If Snatcher's first experience back in his old body had been quite unpleasant, his second one was almost as bad. He could feel his spectral form being replaced by fleshy parts, little by little. It was an awful feeling. It gave him the sensation of almost being complete, but not really. Parts of him disappeared, only to be changed by something else, pieces of him that felt so paradoxically foreign. His tail was split into two heavy limbs- his legs. He loathed every possible sensation at that moment.

Was it something the hat-wearing kid experienced each time she had to teleport? God, how was she able to endure this several times? He had seen her teleport herself many times a day without even being bothered by it. Snatcher hated to admit it, but he actually felt admiration for her (at least regarding that particular issue). In any other circumstances, he didn't have much to admire, except the brat's tenacity, maybe.

When the whiteness around him finally dissipated, the ghost fell, and his head hit the ground suddenly. The shock left him stunned for a while, as a vivid pain erupted in his brain. His eyes shut hard immediately and he gritted his teeth. Why was Life persecuting him so much? He didn't deserve it! Or, well, he probably did, considering all the souls he had stolen, but still!

After a short moment, he felt his face warming up and his chest becoming heavier as time passed. The shade was confused for the first few seconds, before understanding what was happening: he had forgotten to breathe! As soon as he realized his mistake, he opened his mouth and tried to inhale as much air as possible without coughing; however, doing so was difficult, as he had to think every step in a precise way: "open your mouth, put your tongue down, inhale and exhale, then repeat". Just like the first time, he felt saliva pile up in his mouth, and a certain feeling of disgust settled over him at the thought of the repulsive liquid.

Humans were so gross.

Once his breathing got under control, Snatcher opened his eyes to look at his surroundings. The first thought that came to his mind at this moment was relief, as he recognized the back alley in which the brat had taken him. No sign of snow or ice. Far in the distance, he could hear muffled voices, and people went past the narrow alley he was in. People were still alive, completely oblivious to his presence. Nothing was trapped under several feet of ice and snow. That could only mean that Vanessa was still lucid. Or, lucid enough to control herself, at least.

"Thank God," he thought to himself, as a long sigh of relief escaped him.

However, something didn't feel right. His surroundings had an orangey tint that made him anxious the more he pondered about it. It was only when he threw a glance at the sky that he understood why he felt this way: the sun was setting. Just like the hat-wearing child had told him, the time had passed much more quickly down there than on the ship. Snatcher had left this dimension late in the morning. He didn't stay very long in the kid's spaceship, not more than one or two hours, but the whole day seemed to have passed down here.

Or maybe a day and a half. What if he was gone for more than what he thought? Though, he shook his head, not believing that last possibility. If he had been gone for more than twenty-four hours, Vanessa would have probably frozen the place completely. Yet, it wasn't the case here. Thus, he had certainly disappeared for six to eight hours at most. Though, knowing they had a countdown problem, having been gone for so long wasn't a very good thing. It only meant that they had less time to solve a problem that was already hard to solve in the first place.

He managed to gulp down the saliva piled up in his mouth after a few tries and straightened up. The movement woke up the pain in his (now existent) legs. He lifted his head to let out a frustrated sigh. Humans and their awful, horrible biology! At least his hand seemed much better than before, even though it wasn't completely healed. In any case, it didn't hurt as much as it used to, so the trip to the kid's spaceship hadn't been for nothing.

The shade clenched his teeth, ready for the pain to increase, as he slowly and carefully attempted to stand up. He tried to lean on the wall, in order to keep his balance more easily. He then managed to stand up, even if his legs shivered a bit too much for it to look natural. Standing up: check. Now, all he had to do was to move one of his legs forward and… he lost his already unstable balance and fell back on the ground. His right shoulder was the first thing to hit the cobblestone floor. The world around him became fuzzy once again, as the shock stunned him for a minute.

-"Great…" he grunted with a low voice, absolutely infuriated. Why was it so difficult? He had been in his ghost body only for an hour or so! How could he have forgotten how to walk again?

