A Dimension in Time

No One Left to Ask Other Than the Corpse Stealing Ghost

☆*:.｡. Chapter 15 .｡.:*☆

No One Left to Ask Other Than the Corpse Stealing Ghost

"Boss?" One of the Subconites finally shuddered. Their faces showed what one could assume being worry and anxiousness. Things were only getting worse from that point forward, especially when Dawn could see Snatcher visibly panting and freaking out. Sure; he was trying to calm himself, yet the staring and emotions from the Subconites weren't helping his case. "Boss- is that really you...?" Another Subconite spoke up with one could only assume was worry. Worry for their boss, their former prince... They might've been undead children, but they were far more mature than Dawn ever was. And besides maturity; they knew Snatcher far better than they did. Yet- that didn't mean that the situation was any less overwhelming... "Are you alright, boss?" "What happened to you?" "What's going on?" "Why are the newbies here?" "Is something wrong?" The voices of concern that were the Subconites kept overlapping as Snatcher gripped his shirt from stress, unable to tear his eyes away from the overwhelming crowd. The whispers and murmurs spread throughout the crowd like a wildfire; Bow Kid and Hat Kid looked unsure of what to do to answer the questions and concerns of the Subconites, but Dawn had her eyes locked on someone else, she had her emerald gaze locked onto Snatcher's frantic state. The snowflake clipped girl then came to a frightening conclusion... one that should've been obvious sooner. Snatcher was having a panic attack. It was frightening to realize that the ghost that terrorized them was now terrified himself... it was uncanny to see the ghoul that way. The snowflake-clipped girl could remember Tensuya having an anxiety attack or panic attack due to too much pressure. Those were thanks to things that happened to him, but Bella was always able to help him though it. However... that didn't mean that it wasn't scary.

Dawn eventually did something she hoped she wouldn't regret doing, she prayed to InBetween that it wouldn't fall on deaf ears. Gradually; Dawn laid a hand carefully on Snatcher's quivering shoulder, violently bringing his frantic mind back to reality. "Breathe. It's okay, it's just us... just..." Dawn sighed heavily, lowering her emerald eyes until they closed. If they were going to get through this, Dawn would have to be one of many to ground Snatcher back to reality and pull him away from his anxiety. Remembering Bella's wisdom and the words she'd often use to help Tensuya would be a big help as well... "Just pull yourself together and... j-just take some deep breaths, okay?" The snowflake-clipped girl instructed, yet all that met her word was a blank and frantic glare, eyes unfocused on his surroundings. He barely seemed to register Dawn's hand on his shoulder, which was a blessing and curse. But for now, it was a blessing that would aid Dawn, the guide to help ground Snatcher from his panic attack. The snow queen took a long inhale, slowly exhaling afterwards, then repeated it. With heavy breaths, Snatcher followed her. It was slow, yes, but once Dawn successfully finished the grounding technique, Snatcher was reserved once more. "For pecks sake Snatcher, you need to stop scaring us for a second. You're gonna give Dawn, Bow and I a mini heart-attack!" The top hatted child tried to jest, only to be scolded lightly by her younger sister thanks to a light punch to the shoulder. "Hattie, now's not the time for joking around." Hat Kid looked at Bow Kid with a ring of guilt in her ocean eyes. She was trying to lighten the mood of the situation, but it was just the wrong thing said at the wrong time.

"Sorry Bow." From the corner of Snatcher's vision, he saw the Subconites get closer once more, this made him freeze once again. Why did he feel like dying again? "Are you alright boss?" One of the Subconites tried to ask again, this time more cautious of how they phrased it and to not crowd him as much. Yet, this time the former ghost didn't fully panic, this time Snatcher took a deep breath and said: "I... of course I'm... *sigh*..." Snatcher groaned as he shut his yellow hazel eyes, hoping to do something, anything  to prevent seeing the expressions  from the concerned Subconites. "No..." Snatcher admitted in a low voice, it was clear and audible. "No, I'm not alright..." He admitted to the minion who'd asked the question; leaving the trio astonished. "But—What happened to you boss?" Snatcher opened his yellow hazel eyes. Soon pointing at Hat, Bow, and figuratively pointing at Dawn as well: "They... did this. It's their fault." Dawn's eyes widened yet, surprisingly, she didn't blame him for tossing the blame onto them. It's natural to pin the blame on something or someone in a situation that doesn't make sense. But did that stop Hat and Bow from being angry with that statement? Oh heck no! They would correct it every second they could and not waste a minute of it; and give him a bitter taste of their anger that Dawn knew very well at this point. The children's faces were now filled with resentment and outrage. Before Snatcher said another word, he was cut down from the true furry from two little girls, the main protest coming from Hat Kid. "EXCUSE ME!?" Hat Kid screeched in protest, completely outraged that the blame was being tossed onto their shoulders. Bow Kid joined her, yet was more subtle with her fury than her sister was, hands firmly placed onto her hips and her lips pursing into a furious pout. "I'm sorry- but this is YOUR fault! You broke the Time Piece! We weren't even remotely near it, you big doofus!" The top hatted child screeched once more, her cutting tone was sharp with an edge that had not been there previously. Dawn had only heard the top hatted child this way ONCE in Time's End. That was it, other than that, this edge seemed a lot more vexed, annoyed that the former ghost would even DARE to put the blame on them. "What did you think would happen? That we would go away and you'd kill us? Those Time Pieces are EXTREMELY unpredictable! We didn't even know this could happen!" Hat Kid screeched, her words were fuming with rage. Once the words left Hat's mouth, she huffed heavily, completely out of breath.