It took every useful shred of the three flowers and around two hours to create just a small vial of oil—and somehow, both Hat and Bow swore that it smelled even worse. They made sure the keep the lid on tight before packing it with their things. Afterword, Moonjumper didn't even wait to put away any of his equipment before personally guiding them back to the waypoint they arrived from.

Along the trip, Hat Kid couldn't help feeling a wave of sadness pass over her, dedicating every part of the Horizon to memory. The knowledge that she would someday soon leave this planet was a fact that never left her mind with each Time Piece she collected: The heavy realization of potentially never coming back dawned on her less. She only thought of it in the moment because—even beyond how adamant Moonjumper was about sealing this particular path in—she likely wouldn't return to the Horizon a third time. She and Bow were so close to their goal and she had no idea what their higher-ups had set for her next. She just knew that her chances of returning to this world anytime soon were small.

What she was doing right then, getting involved in this world's affairs, allowing its people to get to know her, the attachment and responsibility she felt toward them… All of it broke more of the Clockwork Fellowship's rules than she could count. She knew that, and yet she couldn't help it. Nevermind that she was forced to interact with them because of the Time Pieces, there was something about each person she'd met that was special and she'd gained experiences that she'd never thought were possible. A good Clocksmith never would've lost the hourglasses in the first place, but she had. A good Clocksmith wouldn't have ever glanced at anyone's Storybook pages if it wasn't relevant to their job, but she did. She was a failure on every front, and yet somehow had few regrets.

Eventually though, she'd have to say goodbye. This world wasn't her home and she and Bow had important jobs to do. Until then, she could only pack as many memories as were left with her.

In contrast to Hat Kid's silence, the realm was so new to Bow that she continued to take it all in with wide-eyed wonder. Moonjumper and Kit, meanwhile, stayed just as talkative as they'd been. It made sense: The former's control of most of his subjects likely didn't leave many for conversation and the latter hadn't had much of anyone to talk to thanks to her time in the Firelands, so they fed off each other.

"So, you're primarily a painter then?" he asked with genuine interest, "I used to paint too—more of a hobby though, really."

Kit's eyes appeared to twinkle at the revelation of the shared trait, "You did?! I wish you'd shown me some of your work!'

He raised his hand in a kind of half-shrug, "All in the past, I'm afraid. My studies kept me busy. Law, diplomacy, not to mention research into various spirits and lands—I had to let go of some things."

"Well, that's a shame!" One of the woman's ears dipped back as she gave him a tenderhearted frown. Like him, her job was also passed down by a parent; however, although Hat Kid never saw more than a glimpse of Kit's early life from her Storybook, it was unlikely that the role was pushed on her to the same extreme or took up as much of her time. Not to mention that art was something she was extremely passionate about and, chances were, she couldn't imagine giving up on such things. "What did you paint?"

This took him a while to answer, and when the phantom did, he didn't seem entirely sure of himself, "Mostly just things in my head, I believe… It was so long ago. The only one I remember was a self-portrait of me looking up at the moon." He chuffed lightly, "Fitting, I guess."

Strangely, Hat Kid remembered that painting too—even if it took her even longer to think of where. It was an image hanging in Vanessa's manor on the first floor, although where she'd gotten it was beyond the child. It was possible that either the prince gave it to her when they were still together or that she had one of her servants steal it. Beyond the aged cracks and scratches, it hadn't looked bad, limited to mostly flat colors and basic shapes.

Another painting also came to mind, but for different reasons entirely. There had been a well-kept piece in the queen's bedroom; a painting of a thin, pale girl with a long, cyan ponytail dancing on a snowy night. When she thought about it, the girl reminded her of the snow women, even if she wore a much more friendly, cheerful smile then they themselves did. Did that possibly mean that Vanessa had seen or even met them before? Was she aware of how they were connected?

"And you?"