His next attempts were more successful. It took him several minutes to adjust, but he eventually got back the balance he needed.

"Ah, finally!" he thought, trying to make a few steps without falling down again. Fortunately, it became easier and easier the more he tried. When he was sure he could walk again, despite the pain in his legs, he moved towards the exit of the alley. He needed to go back to the manor, now. If knowing the world wasn't frozen (yet) made him feel better about this, he was still very much nervous about meeting with Vanessa again.

How was she going to react upon spotting him? The ghost had no idea about what she would do. She was completely unpredictable at this point, and that was what terrified Snatcher the most. He couldn't anticipate anything. He couldn't make any plan because it would be useless the instant he would enter the manor. Everything was going to turn way different than what he would prepare for.

The spirit tried to pull himself together. He couldn't lose any more time. The only thing he could do now was to improvise. The question was: would he be able to do so in front of his murderer? One that knew he remembered what had happened? He wasn't really sure, but what other choice did he have?

He gulped down and hid his face back in his hood. As soon as he was sure that no one would recognize him, the shade stepped out of the alley and blended with the crowd. He wasn't sure if he would be able to walk all the way up to the manor. It was quite far from the village square, and being surrounded by so many people touching him and talking next to him… it made him feel extremely ill-at-ease. So much contact, so much noise… every little sensation was unpleasant by itself, but everything at the same time? It was very much overwhelming.

Snatcher walked a little bit until his eyes spotted something far in the distance. He squinted, trying to see what it was, lifting his hand to protect his face from the setting sun. His expression immediately lightened up when he recognized the familiar shape of a carriage, waiting for a client.

"Oh, finally something good today!" he thought to himself. He tried to move towards the carriage, but hesitated when he realized he had no money to pay the driver. If the ghost had his powers under this form, he would have forced said driver to do what he wanted, but there was no more energy left inside of him now that he was back into this useless body.

Just as he was about to resign himself to walk to the manor, he remembered something obvious: he was the Prince, for God's sake! He didn't need to pay the driver himself when he had a bunch of servants waiting for him at the mansion! Why would anyone refuse to take him back to the manor? Snatcher used to be loved by every villager, back when he was alive. He and Vanessa had one of the best royal reputations in all the country. While other monarchs were hated, feared or simply ignored, the royal couple was admired by their subjects. That is, until the Queen decided to murder the entire village. Subcon was then wiped out of the map, both metaphorically and literally.

It took him several minutes to reach the carriage, pushing any person in his way. The driver was a young man in his thirties, sitting on the perch of the vehicle. He was wearing a black top-hat with a long grey cloak. He seemed to notice Snatcher approaching him and nodded as an acknowledgement.

-"Do you need a ride, sir?" he asked, preparing his tools for the upcoming trip.

The ghost came closer, wishing not to be heard by anyone else around them.

-"I need to go to the manor. Can you take me there?" he questioned, pointing towards the mansion visible in the distance.

The man looked in the direction of his finger and simply shrugged.

-"Yeah, of course. As long as you can pay for it."

"Well, at least, being a prince has its advantages," thought Snatcher, scoffing to himself. He lowered his hood, in order to let the man see his face. The driver's reaction was immediate, as his eyes opened wide, fixed on the shade.

–"Prince Alistel?" exclaimed the young man, astonished by Snatcher's presence before him. The ghost immediately hushed him, looking all around them to make sure no one had heard his name.

–"Pipe down! I'm incognito, here, I don't want to be seen," he explained, hoping the other wouldn't ask for more justifications. "Can you drive me there or not?" he added harshly.

Fortunately, the driver didn't insist, probably sensing the spirit's wish to shorten the conversation as soon as possible.

-"Yea- I mean, yes, of course, my Prince," he said the last words in a much more quiet tone, before straightening himself. In a way, his attitude wasn't very surprising: one always wanted to show themselves in their best light in front of royalty. Snatcher liked to be respected; however, at that moment, he really wasn't in the right mood for that.

