some dust and loose stones were shaken loose.

The hallway was almost completely black, only the two of them visible to each other. Vanessa burned with an angry red glow that only barely managed to pierce the darkness.

“I had to make sure you would stay,” Vanessa whispered, reaching up to touch Snatcher’s cheek with the hand not holding him up. “You don’t understand how hard it is to be a woman in my position, Luka. Everyone expects so much of me. I couldn’t lose you. You’re the only one I have left.” She ran her thumb over where his cheekbone might’ve been. “I needed your support. I needed you to be there. I couldn’t have you leave.”

“That doesn’t excuse the way you treated me,” Snatcher shot back, losing some of his vitriol. He knew she’d had a difficult time. A prince could get away with a lot more than a princess, and a king a lot more than a queen. He knew she had been under a lot of scrutiny. But that didn’t give her a reason to treat him the way she had.

Vanessa’s face twisted in rage and she slammed Snatcher back against the wall again.

“I didn’t want to treat you that way!” She wailed, her grip on Snatcher’s neck tightening. “I didn’t! I swear! But I had to make sure you wouldn’t leave! I had to make sure you loved me!”

Snatcher was beginning to have trouble breathing now, clawing at Vanessa’s hand to try to get her to loosen her grip. All he could see was Vanessa’s face, full of rage and pain.

So this was it, huh? This was how he was going to die. A part of him had known that this would be how he went out. Even before she’d cursed him, he’d always known it was only a matter of time before Vanessa was pushed too far and did something she regretted. Things had just kept getting worse, especially after her mother had died and she’d been crowned queen.

He closed his eyes. He knew he couldn’t fight back against Vanessa’s magic. If this was it…Then this was it.

Suddenly, though, Vanessa dropped him, stumbling back and yelling. Snatcher fell to the ground, eyes snapping open in shock. To his surprise, he saw Mu, Bow, and Hat Kid brandishing torches, with Peony behind them, carrying a torch of her own. The oppressive blackness that had previously covered the hallway was gone. Shafts of moonlight painted the hallway from the windows.

“Get away from our friend!” Hat Kid yelled, waving her torch toward Vanessa.

“Yeah! You’re a bad guy!” Mu agreed, also waving her torch.

“Are you alright?” Bow asked, kneeling beside Snatcher.

“I told you all to stay away,” Snatcher said.

“And I told you we’d be back,” Peony replied, kneeling next to Bow. “We weren’t going to let you do this alone.”

“Of course not.” Snatcher couldn’t help but smile slightly.

“YOU.” Vanessa’s voice was almost a growl as she fixed her gaze on Peony.

Peony looked up, narrowing her eyes. “Hello, your highness.” Her tone was almost as icy as Vanessa’s magic.  

Vanessa let out another growl, the red outline around her burning brighter. Before any of them could react, she was lunging for Peony, screaming at the top of her lungs.

Only for Snatcher to jump in between them.

Chapter Text

It felt like everything was moving in slow motion. Vanessa was arcing through the air, Peony was trying to lift her torch, Snatcher was surging up to put himself between Vanessa and Peony, Bow was scrambling back, and Hat Kid and Mu were moving for Vanessa.

Then they collided. Vanessa was on Snatcher, her claws digging into the fur of his chest.

“WHY?!” She screamed. “WHY DO YOU KEEP PROTECTING HER?!”

Snatcher let out a gasp of pain but didn’t pull away, instead grabbing Vanessa’s wrists to keep her from escaping as well. “Because she’s my friend,” he growled out.

“Get away from him!” Hat Kid yelled, almost dropping her torch as she ran for Snatcher.

Mu, Bow, and Peony also looked ready to jump in. Snatcher’s voice stopped them, though.

“Don’t get too close!” Snatcher barked, making everyone take a step back. “If she manages to touch you, she’ll freeze you solid.”

Vanessa screeched, trying to pull away. But Snatcher held firm, his grip on her wrists tightening. Ice was beginning to spread from where Vanessa’s claws were embedded in his chest.

“She’s going to kill you!” Peony yelled, a certain desperation entering her voice.

“Not before you all kill her first.” Snatcher let out a small grunt of pain as he shifted. “You need to burn her.”