"Mostly landscapes. They're what my father taught me," Kit replied, then scratched the side of her face with the tip of her forefinger bashfully, "Although, I guess I did get a bit experimental on my own… Smoke is a surprisingly good medium."

And people, apparently, Hat Kid thought with grim humor, not that she'd say it out loud. The young alien didn't agree with it in the least, but she understood the need for Kit's cursed paintings. They gave the fire spirits the living energy needed for rebirth. Caught and released, it wasn't like the people in them suffered real harm, but there had to be another way. If the miasma ever lifted from Subcon Forest, then maybe the land would eventually heal enough for the foxes to gather what they needed from it. That, however, was a distant hope.

The waypoint was just up ahead, almost echoing how it might appear on the other side were Subcon as alive and bountiful as it had been in the past. The most noteworthy difference was that, instead of a mass of spider webs hanging from every aged tree and coating every surface along the forest floor, only a few red ribbons sticking out amongst the blue, new foliage marked the spot as anything worth attention.

"Here we are," Moonjumper plainly stated, nodding to the hole in the rock, "I know it's only mere moments this way, but safe travels back."

Hat Kid turned to face him, "Thank you for your help. You didn't have to." Still, just to make sure that the ghost understood that she hadn't given up on him, she subtly added, "I wish you could come with us."

"My place is here," came the detached reply, "And if there is a threat, then my subjects need me."

If that were all, then he should've also had to think about the other Dwellers left behind. There was no getting through to him… It also meant that, unless their plan with the spiders pulled through, they won't have gained any more allies.

Moonjumper cleared his throat, pulling back his cloak to withdraw something from inside. The young alien recognized the hourglass shape immediately, "You're still looking for these, yes? The nature sprites brought this in."

As he passed the ancient relic over to her hands, she gave him an appreciative nod. It didn't make her feel any better though.

A small flame in hand, Kit was the first to pass through the waypoint followed by Bow Kid. Just as Hat stepped into the shadow of the tunnel, she took a glance back in time to see Moonjumper summon his crimson cords to his fingertips and fire them up over the rocky ledge above. There, they caught around some unseen stone—the other ends weaving around his grip to brace for the task for come. At least he had the courtesy to wait for her to leave before acting further.

Kit's light as her guide, she warped to Subcon with the distant roar of crumbling earth echoing behind her.

The forest they returned to wasn't the same as the one they left behind. Clearly, Vanessa was hard at work.

The first thing the trio was greeted to on their return was the strong, freezing winds that now coursed through the trees. The snowfall had worsened, coming down harder than before and leaving a thin sheet of white coating the ground. Even some of the trees now had a small crystals of ice knotting around them, the tips of their already dark leaves turning an ugly, dead black from the intense cold.

Equally as jarring were the statues—and remains of a few of them—that now suspended above them from heavy vines. While they were gone, the Florist had truly been guarding the area, cutting down any foe that neared with her chlorokinetic abilities. "Looks like that Shadow's minions were right. The queen must've sent these goons ahead of her," she explained with a hand on her hip, then she looked them over, "No luck?"

"Not yet," Bow Kid answered, pulling out the vial of carrion flower oil to show her, "But the Horizon's leader said that maybe the spiders could help us.

Hat was eager to race off to their next objective, "We can go see them next."

"Not now!" the fox woman quickly cut in with a strict pout, "You've both run around plenty enough for one day—and your sick! You need rest."

The Florist quietly smirked. Given the circumstances, it was hard to fully rationalize Kit's mothering. Nevertheless, she must've seen some logic behind it, because she added, "It would be good if we went ahead and reported Vanessa's new moves to the others as well. Whatever she wants, we can strengthen our watch to block her way here."

"And I can check on the fire spirits!" the former hastily agreed with a rapid nod.

Hat and Bow frowned, but there was no help for it: The vote was two-to-two and both women made some good points. They were also missing one key item—some actual meat—for their trick against the spiders to work. Therefore, as impatient as they were, all four of them travelled back to the village to regroup with the others.