AN: The survivors of the incident that destroyed Subcon Forest get the chance to say goodbye to those they lost. A short chapter, but a sweet one.
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Every Subconite and Dweller that lived in the forest were clustered in the center of Subcon Village, watching as the figures in front of them prepared the ritual their leader had planned.
It had been difficult, both physically and emotionally, to remove the frozen bodies from Vanessa's manor. Everyone had worked together to take the dead back to Subcon Village so the shadow could perform whatever ceremony he had in mind in order to "free them".
Hat Kid had no idea what he meant, but she had a feeling the entire ordeal would be emotionally draining.
There had been more than enough crying already, and the night was barely half over!
When they had first left the manor the group, Moonjumper carrying Christine's body once again, they had been more than a little surprised to see that the massive snowstorm had stopped. Finally the moon was able to peek out from behind the heavy clouds and the stars shone above them.
The peaceful silence that now engulfed the forest was a stark contrast to the battle that had gone on not that long ago, and the horrifying truth that had been learned.
Snatcher had then picked up Hat Kid and Mu and soared back to the village, Moonjumper following him. During their journey the group noticed several of Vanessa strange creatures, the headless ice statues, lying broken on the ground. It was as if something had shattered all of them, leaving none of the corrupted beings left.
It appeared as though Subcon itself was tired of dealing with Vanessa's madness and had fought back in its own way.
The thought made Snatcher smile.
The trip back to the village was significantly faster than the journey to the manor, and in almost no time at all the warm lights of Subcon Village appeared before them. The group entered the village and immediately Subconites and Dwellers sprung up out of nowhere, all letting out cheers as they caught sight of the shadow.
Though the joyous celebration faded once the smaller shadows caught sight of the figure being cradled in Moonjumper's arms.
Whispers broke out. Some wondered what had happened at Vanessa's manor, while others realized that they recognized the frozen corpse. Finally one Subconite walked up to the still grieving Snatcher, and asked the question they had all been thinking of.
"What happened?"
As if there were words to describe the sheer emotional devastation they had all gone through, as if he could begin to explain what he had discovered about those who used to rule Subcon.
As if he could explain what had happened to the missing residents before Vanessa had lashed out at the kingdom and destroyed everything.
But he was the only one who could.
The shadow sighed and waved Moonjumper over. His other self seemed a bit hesitant, but after a moment slowly floated over to him. Snatcher softly whispered to the corpse, keeping his voice low so no one else could hear. Once the instructions were finished Moonjumper nodded and made his way over to his home, Christine still cradled in his arms.
"As of this moment Vanessa has officially lost all control over Subcon." Snatcher boomed, and watched as the crowd in front of him grew silent. "Moonjumper and I sealed her in the manor, she is no longer a threat to any of us."
Rather than cheer his subjects remained silent, recognizing that there was something else he needed to speak of based on the depressed energy radiating off of his aura.
"And we discovered the truth." He breathed, eyes focusing on the ground below him as he took a moment to gather his thoughts.
It was not his fault.
As much as Snatcher wished he could blame himself for the madness and death that had occurred that day, the more that he thought about it the more he realized that there was nothing he could have done to change the outcome.
Perhaps he could have spent more time with Vanessa, but then he would not have been as prepared to take the throne, or if he had known about the curse before they met he would have been forced into a situation where he would have to be with her regardless of his own feelings.
Some part of him wondered whether the way she acted towards him at times would have changed if she had not been cursed. Her controlling mindset and abusive behavior, would that still have been there even if the curse was not present?
Maybe she would have been a totally different person, or maybe she would have been the exact same and everything still would have ended with his slow demise in the basement.
Snatcher coughed and continued speaking, this time telling his subjects of the discovery of the curse that had been placed upon Vanessa's family and how that caused the downfall of the kingdom and Vanessa's descent into madness.
He did his best to ignore the startled gasps, the hushed whispers, and the soft crying as his subjects learned the truth behind their fates, the reason behind their deaths and Subcon's destruction. He clenched his talons by his sides and pushed through the emotions raging in his heart.
As much as he wanted to reach out and comfort his listeners, he knew he had to get to the end of his tale.
When he was finished he looked out over the sea of glowing faces staring at him, half expecting to see anger, but all of his subjects, the victims of Vanessa's crimes were not angry.
They were just sad.
"What about Christine, Boss?" A single, Subconite asked.
The question made Snatcher cringe, recalling the fate his close friend had suffered, but he prepared himself to speak once again. "I assume several people went missing not long after I did."
The Subconite nodded and the shadow continued to speak.