-"Perfect, now let's go," he demanded coldly, already opening the carriage door. The young man clearly perceived his bad mood and quickened his pace. With a swift move, he replaced himself on the perch, while the shade sat inside the vehicle. It wasn't long before the carriage started moving, as sounds of hooves hitting the ground resonated in Snatcher's ears. His body moved with the vehicle, even more when the latter passed on cobbled streets. The landscape went by, but the shade only stared into space, too nervous about his next meeting with Vanessa.

He had no idea about how she was going to react upon seeing him, and it terrified him. The ghost hated to admit it because it gave him the feeling of being weak, but if he had to be completely honest with himself, well… he was weak. The spirit had lost his powers, he was stuck in a meat body, stuck in soon-to-be-doomed dimension, while having at least one powerful opponent which happened to be his crazy ex-wife! He was clearly disadvantaged on many, many points.

The more the carriage brought him closer to Vanessa, the sicker he felt. The anguish settled over him was growing stronger and stronger, making his legs tremble on their own. The shade quickly put his hands on his knees, trying to keep them still, in vain. He gritted his teeth. That was why he hated being in a human body so much: it didn't obey him! When he was dead, he didn't have to worry about subconscious reactions!

He increased the pressure of his hands, doing his best to contain his growing fear. His nails hurt the skin of his legs, but he didn't care. He just wanted it to stop, once and for all. Minutes went by in almost complete silence, only broken by the sound of his quick breathing and the pounding of his heart in his chest.

The ghost threw a brief glance at the window. His face turned pale instantly, as he realized how close they were from the manor. It was like a cold shower, his muscles tensing up from the recognition. Maybe he was going to die in a few minutes! Maybe he would be thrown down in the cellar once again! Who could tell? Certainly not himself.

His breathing rhythm increased, as he let his head fall on the cold backrest. There was no way he was going to stay calm. He had been scared of Vanessa for years, even if he denied it a lot, and this time was no different.

The ghost closed his eyes and waited for the trip to end. As soon as he felt the wheels stop under him, he clenched his fists on his legs. This was it.

His internal struggle was suddenly broken by the young driver's voice, who had just opened the door for him.

-"Here we are, my Prince," he announced, before adding with a worried voice."Are you alright? Did I drive too fast?"

Snatcher silenced him with a hand gesture as he tried to regain his composure as much as possible.

-"No, I… I feel fine," replied the ghost as he pinched his nose. The shade got out of the carriage and gave a last instruction to the driver:

-"I'll get someone to pay you, wait here."

Well, only if he wasn't killed on the spot by a livid woman. In that case, bringing money to the driver would be the least worrying problem on his already overloaded shoulders. Said man saluted him and proudly positioned himself next to his vehicle.

"I wonder if you'll still stand that way once she becomes completely crazy and freezes everything in the process," thought the shade, as he threw a last glance to the other. Well, here went nothing!

Snatcher took a long and deep breath and stepped forward. The more he moved towards the doors of the mansion, the shakier were his legs. The pain was still there but, the fear inside him was big enough to hide it. When he arrived just in front of the wooden surface, he hesitantly grabbed the door handle. There was no going back, he knew this, though he couldn't help but feel the urge to flee and never come back, but he didn't have any other choice. Thus, the spirit opened the front door as he shut his eyes hard, afraid of what might be hiding behind it. However, when only silence greeted him, surprise took over him. He expected cries, screams, loud accusations, not this… nothing.

Slowly and very carefully, Snatcher reopened his eyes to inspect the entrance hall. His surprised expression was soon replaced by a confused one as he noticed that no one was there, waiting for him as he had expected. What was happening? Sure, Vanessa was still lucid, since she hadn't frozen anything (yet), but he had thought she would be there on his return.

