Snowcon Forest

Laid to Rest

Every Subconite and Dweller that lived in the forest were clustered in the center of Subcon Village, watching as the figures in front of them prepared the ritual their leader had planned.

It had been difficult, both physically and emotionally, to remove the frozen bodies from Vanessa's manor. Everyone had worked together to take the dead back to Subcon Village so the shadow could perform whatever ceremony he had in mind in order to "free them".

Hat Kid had no idea what he meant, but she had a feeling the entire ordeal would be emotionally draining.

There had been more than enough crying already, and the night was barely half over!

When they had first left the manor the group, Moonjumper carrying Christine's body once again, they had been more than a little surprised to see that the massive snowstorm had stopped. Finally the moon was able to peek out from behind the heavy clouds and the stars shone above them.

The peaceful silence that now engulfed the forest was a stark contrast to the battle that had gone on not that long ago, and the horrifying truth that had been learned.

Snatcher had then picked up Hat Kid and Mu and soared back to the village, Moonjumper following him. During their journey the group noticed several of Vanessa strange creatures, the headless ice statues, lying broken on the ground. It was as if something had shattered all of them, leaving none of the corrupted beings left.

It appeared as though Subcon itself was tired of dealing with Vanessa's madness and had fought back in its own way.

The thought made Snatcher smile.

The trip back to the village was significantly faster than the journey to the manor, and in almost no time at all the warm lights of Subcon Village appeared before them. The group entered the village and immediately Subconites and Dwellers sprung up out of nowhere, all letting out cheers as they caught sight of the shadow.

Though the joyous celebration faded once the smaller shadows caught sight of the figure being cradled in Moonjumper's arms.

Whispers broke out. Some wondered what had happened at Vanessa's manor, while others realized that they recognized the frozen corpse. Finally one Subconite walked up to the still grieving Snatcher, and asked the question they had all been thinking of.

"What happened?"

As if there were words to describe the sheer emotional devastation they had all gone through, as if he could begin to explain what he had discovered about those who used to rule Subcon.

As if he could explain what had happened to the missing residents before Vanessa had lashed out at the kingdom and destroyed everything.

But he was the only one who could.

The shadow sighed and waved Moonjumper over. His other self seemed a bit hesitant, but after a moment slowly floated over to him. Snatcher softly whispered to the corpse, keeping his voice low so no one else could hear. Once the instructions were finished Moonjumper nodded and made his way over to his home, Christine still cradled in his arms.

"As of this moment Vanessa has officially lost all control over Subcon." Snatcher boomed, and watched as the crowd in front of him grew silent. "Moonjumper and I sealed her in the manor, she is no longer a threat to any of us."

Rather than cheer his subjects remained silent, recognizing that there was something else he needed to speak of based on the depressed energy radiating off of his aura.

"And we discovered the truth." He breathed, eyes focusing on the ground below him as he took a moment to gather his thoughts.

It was not his fault.