Snatcher didn't take well to the news.

He didn't react much as she recounted her trip to the Horizon, but she could tell how it bothered him by the way his yellow eyes narrowed into slits and how tightly he gripped the arm of his chair in one hand. Whatever he said or however the Dwellers thought of him, he did still care about them. As she expected, hearing that so many were trapped in the spiritual realm—many with their memories distorted—was infuriating.

Hat Kid watched in silence as he raked a single, clawed finger across the chair's fabric in deep thought, his brow furrowed. She hadn't even brought up Moonjumper himself, or at least their relationship as two halves of Subcon's prince. Even if he believed her at all, the fates of the Dwellers were enough to upset him for now. Besides, it was possible they didn't even know about each other yet at all and she wanted to sort out the facts first herself. Beyond that, she felt like she could trust everything else to him.

Which was why it was so jarring when the shadow regained controlled of himself and snapped shut the book in his lap with his free hand, exclaiming with a lax shrug, "Welp! Nothing we can do about it!"

He may as well have smacked her. The young alien stood still, mouth slightly agape, as Snatcher then rose from his seat and glided over to the dresser across from him, stowing the text away on one of the higher shelves and looking over his collection for another. Nothing we can do… If anyone could do something, it'd be him! They were his people and he was strong enough to take on Moonjumper on an even playing field!

Once she recovered from her shock, she shook her head and turned to him, a bit angry herself, "What do you mean?! Of course we can do something! We have to!"

He barely gave her a cursory glance over his shoulder, "Look, kid, a spiritual realm is no joke. You should know that by now. If some of my Dwellers were dumb enough to go in one, that's on them. I don't care who's running it or what kind of nightmare it is."

"You're lying!" she barked, but he didn't flinch.

Instead, he continued as if she said nothing, "You said they're happy, right? Completely oblivious, maybe, but happy. That should be enough for you, so get over it." He ended the matter there. "And get out while you're at it. Unless you plan on handing over that soul of yours, you're the last company I want around."

He was lying though. He had to be… Nevertheless, it didn't seem like any amount of words would let her reason with him. Not to mention she was tired.

It had only been a little more than a day since she'd made it back to the mortal world. Within that period, she'd vaulted the Horizon's Time Pieces, tended to her injuries from her fight with Moonjumper, bought tickets for a cruise liner, and prepared everything she'd need for the voyage. Since there wasn't enough time to visit a different part a world before then, she wanted to rest up while she had the chance. She only dropped down to Subcon to inform him of everything.

She would've thought it had been a mistake if it weren't for the fact that—as she climbed across the limb bridging the moat surrounding his tree—she looked back and saw that he wore as troubled an expression as ever. Whether he would save the Dwellers before she left this planet for her own, she knew that she could trust him to do so. He wasn't the callous villain he tried to be, and those few seconds were yet another moment he'd let his own mask slip.

With a sigh, she continued on her way through the forest. She just wanted to explore it for a little while before she returned to her ship. After nearly losing her memories of the place, she wanted to make sure all of them were still there. As always, the forest was shrouded in its usual miasma. Snatcher's minions hid in the darkness, working their mischief against one another or laying out traps for their employer's hapless victims. One of them—at least for the time being—had replaced her as the mail carrier and was busy rushing from place to place to deliver his burdens to the others.

She glad that she still recognized most of them. Although the minions did look the same overall, one could find subtle differences in size and shape. Beyond that, each carried their own quirks as individuals and some even accessorized to set themselves apart even further. For example, there was the studious minion Hat Kid now approached, crossing the village over to one of the small, fenced-off graveyards where he sat on a tombstone with a book in his hands, much like Snatcher himself. This one was a bit taller than the others, and he took better care of himself, his plush form always fairly clean with few tears or patches. The only noticeable damage from its long use was a single, scar-like stitch that ran up his left calf, and it wouldn't have surprised her to learn that the body he possessed was same one he'd initially been given after his death.

Although their vocal mannerisms were fairly similar to each other as well, he was much more soft-spoken and had always been helpful. At the beginning, he'd teased her as the 'newbie' just as much as the rest of them, but had also been much more patient, sharing tricks to best navigate through the wood or how to fend off against some of its dangers. The girl greeted him wave and a shout, bringing him to attention.

"Ah! Hey there, kid!" he called back, looking up from his reading, "Didn't think we'd be seeing you again, not after that crazy fight with that Mustached Girl anyway." He then muttered to himself, "Still kind of feels like it was all just a fever dream…"

Being warped to and from a manipulated timeline would easily feel like that… "I'm just passing through," she said, then continued after a moment's reluctance, "Actually, I wanted to ask you something. Do you think anything would've been different if the prince was still around?"

The minion seemed to blink at her in mild surprise, humming at her question curiously, "Why do you care about him…?"