The ghost entered the room prudently, attentive to any movement all around him, but nothing came. Everything had remained the same since his outburst: no ice on the blue walls, neither on the skirting board; no furniture had been destroyed nor shoved aside, no dangerous aura could be felt, and no desperate cries could be heard. Snatcher had expected a lot of things, but "nothing" certainly hadn't been on the list.

He made a few more steps, more and more nervous as seconds went by.

-"Hello?" he called out, unsure. There weren't many other ways to find out about his future fate, and this one was the safest one. He could enter without informing anyone of his arrival, but he didn't want to imagine how worse his situation could become if he ever bumped into Vanessa after that. He supposed that it was much better to act now and hope for the best.

He waited for a minute before he heard rapid footsteps coming right in his direction. Instinctively, he prepared himself both mentally and physically, adopting a defensive pose. The shade definitely thought that the owner of those quick footsteps would be his ex-wife, though he was very much taken aback when Simeon appeared instead. The butler's face was full of concern and worry and his eyes opened wide as he spotted the ghost waiting in the hall.

-"Simeon?" blurted the spirit.

-"Oh, my Prince, you're here!" exclaimed the older man, a bit too loud for Snatcher's taste. "Everyone has been so worried about you! You're injured, and you shouldn't wander outside in your condition!"

The butler came closer, offering his arm for Snatcher to lean on. The ghost remained pensive for a few instants. Could Simeon be Vanessa's accomplice? The hat-wearing kid had said there was someone pulling the strings in the dark, and that the Queen wasn't the real mastermind in what was happening. If Simeon was the culprit, then why? He was loyal to Vanessa's family, admittedly, but Snatcher couldn't see any reason for him to act this way other than that. The man had always been nice and benevolent, despite his rigorous behaviour. The latter was caused by his workaholic attitude and not because of any hidden malicious intent. Simeon couldn't be the mastermind they were looking for.

The spirit suddenly thought about something: the mastermind had to be alive before the creation of that altered dimension. Simeon, just like the other villagers, had been murdered by the Queen in the past. How could a dead person create anything? Aside from Vanessa, Snatcher was the only powerful ghost in Subcon Forest. That could only mean that the accomplice was not a Subcon resident. Then, who?

-"My Prince?" repeated Simeon, breaking Snatcher's train of thoughts.

-"Oh, uh, sorry," he apologized, before continuing nervously. "How… how is Vanessa?"

If the shade was extremely afraid of that answer, seeing the butler's face lighting up made him quite confused.

-"Oh, the Queen is going to be so relieved to see you back home!" said Simeon, absolutely delighted, as he kept talking. "She has been worried about you so much! I'll take you to your room first, and I'll tell her the good news as soon as you're properly settled in your bed."

The shade felt instantly sick to his stomach when he heard those words. "yeah, she'll be so relieved that I'm finally here so she can shackle me up to a wall for days…" he thought to himself, as his fear came back at full force.

-"Hum, wait, before you do that…" retorted Snatcher, trying his best to come up with any excuse able to delay the inevitable, "well, I came with a driver. He's waiting outside for his payment."

-"Oh, of course!"

Snatcher hoped it would give him more time to prepare himself for what was to come, but the butler only used his hands as a loud-hailer and called out a name that felt familiar to Snatcher:

-"Rosamund!" The volume of his voice made the ghost jump, not expecting to be surprised like this. He shifted a bit, alarmed; Simeon's voice had been loud enough to resonate through the whole mansion. If a servant could hear it, so could Vanessa.

His unease was soon picked up by the butler, whose face was full of worry again.

-"Is something wrong, my Prince?" He lifted his arm again before continuing. "Please don't hesitate to lean on my shoulder to ease your pain."

-"No, no, I'm… I'm fine."

-"Are you sure? I planned to fetch a doctor as soon as you're back in your bed, but if you would rather go and see them directly, I can organize that right away."

