Fun fact: I was originally going to dump a lot more Alpine lore into this chapter- Snatcher was originally going to have a conversation with the Twilight Goat itself!

But I decided that it would be pointless, since I don't have any in-depth unique Alpine lore for Shadow Rift, nor chances later on to come back to it.

As much as I'd love to show off my Alpine ideas, guess we'll save that for the Masked oneshots.

Whatever. Something something Snatcher character development. Woagh being in awe of the complexity of magic. Something like that.

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Once they reached the Lava Cake, Hat Kid wasted no time diving into it. She checked her watch once, examined the towering lava formation above her, and charged through a pool toward it.

Snatcher, however, was more hesitant. He eyed the pools of water distastefully. Hat Kid almost entered the first layer of the Lava Cake before she noticed he wasn't moving.

"Come on!" Snatcher looked up at her urging but still didn't budge. She was standing on a high rocky platform with her hands on her hips. "I don't have all day!"

He glared back at her. "So? I can just stay behind like I did at the Windmill!" he yelled.

"What if Karmin comes back?" she retorted. "Do you really want to have an awkward conversation with her again?"

Snatcher shuddered at the thought but stood firm. "I'd take that over burning to death!"

The kid groaned and checked her watch again. "Okay, you know what? Fine! You've forced my hand!" Hat Kid drew her umbrella.

"Oh? What are you gonna do, kiddo?" Snatcher asked, lifting an eyebrow and smirking. "Come down here and hit me?" If she came towards him, it was essentially a forfeit. She'd be the one to move first.

She swung the umbrella and a rope extended from it. Snatcher squinted as it blurred closer to him. "What is thaaAAAAAAAUGH!?!"

Whatever it was had grabbed Snatcher, pulled him towards the kid, and then deposited him less-than-gracefully at her feet. One second he'd been standing, and the next, he was forcefully grinding his face into the stones.

"Shouldn't have been so stubborn," Hat Kid said above him, replacing the umbrella with her watch. "I lost a minute because of you."

Snatcher glared up at her, cringing from the sting of the scrapes, but intrigue won over his annoyance. He'd seen her pull out that watch countless times. She was obsessed with that thing. "What's the watch for?"

She gave him a dark look. "Long story," she mumbled. "But it's your fault it's ticking."

"What?" Snatcher pushed himself to his feet, giving her a confused look. "Look, kid, I may have hurt you, but everything in the world can't be my fault?"

"A lot more than you'd expect is your fault," she replied, shoving the watch back into her pocket.

"And isn't a watch ticking a good thing? What, did I inadvertently fix it or something? I didn't even know you had a watch."

The girl cringed and turned away. A spike of unease went through Snatcher. Why is her watch so important? "It's a long story," she repeated. Without another word, she grabbed his hand, and they continued.

The path through the Lava Cake was perilous. They were surrounded by lava on all sides- even from above. It was full of cannons, gaps they had to swing across, platforms dipping into the molten rock, and machines spitting flames. And somehow, the kid was getting through it perfectly well, even with the handicap of dragging Snatcher along.

He was quiet almost the entire time, lost in his thoughts about the girl leading him through the danger. She'd survived Subcon Forest and was trudging through this place at a steady pace.

Snatcher had seen her soul. It was more vibrant than most; it was fiery and determined. She hadn't lost those traits even with it gone, he could tell... this kid was really... maybe he'd underestimated...

Forget it.

"It's so hot here," she grumbled, kicking a pebble off the platform. She watched it plunk into the lava and sizzle. "I mean, I know there's lava everywhere, but it's hot!"

Snatcher gave her a confused look. He hadn't been bothered by the heat at all. "I'm perfectly fine," he said.

Hattie returned the confused look. "What? Dude, we're surrounded by lava. What do you mean you're perfectly fine?"

He shrugged. Maybe it was just an alien thing for Hat Kid- she was more affected by heat. "It's just a little warmer," he admitted. "It's not that hot."

"Are you-!?" She trailed off, bewildered. She paused. "Hold on. You would burn to death in the lava, right?"

"Of course."

"But... the heat doesn't affect you?"

"Nope."

"Something doesn't line up there," she muttered. Hat Kid studied him for another moment, then shook her head. "You're weird," she concluded. She turned away and leaped for the next platform.

With her distraction, her timing had been off. It sank under the lava right as she reached it.

Maybe she could survive Subcon, fighting ghosts, and climbing a Windmill, but there was no way she could survive falling into lava.

Something ignited in Snatcher.

"KID!" He dove after her, only realizing a split second later that that was a really stupid idea.

His extra force of launching over the ledge got him to her before she fell in. He grabbed her and pulled her close, squeezing his eyes shut as they sank under.

It wasn't that hot.

His eyes flew open. Wait, shouldn't he be dead? Again?

Snatcher looked around. In his haste, he'd pulled Hat Kid close to his chest. But she was okay too, albeit scorched. But how...?

There was a blue protective bubble surrounding them. It flickered and wavered under the lava, shimmering and dancing before his vision. Snatcher's eyes grew wide as he realized what it was.

