Vanessa launched the bloom of ice shards straight at them, chasing after her own attack wielding a large icicle in her hand like a dagger. Hat and Bow threw themselves toward opposite sides of the clearing, the rush of crystals striking the frozen blockade instead. Following that, as she was the target of her immediate anger, Vanessa shifted the weight of her attention onto Bow Kid with a wide slash. Bow quickly flung herself even further back, narrowly missing the makeshift weapon.
Meanwhile, Hat Kid tried getting in a second hit from behind. However, expecting it this time, the queen raised another wall to shield herself. The potion vial Hat threw her way erupted against the ice instead. Vanessa motioned for the wall to advance and Hat lunged out of the way at the last second as it rammed toward her.
Bow was still close enough to swing her umbrella at the queen's drenched side. The latter reared back at the hit, but remind standing nevertheless. It would take more than a few, simple blows to beat her.
With a vicious cry, the queen sent another wave of ice around herself. The earth rippled, snow taking flight like the shimmering cascade of a large, ocean swell. Behind it, however, were crystal shards like a thousand, little knives directed their way. The children ran back along the barrier for room, each waiting for the right moment to leap over the wave and to safe ground once more.
"Why are there so many of you in my way?!" the queen seethed, as if to herself, "I've waited too long… I've come too far…"
At her command, spikes began to shoot from one end of the clearing to the other, crisscrossing over the whole of the substitute arena as though they were trapped inside a massive iron maiden. Both children bobbed and weaved through the ever-tightening space, at risk of getting bludgeoned at best and impaled at worst. The move worked both for offense and defense: While the girls ran in circles to avoid the spikes, the spikes themselves also blocked Vanessa from view, protecting her in the center of the space.
Two can play at that! As one drove close to the ground, Hat Kid tumbled over it, pressing her back to its cold, curved surface. There was a gap between two more than intersected a few meters ahead. Before the way could close, she chucked yet another potion—which soared through the opening and exploded against the queen's shoulder, knocking her to her knees. With the aftermath of the explosion and loss of her focus, the multitude of beams started to collapse on themselves.
It wasn't as if either of the young aliens were highly skilled in combat—although they did know some basics from the Clockwork Fellowship's training. Nevertheless, Hat Kid could tell that Vanessa certainly wasn't. As fast as the queen's movements were, they were also wild and reckless. Likely, that was because she always had her guards or her ice magic to rely on. This was their lead advantage: So long as they could stay ahead of her attacks, there would be plenty of openings to get in one or two of their own.
They dove at her before she could recover. Hat and Bow were each able to get in a quick strike, the former driving her umbrella in an upward swing at the head and the latter ramming her own weapon against the queen's waist.
A hand shot up with another icy dagger in tow. Hat Kid's eyes widened and she jumped away only for it to rake her forehead. It didn't cut skin, but the impact was hard enough for her vision to go momentarily white, stunning her.
Bow Kid didn't get a chance to cover her friend. The queen raised her other arm, an array of newly-formed icicles hovering at her fingertips. One by one, they flew like javelins at the child and Bow was forced to scamper back to save herself. Each one struck the frozen earth with a sickening thunk until the next-to-last piece scraped Bow against the leg.
As the queen readied another assortment of shards to rain down on them both, Hat Kid forced herself steady and rammed the full of her weight into her next attack—grabbing her umbrella at both ends to shove Vanessa off-balance. Kneeling, Bow grabbed a forth potion and tossed it over Hat to hit the fallen ruler.
It missed, managing only to buy the other girl a few more seconds to create some distance between the two of them and their opponent. She pulled Bow onto her feet as she moved, both children veering to the right as another series of shards charged after them.
Prepared to dodge Vanessa's next wave, Hat Kid's brows twitched, confused, as the queen instead motioned her hands as if to draw something in. All at once, the wind picked up and the downpour of snow grew even heavier. Hat and Bow moved back-to-back, unable to see more than a meter around themselves.
The storm itself seemed to echo with Vanessa's shrill cries, "You're working for that shadow-beast, aren't you?! Just like those traitors and those horrible fire spirits! You can't hide my prince anymore! You won't stop me!"
Out of the corner of her eye, Hat Kid saw a red glow ripple through the haze before disappearing into it yet again.
"I'll take him back!"
After a long minute, she appeared again so suddenly that Hat and Bow were thrown aside as she brandished her weapon at them both. As the two narrowly dodged the mad, diagonal strike, she continued to lurch forward. Sharing a look, the young aliens locked their umbrellas against the queen's ankles, tripping her in-place.
The moment's success vanished at the warning feeling of countless shards of ice aimed at their backs. They rolled out of reach, the loud, chaotic shatter of fragments directly behind them like the sound of a falling chandelier.
It hurt to breathe. Even if Vanessa couldn't freeze them solid, the cold from the weather itself tore through Hat Kid's throat and ripped at her from the inside. The handle of her umbrella, which usually felt right at home in her hand, now seemed to dig painfully into her palm from how long she'd held onto it in those blistering conditions. It felt as if her fingers would break away if she relaxed her grip even a little bit.
