Maybe it was just because she was feeling paranoid after what she found, but it felt like forever until the young alien finally slipped out of Moonjumper's sight. Not that she'd been forced to stay close, but she'd wanted to make sure that he and no other ghost would spot her heading into the forest. Hat Kid didn't want to risk anyone discovering her deal with the snow women—making her especially mindful of any curious eyes shifted her way.

All the while, she couldn't tear her thoughts away from the clothes hanging in Moonjumper's bedroom. It was impossible to wrap her head around, but there was still no denying that they were the prince's—from the design and bright colors to the stains and tears that marked his imprisonment within Vanessa's basement. Snatcher was the prince though: She knew that! She'd seen it with her own eyes through Subcon's storybook, his death and transformation into the shadowy monstrosity he was now.

And the fact alone that there had been a transformation should've meant that there was nothing remaining of the prince's former self—just like how Vanessa had also changed from a human to a dark specter without ever even dying thanks to her rapid corruption and the influence of magic. Hat Kid had seen this process once before as well, forced onto a friend of hers in the Firelands, so she felt confident enough to spot the pattern.

Had she gotten something wrong? What was she missing? The revelation made her question everything she thought she knew about Snatcher and Moonjumper, the mystery of the prince's identity and ultimate fate stripping them each of their own in her mind. She just didn't understand it…

Hat Kid fumbled with the broken monocle tucked within a firm, but cautious fist, running her thumb along its smooth surface. She was careful not to grip it too tightly, against the risk of breaking it further or cutting her fingers on the sharp edges of glass.

Were either of them lying to her…? If so, which one? Snatcher, who already made a point to lie and deceive all of Subcon, or Moonjumper, who hid his true face from the world all while speaking to others with an open kindness? The one who actively shunned his name and title or the other who accepted both as he was given them all while fitting the role a little too perfectly? She wanted answers, but even if she found out the truth, what then? Even if Moonjumper wasn't the prince, he was the Horizon's prince, loved and respected by most the ghosts that lingered here: Snatcher, meanwhile, must've had his reasons for his silence, to keep himself a secret from Vanessa or as his own way of moving on from what happened. Maybe it was better to just ignore it all and focus on her own troubles.

Except Hat Kid couldn't. Her curious mind wouldn't allow it. Which was why, as she at last spotted the snow women—midway through their frozen, forested wasteland, dancing in circles around each other in the light powder—she readied an onslaught of questions on her lips. She didn't know what they knew, but it was more than she obviously did. The mysterious trio's vanity made it impossible to cover for that secret, if only thanks to their knowing glances and cryptic tongues.

It didn't take long for her them to spot her. Even without her much heavier trek through the snow, her new, red cloak—fortunately warmer than her usual clothes—made her stand out against the cool blues that surrounded her. The snow women stopped their play and stared at her, motionless, but expectantly. Their cold, smug grins never left their faces. They knew, one way or another, that she would come back.

They still terrified her. The young girl paused for a moment to take a breath and steel her nerves before crossing the remaining few meters over to them. She tried to carry herself as tall and as strong as possible, crafting herself into a sturdy force almost as unshakable as any ice storm, worthy of their recognition and respect. If it worked through, they didn't show it. Instead, one of the spirits simply chuckled at her in a somewhat amused, somewhat jeering way after she'd closed the gap between them, "You left us waiting for so long, little girl! We were beginning to think you'd gotten cold feet. Now… did you bring us what we wanted?"

Hat Kid still hesitated before revealing the monocle in her hand. As uncertain as she was over everything, that didn't mean she trusted the snow women any more either. That, and she wasn't sure if the damaged memento would pass. It was shattered so badly that there was barely half of it intact. Despite this, however, the first spirit's eyes widened with surprised glee and she immediately snatched it out of the child's grasp.

The icy wight dangled the monocle by its chain, gingerly tracing her fingers along its jagged, bottom rim with her other hand. Her eyes glistened covetously, as if the piece were a kind of rare treasure, its worth beyond Hat Kid's own imagination. She treated the broken glass like a fair and fragile jewel.

"Ah, a truly handsome token of our dear Moon!" cooed the snow woman, her lips curled in a soft, but cruel smile, "So precious, so personal… Imagine the tireless nights he read with this."

The other two swooped over to take a look for themselves, nearly shoving Hat Kid out of the way in their eagerness as though they'd already forgotten all about her. The young girl stumbled back, holding her ground with a firm jaw as she continued to watch them a moment longer in silence. Their admiration of the monocle was somewhat unnerving, as an onlooker from the outside. On one hand, there was a sense of fandom to it, the way they wrestled with the piece all while unanimously working to treat it with fascinated care: On the other, there was something dehumanizing, something greedy, about it as well—as if the possession of the monocle, in a small way, extended to Moonjumper himself.

Before she could begin to have her regrets, one of the darker-haired snow women took notice of her once again. "I suppose you'll want us to hold our end of the deal now. Fair is fair," she began. Then, as if reading the contempt in the young alien's eyes continued with a small grin, "Our kind may take much child, but know that when we do give, we give greatly. Even with your awful mark, you may wander through our territory as you please. Try searching the hills for your lost hourglass."

Hat Kid raised a brow, following the other's elongated finger with her eyes as she pointed deeper within the ice-covered wood. "I guess that means you won't help me get it."

She giggled with a lax shrug, moving to return to her sisters, "Why would we? Besides, you might enjoy getting lost in our snow."

The girl grabbed the snow woman by the end of her robes to halt her. The sheer cold that emanated from them was still jarring. "Before that, I want to talk about Moonjumper," she insisted, locking her gaze with the spirit's, "Why'd you have me steal something of his for you? You know something! Who was he before he came to the Horizon, before he died? What does he have to do with the prince from Subcon Forest? Why does everybody think he's him?"