Fire.

A grin split across his face as the platform raised again, bringing them above the lava. The embers of blue dissipated as they emerged from the molten rock. He let go of Hat Kid, and she tumbled against the heated stone, staring at Snatcher in disbelief.

"You have fire magic?!" she exclaimed, eyes wide.

The platform shook underneath them again. "This is not the best place to discuss this, kid!" Snatcher grabbed her and jumped to the next stable formation.

"You have FIRE MAGIC?!" she repeated once she was back on her feet.

"Yeah..." Snatcher examined himself, shocked. He'd been so used to using magic as a ghost that he'd forgotten he'd always been able to use his natural fire magic. When he was alive, he could create flames...

But a protective sphere of fire? That was... a little out of the blue, pun not intended.

Snatcher had gotten off without a burn mark, unlike Hat Kid. His clothes were fine, and his crown hadn't melted.

He opened his hand and concentrated. A flame came to life in his palm. His eyes and smile widened.

Maybe this body isn't so useless after all.

"That's... useful," Hat Kid admitted. She dusted herself off, the ash sprinkling on the floor. "Whatever. Let's keep going."

She paused, then added something quietly about him saving her.

He looked up. "Did you say something?"

"No." Hat Kid jumped to the next platform.

The final place they visited was the Twilight Bell, a massive metal structure surrounded by bright white flowers. Looking into the mouth of the bell terrified Snatcher. All he could see were stars, reaching depths beyond his comprehension. The bell should logically be blocking his view of the sky, but part of him couldn't help but wonder if it was a window into the vastness of space.

"I'm gonna ring it," Hat Kid said, whipping out her umbrella.

"What?!" Snatcher glanced at her. "Are you insane? First of all, this is clearly magic we shouldn't be messing with!" He watched as she eyed the clapper of the bell suspiciously. "Second of all, that clapper is much too high for anyone to reach-"

The girl responded by shooting the rope from her umbrella. It latched onto the clapper, and she swung.

The clapper struck the sides of the bell. The toll resonated through Snatcher's body.

His mouth dropped open. "Are you crazy!?"

The world around them whirled. Snatcher turned as walls and swirls of magic circled around them. "KID?!"

She dropped to the ground next to him. "Huh. Pretty!" She grinned at him.

Snatcher sighed heavily and rested his face in his hands.

Eventually, the magic died down. When Snatcher lowered his face from his hands, the area was different. A marble pier rose from where the path had previously been.

"You can stay here if you want," Hat Kid told him. "I don't think Karmin will find us here." She glanced off into the distance and brightened. "Hey, my timepiece is here!" She ran off, not even giving Snatcher a chance to follow.

He bit down a "Be careful!" that tried to escape him. Snatcher groaned and sat down heavily. What was with this sudden concern for the kid? She was nothing but rude to him, even if he deserved it.

Snatcher sighed and lit another flame in his fingertips. His crown caught the light and shone with it.

Wow. What a blast in the past this was. It sucked not having all the capabilities of his ghost magic, but fire magic wasn't so bad. He was limited, sure, weakened, of course, but...

He sighed and sat back. What was he thinking? There was nothing good about this. Snatcher gazed forlornly into the bell's mouth. How would he ever get back to being dead? He didn't want to just die again- he wanted to return to how things were.

The colors in the bell shifted and danced. It was entrancing. Heavenly. Snatcher blinked. He could almost make out shapes forming within the cosmos, but every time his eyes landed on something definite, it was gone. It constantly shifted and darted away once Snatcher thought he could see something- once he thought he could make something out in the darkness and the light.

He raised his hand. The crown on his wrist shone the stars back at him.

What would happen if he put it back on? Should he? He never remembered what happened every time he put it on... but what if it was different now?

Well, if he looked like Elliot and had his old magic, he might as well go all out.

Wouldn't it... just feel... right?

He slid the crown from his wrist to his palm and raised his hand to put it on.

Snatcher paused as the dark background of space started to lighten. He paused. What's going on? He wondered.

The Twilight faded away, and Hat Kid was right next to him, holding an hourglass. "Huh." She opened her hands, and the timepiece disappeared in a series of sparkles. "Welp, finished with the Twilight Bell! Where next?"

She looked out, and the smile dropped off her face.

The sky was dark with thunder. Rolling purple clouds covered the land with only lightning contrasting its gloom.

Snatcher scrambled upright, sliding the crown back onto his wrist.

"How long were we in there?" the kid questioned aloud. "I didn't see any storm clouds in the distance out here..."

Snatcher started to agree, but the ground underneath him rumbled, cutting off his thoughts. He gasped and looked down as cracks formed beneath his feet, outlined by a bright purple glow. Hat Kid noticed too, and grabbed his arm, pulling them both safely out of the way as something erupted from the surface.

It rose and unfurled, backlit by a sudden flash of lightning in the sky. It turned its face toward the duo as thunder sounded its percussion around them.

It was a flower.

A Helminth flower.

Snatcher had never seen one so big or malicious.

And more were growing all across Alpine.