She covered for herself, "I saw paintings of him that time Snatcher sent me into Vanessa's manor. He's not around anymore, is he?"

Although she'd never brought it up before, it must've been a sore subject. Why wouldn't it be, dredging back things from when they were alive and the struggles they suffered both during and after their passing? At this point, however, she felt like she had to know what their true thoughts were on the prince. She'd dismissed it before, just accepting Snatcher's hidden identity as his means of coping with all that happened. After meeting Moonjumper though, she couldn't as easily, not when it showed another side to things and how deeply both of their actions affected so many people.

"Well, no. No, he's not…" he shook his head, then sighed, "I was pretty little when I… when the storm hit, so I don't remember much." He paused again thoughtfully before adding, "I remember he was almost always smiling, but I don't think smiles would've helped us. Who needs a prince though, right? I mean… We've got enough problems with that ice queen!"

Hat Did didn't respond at first, disappointed by the answer. Right: Most of the Dwellers and minions still around the forest were kids like her when they died. Even though the royal families seemed to be active among their people, they probably didn't have too many strong opinions on them anyway—not for how they were as leaders. Smiles, walks through the village, small greetings, festivals… Ice and snow, pain and suffering, fear and despair. These were the kinds of things connected to Subcon's crowns. And anyone that could really give her a good, honest response was likely a world away without the mind to know it.

As if seeing the thoughts that weighed on her shoulders, his voice turned sympathetic, "Kid… are you ok? Did the boss say something to you?"

She shook her head. She might've been willing to tell Snatcher about the Horizon, but the minions were another story. What would they even think of it? Some of them might've even had family members were over there. It wasn't that she felt like that didn't have a right to now, but the idea of what they might do worried her. Maybe they'd try to save the others themselves or maybe they'd see Moonjumper as a lesser of two evils, still harboring suspicion against Snatcher's intentions even after all these years. Either way, she didn't want to think of the danger they could put themselves in because of that information.

If Snatcher bothered to tell them at some point, well… Surely, he'd be smart enough to make that judgement. As for her, she'd remain cautious and silent. "I just wanted to know," she replied, "Thank you. For another weird question though, do you remember when I went to the Firelands?"

He nodded.

"I saw baby fire spirits there. Apparently, they're reborn after they burn up from their dances. Sometimes they even split apart and make more of themselves that way, rising from the ashes. So, I got to thinking… Do you think that could happen to a ghost too?"

It was a small theory she had developed over the course of the day, the more she thought about Snatcher's and Moonjumper's divided existences. Spirits were entirely separate beings whose bodies and souls were united as one, and each species seemed to work differently, so she didn't question it for them as much. For a mortal, however, a soul held just about everything they were, making it harder for her to imagine how it could break in two.

Despite the heavy, unknown context of her second question, the minion took to it with great interest. His tone brightened as he mused over it himself, "I've never seen that happen before, but I don't think it'd be impossible. I guess it would have to happen when you died though."

"How?"

"Well, the way I see it, do you ever have those times when you really argue with yourself? Like there's another you in your head, who fights with you about what you should do and what kind of person you should be?" the minion raised his hands in simple gestures as he explained his own thoughts, looking down at them as if getting swept up in the idea, "I think a soul could split apart because of something like that. Strong emotions people leave behind can take a life of their own—that's how miasma is created—so maybe something that powerful could make a new person, two parts of who they were tugging back and forth until their souls just… snaps!"

"Do you think there's any way they could… fit back together?"

"Hmm, probably not. After that, they'd probably exist as two separate beings, sharing some of the same memories—like the fire spirits."

Hat Kid didn't know whether to feel relieved about that or not. As much as she personally didn't like the idea of her own soul breaking like that, she liked both Snatcher and Moonjumper as individuals. Maybe, in a way, they were both the prince, but she could accept that neither of them had to be the 'true' prince as well—at least if it meant that neither of them would have to vanish because of the other.

Maybe she just had to accept the people they'd become, apart of who they used to be. Snatcher, the part of the prince that chose to move forward from tragedy by hardening himself against the world. Moonjumper, the part of the prince who fought to preserve the good in himself by dismissing all the hardship that would otherwise threaten it. Neither of them was in the right, but maybe someday, they'd both heal.

It wasn't hard to say goodbye. After she'd left him with the theory, the minion latched onto it and ran off to start his own investigation. He didn't need her incentive: He was just that curious and had all the time in his long afterlife to spend on research. Hat Kid visited a few more places, then at last returned to her ship.

She'd been ignoring her messages for a while now. No sooner had she boarded, she heard the communicator blare loudly across the main deck. Cooking Cat was probably done on the planet's surface: If she wasn't, then she'd likely have muted the sound and let the call go. Now, it was free to ring as much as it pleased. The girl didn't know how long it'd been going for, but long enough for Rumbi to scoot over to her side and tap her leg as if pleading with her to make it stop.