Snatcher shook his head as an answer. As appealing as the possibility was to him, he knew he couldn't back away now. No matter how scared he was, fleeing wouldn't change anything to his situation. This dimension was doomed, and right now, he was the only one who could gather enough information in order to leave this place. The hat-wearing girl wasn't supposed to be here, she would stand out too much compared to the other villagers. Furthermore, if all of them had been created by someone, then they would quickly notice the additional kid wandering around. Snatcher always preferred to let others do his jobs instead, though this time, it was best for everyone's interest if she remained hidden for now. She was his escape door and, as much as he hated to admit it, he needed her alive.

The ghost was brought back to reality as a silhouette appeared in the corner of his vision. He turned towards the person and recognized the young maid that had been yelled at by Vanessa the day before. So her name was Rosamund? Well, now he knew why that name had felt familiar. She looked much better than the last time he saw her, probably because Vanessa wasn't in the room. Well, it was all the same for him as well. She saluted him with a bow, to which Snatcher replied with a simple nod.

Simeon took a few pieces out of his costume pocket and gave them to the young lady, who had waited patiently next to them.

-"Find the driver waiting outside and give him that, will you?" Rosamund nodded and saluted the spirit one last time before leaving the room with the money.

-"Well, let me help you now."

Snatcher lifted his own hand to rest on Simeon's shoulder, but a series of noises interrupted him and made him freeze. He could hear quick footsteps coming near them, and this time, he knew they didn't belong to anyone but the one he had been so scared of.

Blond hair and a green dress appeared in his vision, as Vanessa came out of the right hallway, only stopping when she caught sight of the spirit. Snatcher's heart stopped beating the second his eyes met hers, and a feeling of horror engulfed him as he couldn't help but stare at her, helplessly.

-"You're back…!" she murmured, lifting her hands to her mouth as an overjoyed smile painted her features. As for the ghost, he was everything but overjoyed, unable to move a single muscle in front of her. He was like frozen in place, only metaphorically, fortunately… for now.

-"I'm so happy!" exclaimed the Queen, as she rushed in his direction, hugging him in a very tight embrace as soon as it was physically possible. "You came back for me!"

Snatcher felt like all of his bones had been turned into ice, as he remained absolutely still in his ex-wife's arms. His mind was blank, and he had no idea how he was able to stay calm at a moment like this. His body was urging him to flee, to protect himself against her, to fight for his survival, but all he could do was remain unmoving, as fear and terror fully engulfed him. The ghost could feel her heart pounding in her chest against him, smell her sweet perfume, feel her soft hair on his cheeks, hear her excited breathing… and feel the icy contact of her hands on his back.

-"I knew you'd come back to me eventually," she said in a gentle yet insincere voice, as she tightened her arms around his chest, clearly threatening. "So… where have you been this whole day?"

She raised her head from his shoulders and looked at him with a cold smile.

-"I'm so sorry for this morning, I don't know what has gotten into me lately! Now, let's go to your room so you can rest. I can't wait to hear what you did today!"

She was simply livid, Snatcher knew this very well. He wanted to go, to leave, to flee as far away as possible. All his instincts were screaming at him, ordering him to choose the safest path in order to survive; however, all he could do in return was to nod weakly and slowly. He forced a little smile to his lips, terrified of what might happen if he was to upset her at a time like this.

-"Perfect!" she cheered, taking him arm in arm, as she waved to Simeon.

-"I will take my Prince to his room. Fetch the doctor for me, will you?"

The butler bowed strictly in response, smiling warmly to the royal couple as he left the entrance hall. The ghost wanted to call him back, beg for him to stay so he wouldn't stay alone with his crazy ex, but he couldn't find the courage to do so. And what difference would it make in the end? She had strong and dangerous powers, and they were only fragile humans. What could a simple human do against her?

Snatcher jumped as he felt her cold hand tighten around his arm, and quickly turned his head back to her. If her lips were smiling, her eyes definitely were not.

-"Now… I believe we have a lot to talk about, don't we?" Though, the way she was looking at him was clear enough to the spirit: it wasn't a question.

He had no idea what Vanessa had in mind, but he was sure he wouldn't like it at all.