A heavy silence descended on the hallway as everyone went still.

“You…You can’t be serious,” Peony said. Her voice was so quiet it was almost swallowed by the oppressive silence.

“We’re not going to kill you!” Bow exclaimed, looking close to crying.

“I said I’d break your curse! I still have to do that!” Hat Kid looked similarly close to tears.

Vanessa stared down at Snatcher, no longer screaming or trying to attack. The ice crystals that had been spreading from her hands had stopped. The shadows that had covered the hallway abruptly vanished, although the shadows covering Vanessa’s body remained. However, her eyes no longer burned as bright, nor was the glow her silhouette quite so pronounced.

“You…You would really sacrifice yourself just to see me dead?” She whispered.

Snatcher didn’t answer. He didn’t need to. The grim determination in his eyes told her everything she needed to know. This was going to end today. One way or another.

Vanessa opened her mouth to say something, only to be hit square in the back by Mu’s torch.

There was a moment of pause, no one moving or saying anything. Then Vanessa threw her head back and let out a bone-chilling shriek. It was a chilling sound of terror and pain that set everyone’s hair on end. Snatcher let go of Vanessa’s wrists, allowing her to stumble back, the flames already beginning to consume her. Some of the tapestries on the walls caught fire as she flailed about, trying desperately to put out the flames.

Mu looked horrified as she watched. She would have dropped the torch out of shock, but she was holding on to it too tight. She hadn’t expected defeating the bad guy would be this…visceral. It wasn’t like this in the books or shows. It wasn’t supposed to be so…so…messy. It wasn’t supposed to be like this. She wanted so badly to look away, to not see this, but she couldn’t tear her eyes away from the burning woman. She was only granted a reprieve when Vanessa managed to flail into a window, breaking the elaborate stained glass and tumbling out.

There was a moment of tense silence, punctuated only by the wind whistling in through the broken window and Vanessa’s muffled screams.

Then Mu dropped her torch and began to sob. That was the action that set everyone in motion once more. Peony sprung into action, dragging down the burning tapestries to stamp out the flames before using some of the more intact ones to smother the dropped torches, as Hat Kid had also dropped hers.

Hat Kid and Bow were clustered around Snatcher, trying desperately to stop the bleeding on his chest with their jackets.

“Just let me go,” Snatcher said weakly.

“No!” Hat Kid snapped, swatting at his hand as he attempted to push them away. “We’re not letting you die! Not when we haven’t broken the curse! You don’t get to give up!” Tears were welling up in her eyes, but she refused to break down.

Bow said nothing, pressing down as hard as she could. She knew if she tried to speak, she would devolve into a sobbing mess.

“You asshole,” Peony growled, blinking back tears herself as she tried to comfort the wailing Mu. “After everything we’ve been going through to help you, you’re just going to throw in the towel?” There was no venom in her voice as she spoke. Only desperation and pain. She couldn’t lose him. Not after she’d just gotten him back.

Snatcher gave Peony a vague smile, a mere shadow of his usual wide grin. “Sometimes you just gotta know when to quit.”

“Shut up!” Hat Kid yelled, the tears coming harder and faster. “You’re not quitting! We’re gonna fix this! We have to!”

“And why’s that, kiddo?” Snatcher asked.

“Because I love you! And I don’t give up on people I love!”

Almost as soon as those three words passed her lips, Snatcher was consumed by a ghostly purple light. Hat Kid and Bow both fell on their butts, scooting away. Mu shrieked and clung to Peony, who just stared. The light was then followed by the entire hallway being filled with a thick purple smoke that left everyone coughing and obscuring the entire hallway.

“He did a spontaneous combustion!” Mu yelled.

“There’s no fire,” Bow coughed. “At least, I don’t think there is.”

“What does that have to do with it?” Hat Kid demanded.

“It can’t be a spontaneous combustion without fire!” Bow insisted.

Peony tried not to groan. She didn’t think this was the time for such an argument, but at least it was distracting her. “Luka!” She yelled into the wall of smoke. “Are you still there?”

“Unfortunately!” Snatcher yelled back.