It was a good thing it was only her and the robot around. After all, she couldn't ignore it forever…

Cringing as she approached the console, Hat Kid plopped down within the captain's chair and took a deep breath. A full, half-minute later, she accepted the call. She was glad they couldn't see her face, but the voice piercing through the speaker was as stern as always. Luckily though, the feminine alto wasn't as harsh as it had come across in the Horizon's visions:

"So, you finally answer! What's taking you so long, cadet?" it demanded, "Your report's overdue. You're overdue. What's your status? I want to know exactly how the repairs are coming along and when you expect to be back."

Bracing herself against the back of her chair, she held her own against the interrogation-styled speech. It was one of her instructors, a fellow clocksmith. On her planet, they were the ones responsible for keeping the Time Pieces safe. There was no way she could ever have told them how she'd lost hers.

So, she'd lied. After she'd gotten the first Time Piece back and when the first call and come in demanding where she was, she said that her ship had been damaged when she stopped over Earth's surface to resupply. It was an older model: She knew her ship was in good shape, but that kind of thing was to be expected. They believed her, and she bought herself a little time.

Only a little though, the longer the weeks wore on, the more excuses she had to make. Another system malfunctioned. She needed replacement parts or materials that were hard to find on Earth. When she discovered the massive Time Piece in Subcon, it had been like a grace from God: Her overseers were very interested in its state and had opted to leave her a while longer in return for whatever observations she recorded about it. It meant doing a little homework, but it was worth it. Everything was starting to catch up to her though, and she still didn't have all of the Time Pieces.

She forced a grin in own voice, "Everything is fine. The repairs are going well, and my report should come in any day now." Thankfully, the mail room hadn't needed much energy and she was able to access it early on. "I'm still having a little trouble with the main engine. I've checked over the blueprints, and I think I know how to get the parts I need. I just need a couple more weeks to find it, and I should be on my way home!"

She hoped it'd only be a couple more weeks…

"It's been over three months since you were stranded!" The voice barked back, clearly displeased. Hat Kid stiffened anxiously, "Now's not the time to act independent! You're still a kid, and your other instructors and I didn't even want you going on your mission to begin with!" Her words stung. "If you weren't a good pilot—and if we weren't so short-handed—we wouldn't have…

"We're someone to rescue you and help finish the repairs. They should be headed for your location by the end of day."

Her heart leapt in her throat. It took Hat Kid every ounce of control not to shout out in refusal, but if she did, the woman on the line was bound to be suspicious. Whoever they sent though would likely be a professional, or at least an upperclassman. Not only would they refuse to let her out of their sight, they'd catch on to the truth the moment they were onboard.

She thought quick, but was still unable to fully restrain her nerves, "Send Bow!"

There was some hesitation before the other clocksmith echoed the name in a dubious tone, "Bow?"

Bow was more than another, young clocksmith: She was one of Hat Kid's closest friends—and about the only one who wouldn't reveal her mistake to their higherups. The woman already knew about the two girls' bond, but Hat Kid of course didn't feel like revealing her real reasoning to her. Instead, she explained, "Bow's a great engineer, and this way you won't have to send anyone important to come get me."

There was another long pause. Hat Kid bit the inside of her cheek. Likely, the other was scrolling through rounds of data, taking the time to consider her recommendation. Even with that hopeful thought, the seconds were agonizing.

At last, there was a long sigh, "You're lucky you two are at the top of your classes… Fine then: We'll send Bow."

Hat Kid could hardly believe her luck…

"It should take her a few days to get you to by light sloop, but it's the quickest we can do. Contact me as soon as she arrives."

Take all the time you need, Bow… the child whispered in her head. She felt bad for dragging her into this, but she didn't know what else to do!

The call ended as suddenly as it had begun, the elder hardly dismissing her with the briefest of goodbyes before she cut the line. Only after Hat Kid had switched the communicator off, making sure it was muted, did she sink back and allow the tension that had risen in her shoulders to leave her.

She stared out at the void of space and the planet below. For all that it put her through, it really was a wonderful world. She was going to miss it when the time came to depart for her own.

((Author's Note: Thank you all so much for reading this and I hope you enjoyed! Since many of you who read this have also follow some of my others works for AHIT, you'll be happy to know that I'm continuing this series! As of now, two or three other large installments are planned; however, for the time being, I'm going to take a little break. Not only do I want to spend some time on a few different projects, I'd also like to continue exploring a couple of ideas through oneshots—like in my 'Tales of the Fire Spirits' series—and other small fics, as some of their elements will play a part in the bigger ones later on.

Also, whereas The Horizon and The Firelands can be read largely independent of one other, these next big stories will follow a sequence taking place after both of them, so if you missed the latter, please read that in advance. When I started working on these, I never thought I'd continue them as I have, but it's been a fun experience, exploring so many different ideas with this fandom. I hope you all can look forward for more to come!))