She didn't register how her voice has risen to a shout until after the fact, as the trio of snow women stared at her in mild surprise. Soon though, they recollected themselves, giggling in that horribly jeering way. It came across as snooty, mocking, and while she shuddered at the noise Hat Kid also felt a twinge of anger well-up inside her.

However, the one holding the monocle clenched it to her chest, something strangely bittersweet reflecting in her eyes that hadn't before, "Dear, dear Moon… Even those you keep closest, you hold so very distant just as much!"

"Who can really say what draws us to him…" said the second with a slight hum, leaning on the former's shoulders, "He intrigues us, someone who can so love and fear a frozen heart like ours, who adopted one himself. It's rare for a mortal."

She knew that they could only be referring to one person, and she hated herself for even asking, "You mean Queen Vanessa?"

"We do not call her by any name of mortal tongue," spoke the third, "but it would give us pleasure to call her 'sister.'"

"Sister?!" That had to be a lie; however, the more the young alien thought about it, it did make a kind of weird sense considering the queen's ice powers. The main, glaring issue was that Vanessa had definitely been human. That, and the snow women themselves had sad it was almost impossible for them to have a child.

Then it hit her: 'Almost...'

Just as she reached this conclusion, one of the other spirits gave her a slow nod of confirmation, her long hair rolling across her icy skin. "It's an old story: For many years, a king of Subcon ruled in solitude—no family or heir to his name—until, one winter, one of our sisters was drawn to his side. They loved each other, and she gave herself to him. He did everything he could to suit her needs in order to keep her at his side and the knowledge of her spiritual origin a secret from his people. He limited his staff to a loyal few, he abandoned his palace to instead construct a manor in deeper isolation further in the wood, and he kept their home as dark and cold as her liking so that she might never leave come the warmer seasons.

"But she kept secrets of her own. Eventually, she carried a child. It was her choosing, but the warmth of that new life was too much to bear and her body melted away. That daughter, however, would carry on her legacy of power and tragedy. And so on and so on it would go, the curse and blessing of the ice and snow, among each woman of her lineage. The strength of our kind consuming their short lives until, at last, one did not die, but became like us."

The first snow woman brought the conversation back full circle, "As for our Moon… You intruded on our song before, little girl. Why should we tell you a story you already seem to know well?"

For a moment, Hat Kid paused in confusion, but slowly the words of the haunting melody that they had been singing when she first spotted them began to form in her mind—and their true meaning fall into place. It really was a story: A twisted, grim retelling of the aftermath to Vanessa's storm.

'Tale of a place, a deep forest dark with grace,
'There he lives,
'Blooming inside, a wild field of big eyes,
'And there he lives,

'Skin so blue, his eyes shot red,
'The moon, the sky, tell him only lies,
'He doesn't know, she waits inside,
'She lost her mind, many years gone by.'

The first few lines could've either been talking about Subcon Forest or the luminous woods she now stood in: A dark place, but one that could host a terrifying beauty. 'There he lives.' The prince, either Snatcher or Moonjumper. The part about 'big eyes,' she didn't really understand, but it did make her think of how watchful both phantom rulers were over their domains.

Then the next verse. 'Skin so blue, his eyes shot red': That was definitely talking about Moonjumper. From a darker perspective, it was possible it was talking about the state of the prince's corpse, but the line that followed made her dismiss that. 'The moon, the sky, tell him only lies.' The Horizon's visions, which forced people to confront whatever was bothering them before lost souls could successfully move on…

'He doesn't know, she waits inside,
'She lost her mind, many years gone by…'

The last two lines were clearly about Queen Vanessa, how she stayed in her manor after becoming the twisted spirit she was now. 'He doesn't know…' That part was hard for her to wrap her head around. Snatcher knew: He referenced Vanessa enough in cryptic, mocking quips before sending her off to the witch's forsaken home. Moonjumper, however… Well, maybe he didn't. The way he described his initial arrival to the Horizon, he had been extremely weak and actively trying to fend off any memory of his former life. If he really was the prince instead of Snatcher, it made sense for him to try to forget about Vanessa and everything she did to him. Maybe he really didn't remember.

That still left the question of who was really who though. According to the snow women and the Dwellers that lingered here in the Horizon, Moonjumper was the true prince. As a witness herself, Snatcher was. It seemed impossible that the two of them could've shared similar experiences when they were alive to such an extreme. It still just didn't make sense…

"Better hurry along, little girl," one of the snow women purred, swiping her hand through the air in a lax motion and snapping Hat Kid out of her musings, "Sooner or later, Moon will wonder where you went to. Unless you plan to stay, it's for the best that you don't linger."

"Why?" she asked, "Would Moonjumper get mad at you for talking to me?"

"Even if he did, we wouldn't care," smirked one of the others, "but it's for your own sake. He'll want to protect you, and he won't let you play here anymore. Who knows: You may even find yourself becoming another one of his treasures in place of the one you stole, never to leave his sight again."

As casually as the spirit said this, Hat Kid thought of it more as a dismissal than an actual threat. Nevertheless, they had a point. As many questions as she still had, she also had her job to do and not much time to do it in. Even if no one had ever told her to avoid them specifically, she had been warned—breaking the one rule to the otherwise free reign she'd been given. The longer she stuck around, the more likely she was to get caught.

She only paused for a second longer to recall which direction they'd told her to go in before muttering a brief thanks and beginning her search. Her footsteps left heavy tracks in the fresh powder and she grimaced as she moved, despising the obvious trail. For the first time since she'd gone to Vanessa's manor, she wished for snow, if only to help hide her for just a while longer.