Peony let out a breath she hadn’t known she’d been holding in. And immediately launched into a coughing fit at the smoke.

“Snatcher! Where are you?!” Hat Kid stumbled to her feet, starting to feel around.

The smoke was slowly beginning to disperse, allowing everyone in the hallway to make out the silhouettes of the others. But none of the silhouettes looked like Snatcher’s. For a moment, Hat Kid was terrified Snatcher was gone, despite hearing his voice just a moment before. Then she hit something in her flailing and heard Snatcher say, “Oh! Hey!”

“Snatcher!” Hat Kid exclaimed, grabbing what felt like shoulders.

“Yeah?” Snatcher replied.

The smoke had dispersed enough now that Hat Kid could see who was in front of her. For a moment, Hat Kid just stared. Then her face lit up in a smile so wide it looked like it could split her face.

“Snatcher!” She grabbed his face. “Your face!”

“What about my face?” Snatcher asked, lifting a hand to remove Hat Kid’s. He stopped when he saw his hand, though. It…looked like a normal human hand.

He blinked. “Kid? Am I hallucinating?” His voice got high with panic.

“You’re human!” Hat Kid kept squishing his cheeks. “I did it! I broke the curse!”

“Hey! Don’t do that!” Snatcher pried her hands off his face. His hands were shaking as he did this. It had to be a trick, he told himself. Just another sick joke to get his hopes up before he was brought painfully back to reality.

“Why does that weird hobo man sound like the noodle guy?” Mu asked, shakily getting to her feet.

“Weird hobo guy?” Snatcher wrinkled his nose. “Yeesh, kid. You need to brush up on your manners.”

“You do look kinda weird.” Hat Kid said.

“Yeah, you’ve looked better,” Peony laughed.

Snatcher did still resemble the prince he had once been, but his time as the Snatcher had changed him. His hair was longer and darker than it had previously been and he was sporting some stubble on his chin and cheeks. He was taller and thinner than he’d been as the prince, and the dark circles under his eyes as well as the long and unkempt hair did give him a bit of a deranged look. His princely clothes were tattered, pale skin showing through large rips in the fabric. All in all, he didn’t look…great. But that didn’t matter. He was human again.

“Do you think everyone else is human now too?” Bow asked. “It seems like the curse is broken now.”

Her question was answered by joyful yells coming from the entry hall.

“Seems like it,” Snatcher said, unable to keep a grin from creeping onto his face.

“Let’s go see them!!” Hat Kid grabbed Snatcher by the hand and started to drag him down the hallway. “We’ve gotta show them you’re okay!”

“Hey! Slow down!” Snatcher protested. “I’m not used to having legs again!”

“Wait for us!” Bow scrambled after them.

“Me too!” Mu did the same, dragging Peony along in the same way that Hat Kid had done with Snatcher.

Peony provided no resistance, laughing as they made their way down the hall. She’d been so scared that this story would end badly. What a relief it was to see it have a happy ending. At least for now.

Chapter Text

There was a lot to be done now that the curse had been broken.

First of all, many of the castle inhabitants had families they wanted to see now that they could leave the castle. Cookie and the Badge Seller, who had somehow turned up just after the climactic battle, were in charge of helping coordinate travel for those who wanted to go find their families. The Conductor and Grooves were among these people, although they both insisted that they would be back.

The castle also needed to be cleaned up from Vanessa’s attack, but that was a fairly simple matter when compared to everything else.

There was also the Mafia presence in town, which Mu insisted that Snatcher needed to help with since he was the prince and the town was his responsibility.

“I’m not interested in being a prince anymore,” Snatcher had told her. “But,” he added when he saw her winding up to yell at him. “I’d be more than happy to give those guys a scare. I think they deserve it.”

Mu hadn’t been completely satisfied by this answer, but Snatcher had assured her that she was going to like how he dealt with this.

And so, a few days later, he, Mu, Hat Kid, and Bow marched into the mafia’s base. Snatcher had decided to fully embrace his role as the local forest hermit and dressed for the occasion, with a long ragged purple coat and unkempt and ragged pants and shirt. He hadn’t brushed his hair either, making him look even more like a crazy forest man.