"Apparently Vanessa abducted several people who kept looking for me, including Christine and.."
He could not say it, he could not say it-
"My parents." He finished, voice cracking painfully on the final word.
Immediately gasps and more whispers broke out as his subjects realized what that meant. Since Christine's body had been brought back...
The same Subconite from before stepped forward. "We're gonna get them, right Boss?"
Finally a smile appeared on the shadow's face. "Of course."
Cheers erupted from the crowd and it took some time to calm down the Subconites so the rescue mission could be planned.
For the next half an hour Snatcher, Moonjumper, the Subconites, and the Dwellers all focused on removing the frozen bodies from Vanessa's manor and placing them in the center of Subcon Village.
Luckily enough there were no bodies in the attic where Vanessa was trapped so no one had to worry about the insane, cursed being hunting them down.
Snatcher and Moonjumper were in charge of breaking the corrupted ice magic that kept the victims affixed to the floor, while the Subconites and Dwellers carried the bodies back to the village. Of course this process was not smooth and was often brought to a halt when a Subconite burst into tears or when a Dweller sank to the floor in sorrow, memories broken but still able to recognize that the bodies belonged to someone they knew, but eventually it was done.
His subjects, the Dwellers, the Mafia, and even a couple Express Owls were clustered together not too far from where the Fire Spirits had created their bonfire. It had been decided that all of the victims of Vanessa's attacks would be set free, regardless of whether they were from Subcon or not.
None of them deserved to suffer such a fate.
With the full moon floating above him, Snatcher found himself in front of a crowd once again. Moonjumper was floating off to his left while Hat Kid and Mu stood to his right. Both children were huddled close together, Hat Kid occasionally reaching up to brush at her misty eyes.
The shadow looked up at the moon hovering above him. The air was calm and filled with magic, surely a sign that, even amongst all the sorrow and rage, this was supposed to happen.
Snatcher sighed, a glimmer of soft blue tears present in his eyes. "Let's put them to rest."
Magic had been used to kill them, so only magic could set them free.
The shadow took a deep breath in, let it out, and gathered his magic in his hands. The purple and yellow energy danced in his grasp, the most in tune it had ever been with him emotions. It burned with a powerful heat that rivaled the sun, and yet was extremely controlled and almost docile.
And then he flung the blaze onto the figures in the center of the village.
The frozen bodies immediately caught fire, his magic burning and purifying the corrupted ice that had ended their lives. Once the ice was gone instead of turning to ashes the victims of Vanessa's rage seemed to fall apart into a mess of glowing lights that stretched up towards the sky.
Like tiny stars returning to the heavens.
Goodbyes and whispered prayers slowly leaked out of the crowd and family members and friends turned into warm glowing lights. Subconites and Dwellers alike remained close to one another, some held hands and others hugged as they watched the passing of those they cared about.
Tears fell and pooled on the thin layer of snow beneath them, mourning all that had happened.
As the flames consumed the frozen bodies of his parents, Snatcher's eyes seemed to play a trick on him because instead of the terrified expressions he had seen earlier his parents were...
They were smiling.
A choked, broken sob escaped the shadow as he lurched forward, one arm stretched out towards the burning figures as if he could bring them back to life-
And then they were gone, vanished amongst the haze of glowing lights that reached up to the night sky above.
But they were free!
Though the tears kept pouring down his face, and Moonjumper's if he had been paying any attention to the corpse, they were no longer an expression of his sorrow. He mourned the fact that his time with his family had been cut short, and yet he was happy because they no longer had to suffer.
Their souls were free of the icy prison Vanessa had trapped them in, free to move on into whatever afterlife awaited them.
He glanced over to the side and noticed Hat Kid staring up at the fading lights, tears slowly falling down her cheeks.
It was easy for him to imagine the disappointed looks on his parent's face at his inaction when it came to his adopted child. He could hear his father gruffly demanding that he give the kid a hug and smell the warm food that would have greeted him and his daughter whenever they visited his parents.
If things had been different...
He shuddered and wiped the tears from his eyes. He knew there was no use dwelling on the past, not when both he and his kingdom had overcome so much, but now he could focus on the future.
Now he had a future, one that was not entirely focused on staying away from Vanessa and keeping his subjects safe from her insanity.
Snatcher opened his mouth and addressed the crowd once more, determination and certainty filling his heart.
Today was the day, the day he would finally speak to his daughter.
And hope she accepted him.
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AN: Well those who live in Subcon finally have some closure over the most traumatic event of their lives, but discussions still need to be had.
I don't know about you but I think Snatcher's finally ready to talk to Hat Kid ;)