Chapter 10

Hat Kid POV:

On the way to Queen Vanessa's mansion, I saw that the place actually was really well-fortified. The way there was filled with cold ice and snow and I needed to use some invisible platforms and more exploding fruits just to reach the mansion as it was blocked by numerous walls of ice! And when I finally got there, I could feel a strange sense of foreboding tension in the air. Almost as if just being near the manor were enough to fill my body with dread. I sighed in and exhaled a bit, knowing I had to be as kind as possible and not be rude. And I already had a secret present for her that I still had with me from yesterday. A Pop Tart. Sure, I could've eaten, but Hattians didn't really need food for up to a month. Then they'd get hungry.

"Okay... just be nice, yeah... treat her nicely..." I gulped as I approached the front door and knocked on it, wondering if she'd answer. But there was no response. I knocked again, just a little bit harder. "Um... Hello? Miss Vanessa? I'm here to visit?" I asked with a gulp afterwards as I could feel something nearby. Something sinister. It was on the other side of the door.

"Who daressss trespass upon my manor?" I heard Vanessa ask from the other side of the door, her voice sounding heavily distorted and having a hissing sound to her s words.

"Um... M-My name is Hat Kid. I wanted to know... would you like a Pop Tart?" I asked, trying to put up a smile as I held the pastry in hand and waited. Wondering what her response would be.

"A Pop Tart? What isss... a Pop Tart?..." she asked.

"It's a pastry filled with sweet flavors. This one I have is Birthday Cake flavor... I wanted to share it with you, please?" I smiled at her.

"Hmm..." the voice on the other side said as I saw a peephole open and two piercing red eyes emerged from the holes, me knowing that they were the eyes of Queen Vanessa. "The Pop Tart... isssn't poisssoned, is it?" she asked with a frown.

"No, it's not. Want me to prove it?" I asked her.

"Very well... you ssseem... trussstworthy..." Vanessa said as I heard many locks start to come undone from the door and I felt a bit of a breeze come from behind me. She then opened the door... and the person on the other side... let's just say I was legitimately shocked. She did not look like the monster I'd heard of from Snatcher. She looked... almost like her original form! "Please, come on in," she said, me nodding and entering the door and her then closing it and locking up the door's many locks before she smiled at me and I simply looked at her in confusion. She still had the piercing red eyes, but her appearance was that of what she looked like before... only a bit older in appearance.

"You should consider yourself a very special guest, Hat Kid. I haven't had anyone enter my dwelling for centuries. Now, would you like to come with me? I have tea brewing," she said, me still in shock at it and simply nodding at her as I held the Pop Tart and gave it to her, but not before I took a bite of it myself to prove that it wasn't poisonous. It wasn't a bite small enough to make her suspicious, but it wasn't too big either, so she wouldn't feel cheated.

"Thank you, little Hat Kid," she smiled as we then arrived in a Living Room of sorts and I gawked at what I saw. I saw... a person. He was frozen in place by the cupboard near the door.

"Um..." I gulped at it.

"Sorry... I just... anytime someone gets me angry... I can't control it. And the moment I touch anyone when I'm mad... they freeze solid, though still conscious..." Vanessa said, me looking at her and feeling genuinely sorry for her. But I knew that, if I wanted her to trust me, I'd have to choose my words very carefully. "So, what brings you to my mansion at such a dreary time, child?" she asked with a smile as she gave me a cup of tea and I smiled and sipped at it.

"Well, the short version is, someone asked if I could visit you and I said yes. But I want to tell you a bit about myself before I say who sent me, please?" I smiled at her.

"But of course, Hat Kid," she smiled at me.

"I'm a Hattian from the far off planet of Hattania. I'm trying to return home using my ship, but some turbulence occurred, sending my fuel source to the five planets near my ship, this being one of them," I explained.

"Oh, how dreadful! Are you finding them?" Vanessa asked with a surprised gasp.

"Yes, and I happen to have one right here," I smiled as I showed her the one I had from Snatcher's memories.

"Um, forgive me for asking, but isn't that just a small hourglass?" Vanessa asked in confusion.

"Don't let the small size and the look fool you, Vanessa. The fuel source for my spaceship is these intricately created Time Pieces, special artifacts that are a part of my being that control the span of time and space itself. It is extremely vital that I find all of my missing Time Pieces before anyone of bad intent were to use them for unpleasant means," I frowned, her sighing at that.

"I happen to have one in my attic. I found it outside the mansion yesterday," Vanessa smiled.

"Well, I wanted to ask you something... now, I beg of you, please don't get mad when I say this... can you promise me that?" I asked her.

"It depends on the question... some things are... personally enraging to me," Vanessa said with a sigh.

"Well... I happen to know you've had a little bit of a troubled past..." I said, Vanessa's fingers ticking at the table. Annoyance. I needed to choose my next words carefully. "But I wanted to say, I think I know of a way to help you get some clarity," I said, Vanessa's fingers stopping their tapping after that as she looked at me.

"Clarity? What do you mean?" she asked.

"Well, I'm able to use the power of these Time Pieces to travel through time if I so choose. And I can even have other people do so with me. But just to be safe, we're going to be unable to be seen from the people of the past. Changing even one thing from the past could be enough to destroy entire planets," I said, Vanessa smiling at me.