Are we wearing her down yet?! The queen was, in every sense, in her element. And as haggard as she already seemed when they first saw her, she didn't look any worse off from all of their attacks.
Before the girls could toss a pair of vials at her from afar, Vanessa tried trapping them yet again. A long spike fired from the earth, cutting the space they had to move in in half. Another raised at them from behind, separating them. As more and more appeared, Hat Kid soon found herself cornered.
Bow Kid had a little more room, but two spikes hurtled straight at her from her left—one after the other. She threw her body out of range of the first, then twisted herself around to slide under the second.
Unfortunately, it brought her right in-range of Vanessa. The queen was ready for her, icicle raised to slice at her from above. Hat screamed, "Bow, run!"
There was no time to roll back to her feet: Eyes wide in shock, all Bow could do was kick out as the weapon shot toward her. Nevertheless, her aim couldn't have been more perfect. Her foot ached, but she smashed the queen's fingers with her boot, knocking the weapon aside.
Neither had fully recovered from the failed attack when the child lobbed the vial she was still clutching right at Vanessa's chest. By closing in as she had, the queen lost her own edge. There was no room for her to dodge either, a blue cloud erupting around her as she released a furious shriek.
Bow Kid was close enough to the blast that flecks of potion clung to her skirt as she raced back the way she came. By then, Hat Kid had squeezed free from the spikes, catching her friend by the hand and yanking her away from the wave of ice that nipped at her heels.
The wind answered the queen's rage with a howl of its own, the swirling currents around them growing even more intense. A tree limb snapped, contorting in the air before soaring over Hat and Bow Kid. Then came hail: Huge rocks the size of their own skulls forming in an unnatural way above them before crashing down with the force of cannon fire. The pair scattered to avoid the full-blown maelstrom of debris that took flight around them.
It was impossible. When Hat Kid leapt out of reach of a hail ball, a branch batted her in the stomach before she could land. When Bow Kid flattened to the ground and shielded herself from a large vine torn from its perch, a chunk of hail landed so close to her that pieces of ice breaking off of it on impact cut into her skin.
All the while, Vanessa prepared her next move. Recovered from the blast, her arms shot forward in a shoving motion—two streaks of ice spikes hurtling at the girls. Choosing the chaotic whirl of the storm over the certain injury of the ice, they raced away from the advancing fragments. They circled around the clearing to attack the queen from either side: Hat Kid threw the potion she'd held on to while Bow kept Vanessa's attention from the front. Again, their aim hit true, blue droplets painting her shrouded form.
As they drew closer to her, the queen twisted herself away from them at the last moment, summoning another cloud of snowfall to obscure their vision. Again, Hat and Bow planted themselves together to cover each other's backs. Then, everything began to grow dismally dim—as if the forest's miasma were blending with her own magic. Hat Kid swallowed hard, braced for the worst.
All was silent save for the wind that kept roaring in their ears. They couldn't find Vanessa's red glow anywhere, staring out at a sea of darkness.
Something exploded: Not a potion, not a tree erupting into splitters as the ice devoured it, but a solid beam of polychromatic light that came out of nowhere—and nowhere near Hat or Bow… The only trace Hat Kid caught of its origins was a glowing sigil on the earth that faded away almost as soon as the child spotted it.
The shadows seemed to draw tighter around them, breaking away from the snow and taking new shape. A long arm covered their view from the front and a massive figure loomed over them from behind. Hat Kid heard something akin to series of soft, ragged breaths in her ear, even though she felt nothing like it.
When she looked up, Snatcher's face was hovering above her own—staring forward with a tired and angry expression. He looked hurt, if that was possible. Not like the performance her gave her at the end of their own battle, where he was curled-up and gasping for mercy in order to get her guard down; Instead, he was rigid with adrenaline and barely hidden exhaustion. He had a few blue splatters on him from where his own potions must've backfired, and the yellow glow of his eyes and mouth flickered subtly like a wick candle nearly spent.
As their surroundings began to brighten, she followed his gaze to find Vanessa hunkered in the snow a few meters ahead of them.
"You know, kiddo, for someone who lives as stubbornly as you do," she heard him mumble quietly, "You sure have a death wish…"
Before she could reply to him with a witty remark of her own, Vanessa swayed back into an upright stance. It was almost disconcerting, how quiet the queen herself had become, but she too was growing tired. The red and black aura that constantly swarmed over her body fluctuated, showing off more of her true form than Hat Kid had ever seen previously. She could make out the frost-etchings on flesh, how her once soft pink skin and golden hair as pale as the ice itself.
The queen gave more attention to righting her crown than the shoe she'd lost, kicking the other one off as well for balance. A second later, she sprang into attention yet again. In a flurry of motion, she bombarded them with a hoard of icicles. Both Hat and Bow Kid were thrown on their stomachs as Snatcher darted off to weave around them like a snake and fade through the earth. In a blink of an eye, he rematerialized closer to Vanessa and summoned a chorus of vermillion lasers to chase after her. She sped ahead of them, a spire of ice erupting at her feet and propelling her into the air.