“Heeeey there,” Snatcher said, smiling up at the Mafia Boss in a distinctly unfriendly manner. “It’s come to my attention that you’re in my forest. Messing with my precious victims. And, well.” He paused, his eyes beginning to glow an unearthly yellow. “I can’t have that.”

“W-Who do you think you are, coming here and giving me orders like this?!” Mafia Boss demanded, although it was clear from the way his voice shook that Snatcher had gotten to him.

Snatcher’s already wide grin grew even wider. “Is that really what you’re worried about? If I were you, I’d be more worried about what I’m going to do to you if you don’t get out of my forest.”

“What…What are you going to do?” One of the Mafia members beside the Boss’s throne asked in a hushed tone. Mafia Boss swatted at them and hissed for them to be quiet.

At this question, Snatcher’s smile grew wider still. “Weeeeelll,” he said, drawing out the word as much as he could. “There’s a lot I could do to you. And I mean a lot.” He began to list things off on his fingers. “I could curse you, I could steal your souls and turn you into my mindless puppets, I could steal your souls and just make you work for me, really it’s just kinda a given I’m gonna take your souls no matter what.”

“He’ll do it,” Hat Kid chimed in with a faux serious nod.

“He will.” Bow agreed, also nodding solemnly.

“He’s gonna destroy you, bad guys!” Mu said triumphantly, hands on her hips.

By this point, every Mafia member in the room was shaking like a leaf, with even the Mafia Boss looking shaken.

“You…You wouldn’t,” Mafia Boss shot back, trying to summon up some of his previous courage. “You can’t do something like that!”

Snatcher began to laugh, a proper booming villain laugh, the shadows in the room beginning to swirl around him. The longer he laughed and the more the shadows swirled, the more terrified the Mafia became.

Eventually, Snatcher stopped laughing, allowing the shadow to settle. He turned his attention back to the Mafia Boss, smiling once more.

“Do you really want to take that chance?” He asked, his voice low.

It only took a couple of days for the mafia to clear out after that. Honestly, Snatcher would have done this even if Mu hadn’t asked him. He’d been itching to scare the living daylights out of the mafia members from the moment they’d shown up in town.

Once the mafia had gone, the remaining townspeople got together to try and figure out who would be taking charge now. Given Peony’s role in bringing back their ruler, even if he wanted no part in governing, she was of course nominated for a leadership role. Peony politely turned this nomination down, stating that she was more interested in her plants than running a town. Eventually, elections were held and a mayor was chosen, along with a few other officials. Hopefully, they’d be able to elect more officials once more people came back to the town. A few who had left were already returning, having heard of the mafia’s departure.

Bow and Hat Kid had also moved into the castle, with Mu staying in town to keep an eye on things. Snatcher had protested, but everyone knew it was more for show than anything else. Cookie especially knew Snatcher was excited to teach the kids everything he knew about the law and how to exploit its loopholes. She had a feeling Bow especially would make a fearsome foe in the courtroom.

Then there was Vanessa.

They’d found her lying in the snow below the window she’d fallen out of, badly wounded but alive. None of them had been quite sure what to do with her. The one thing they’d agreed on was that they didn’t want her to stay in town.

It was the Badge Seller who had put forth the idea of her going to the Alpine Skyline. They had suggested that spending some time with the goats and nomads might do her some good, as they found the Skyline to be a relaxing environment good for reflection. No one was sure if it would make Vanessa change her mind, but it was worth a try.

So, they handed her off to the massive goat people and strange nomads and tried to move forward.

Things didn’t go back to the way they’d been before the curse. Everyone in the castle had suspected that this would be the case. They’d known that even if the curse was broken, which had been a bit if for a good portion of those ten years, nothing would be the same as it had been before.

But that was alright. More than alright, actually.

Things hadn’t been great, even before Vanessa’s curse had descended upon their lives. Snatcher had been unhappy in his role and his relationship, the relationships in the town had been tense, and the castle staff had been living in fear of Vanessa’s wrath. But now, with the curse dispelled, the mafia gone, the town rebuilding, and Vanessa no longer a threat, they could begin a new chapter of their lives.

And they were going to make it a good one.