"What place in time do you wish to travel to, Hat Kid?" she asked.

"You'll know when we get there," I said as I touched her hand gently and focused my powers on the Time Piece. And slowly but surely, the scenery around us changed as we became invisible to the world around us. We were third party witnesses to the event I wanted her to see the most.

"Huh?" she asked as she looked around and saw where we are. "I... I remember this place... it's where... it all turned bad," she frowned as I saw a bit of darkness envelop her.

"Easy, Vanessa. This is what I wanted to show you," I said as we then saw Sanatch appear in the flower shop and there was a small peasant girl that was just like his memories. Sanatch looked at her and picked her off the streets, as she was crying into her hands and she was very dirty.

"Excuse me, ma'am, but what's the matter?" he asked, Vanessa looking at the scene unfold in front of her.

"I-I'm just so distraught, Prince Sanatch..." the girl frowned as she then said the words as Snatcher's memories recalled. "I'm just... I'm so upset that I can't get my husband anything for Valentine's Day... can you help out, Prince Sanatch?" the girl asked, Vanessa gasping as she saw it play out. It was just as I wanted. She was realizing what happened was a mistake.

"Here, you can give him this flower... you said he likes roses, right?" Sanatch smiled as he gave the rose to the peasant girl and Vanessa started to cry a bit.

"Yeah, he does. Thank you, my prince! You're a real lifesaver!" the peasant girl smiled as she hugged him and then Prince Sanatch saw the Vanessa of the timeline under the bridge and she ran all the way back to her mansion. "Uh-oh..." Sanatch gulped at that.

"S-Sanatch?" the peasant girl asked.

"I'm sorry, Mint, but you'll need to get out of here. Get your husband and leave this place," Sanatch said, the girl gasping at that.

"W-Whatever for?!" Mint asked in shock.

"I fear that my princess has just witnessed you hugging me and me giving you that flower... I've felt it before... her power is unfathomable. I fear you won't be safe here if her alter-ego shows. Pack your things and leave. I'm doing this for your own safety," Sanatch said, Vanessa sniffling at this point as she fell to her knees.

"I'm sorry, Prince Sanatch... I'll go tell my husband and our children to evacuate immediately!" Mint said, Vanessa sniffling again as she finally was reduced to a crying mess. I figured that would be enough as I then focused the powers into my Time Piece and we were warped back to present times in an instant.

"M-My prince... I... I... I'M SORRY! UAAAHHHH! ! !" Vanessa cried out loud as I saw something start to happen to her. Her body was starting to change into something... but not the monster I saw from before. Her body was changing to something much different. It looked almost like... she were glowing! And when she finally screamed one more cry, I had to shield my eyes from the blinding light as I saw something nearby that I gasped at. The person nearby that was frozen in ice was now unfrozen and he gasped awake at that.

"P-Princess Vanessa!" the guy said as I grabbed him and hid us, knowing that this might be bad news... but then I looked outside... and I gawked at what I saw. The outside of the mansion was no longer dark or snowy. It now had clear skies and green grass all around.

"I am not a princess anymore..." she said as I then looked out from under the table and gawked at what I know saw. Vanessa now looked like... well, a goddess! Her face was shimmering with imminent beauty, her hair glowed golden as the sun, her dress was lavish and silver, and her aura surrounding her was pure yellow. She looked, in one word, stunning. "I am not anyone fit to rule... not after what I had done to this land in my blind rage," she said as I came from under the table and looked at her with big eyes of wonder.

"V-Vanessa..." I gawked at her. She then sent a small blast of her fingers through the floorboards above me and I gawked at how it was just a simply light... and it grabbed the Time Piece from the attic and brought it down to me. "Take this Time Piece, Hat Kid. I have some business to attend to in returning this land to normal," Vanessa said, me only then realizing something troubling.

"Uh... Vanessa?" I asked, her looking at me with a smile. "Remember when I said someone wanted me to visit you? Well... he was your prince... but he's no longer called Prince Sanatch. Now he's known as the Snatcher," I said, Vanessa looking at me with a sigh and nodding her head.

"His transformation was caused by my hatred sowing over this land, young one. I promise you that I shall return my Prince Sanatch back to his normal self once more," Vanessa smiled kindly. I then heard something from outside and I saw the face of the Snatcher himself. He looked at me and at Vanessa and then slinked off once again... but not before I felt something enter my body. I felt re-energized, revitalized, and I felt emotions enter my body again! I'd just gotten my soul back!

"Okay... well... I'm gonna go and find my friend now. If you need anything, Vanessa, just let me know and-" I was about to finish before she interjected.

"To be on your ship," she said, me gawking at that, but then smiling. "I feel no more hatred in my body anymore... all of it escaped when I realized the truth. I am now the opposite of my former, hate-filled self in every way... but I am unfit to rule this planet if I turned it to destruction out of a big misunderstanding. So I beg of you, let me and my Prince be a part of your ship's crew... please?" she smiled kindly, me smiling and nodding at her.

"I'd be more than happy to have you and Prince Sanatch join my ship," I smiled at her as I held out my hand and we shook hands. It was the most satisfying handshake I'd ever experienced in my entire life.