Their arena had changed. Whatever type of magic the phantom possessed, he clearly had gained some sway over the forest itself over the course of his afterlife. Whatever influence Vanessa's had over the area through her storm was now warped by shades of purple and black and the reflection of what always seemed to be countless eyes staring at them from afar. Briars burst from the snow, enveloping the ice spire as if to strangle it to dust. The ice bit back at them just as quickly.
Nevertheless, between the attack on her spire and having little room to move, Vanessa soon jumped down from it—landing with a wave of frozen shards scattering around her. It was so massive that the young aliens couldn't jump over it, instead taking shelter behind a boulder and covering their faces. Meanwhile, Snatcher sent a shockwave of his own to counter it, green and blue ethereal flames engulfing the cursed crystals.
The queen focused on the space in front of her, creating a thick block of ice to shield herself when the fire passed. She motioned for her icy barricade around the clearing to break itself apart and attack Snatcher from all sides; however, he dipped beneath the earth again before any of the spikes reach their mark.
Startled, both children jumped as another tree limb fell beside them. They turned their faces upward, surprised to see that the wind actually seemed to be dying down. The trees swayed less and snowfall wasn't so blinding.
A thorny vine snaked out of the dirt and around the queen, holding her taut in the air with her arms pinned at her sides. She fought against it with a guttural cry tearing from her lips, frost creeping over the vine until it eventually shattered apart. Snatcher, however, didn't need capture her: He only needed to keep her in place long enough to reappear at her side with a cherry bomb in-hand.
No sooner had he thrown it and the weaponized fruit detonated, sending her sprawling, the phantom pressed on with another attack. Flames encased her from all sides. For a second time, a sigil appeared around the queen: Another multicolored beam erupted from it, devouring her whole. He summoned his vermillion lasers yet again, as if he meant to vaporize her through the combined triad of spells.
And then Snatcher stopped, moving back to create some distance between himself and the queen. He was shaking, though whether from fear, anxiety, or weariness, Hat Kid didn't know.
The queen didn't get up. By some miracle, she was still in once piece; however, it took every ounce of Vanessa's strength just to prop herself in a crouch. Her dress was in tatters. Her murky, red aura had vanished. Like this, aside from being distinctly duller than the cool blues etched along their shared, pale features, she perfectly matched the snow women from the Horizon.
"Leave…" Snatcher ordered her in a stern, low voice, "I don't want your soul—it's too ugly, even for me—so I'll give you that one chance. Get out of here, and know if you ever throw another fit like this again, it'll be your last."
It was hard to hear her at first. Vanessa shook her head furiously, "Not until I find him… I have to find him!" She shot her gaze at the phantom, "Where is he?! Where is my prince?!"
Nothing reflected in Snatcher's expression. He was quiet for a moment, as if that title hit a deep cord in him. However, he kept his mouth in a firm, unamused line.
His eyes narrowed, and he answered her without pity, "That fool is dead. You saw to that. And I finished off what was left of him."
For Vanessa, who only knew of Snatcher through reports from her guards or from rumor, that only meant one thing: He was known as a soul eater, after all. She went blank. As the seconds passed and his words sunk in further, her muscles gave and frozen tears welled up in her eyes.
She wailed, a lamenting, terrifying cry that rivaled her own storm as it carried through the trees. Sitting still for only a moment, grief then gave back to rage and she threw herself at the ghost. The were both shaking now. Snatcher quickly dodged her, raising his hand to fire off another attack; however, something swept down from above before he could.
Hat and Bow saw double: Two cold, feminine figures kneeling in the snow, one cradling the other's head to her chest in a way that almost looked motherly if either being weren't so frightening on their own. A snow woman had come to Vanessa's defense. Hanging onto the queen, the spirit cast a glance back to Snatcher over her shoulder and gave him a mocking, slick grin.
"Not so fast, Shadow!" came an airy voice from above. There, sitting languidly in the treetops as if they'd been watching all that time, were the other two ice elementals. "She's our dear sister, and we've waited so long for her…"
"Yes," murmured the one on the ground, rubbing her head against Vanessa's, "but it would be wise to retreat for now. Your friend will be looking for you!"
In the confusion, Hat and Bow stepped out from their hiding place. For however much the snow women usually "fawned" over the girls, their whole attention was on Vanessa for now. Snatcher's was on them, bewildered by and cautious of their sudden appearance.
The queen didn't seem at ease with them herself. Suddenly though, she stared out into the depths of the forest. Hat Kid's eyes followed: There was nothing that she could tell hiding in the woods, but whatever Vanessa saw frightened her deeply. Her eyes went wide and she pressed herself further into the snow woman's arms.
That was all the approval the trio needed. In a chorus of giggles, the snow women above glided down to Snatcher in an icy haze as if to distract him. The third pulled the queen onto her feet. In a blink of an eye, they spirited themselves away as quickly as they'd appeared, leaving not so much as a single footprint in the snow—the feeling of their cold fingertips tracing Hat and Bow Kid's face their only goodbye as a frigid wind tore past them.