OKAY. TRIGGER WARNING. THIS CHAPTER ISN'T PRETTY.

TW: Panic Attack, Implied Abuse, Abuse. If you are upset by any of these topics, please don't read the chapter!

Hope y'all had a good Valentine's day. Or a happy Silksong Trailer day. If you celebrate either.

Onto the ultimate divorced angst :)

Thank you to my beta reader for being so so brave and powering through this chapter!

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Hat Kid crept into the hallway, wood creaking under her feet. The bite of cold was lesser compared to the dungeon, but it still enveloped her. She was shaking, though she suspected it was more from fear than cold this time.

Her heart raced in her throat, the thumping in her chest echoing in her ears. She strained to listen for anything: footsteps, whispers, the groan of floorboards from somewhere else. What would be scarier, hearing something approaching or being forced to wait for someone to attack?

She shot a look behind her. Snatcher was hardly visible in the dark at the bottom of the stairwell, but she could see his yellow eyes clearly reflecting bright fear. She waved him over. He shook his head.

"She's not here yet," Hat Kid whispered. "It's safe."

He hesitated, twisting his crown anxiously around his wrist. He sighed heartily and climbed the stairs. His shoulders were hunched, and his body was tense.

She looked up and down the hallway. The first time Vanessa had appeared, it was after Hattie had gone fully down the hallway. Hattie needed her to appear again, no matter how terrified she was. And no matter how scared Snatcher was.

Slowly, she snuck down the hall. Snatcher's cloak dragged on the ground behind her. She paused as she got to the end, waiting for the monster woman to burst out the door.

Nothing happened. Hat Kid hesitated. She reached for the door handle with trembling fingers.

She pressed down and threw the door open. The hinges squealed with rust, making her grit her teeth. With her umbrella drawn, she scanned the room.

No queen. No Vanessa. No scary demon. She took a cleansing breath.

Hattie glanced over her shoulder, noticing Snatcher lingering just behind. She waved him forward, silently giving the assurance that it was okay. For now.

They both crept forward. Snatcher remained a few paces behind. With another glance, Hat Kid noticed he was shaking. Wordlessly, she pulled off Snatcher's cloak and tossed it back to him. He fumbled with the fabric, most of it pooling on the ground with a soft whump.

He gave her a confused look and mouthed something. Probably "Why?" Hat Kid, not wanting to make any noise, just gave him a thumbs up.

Snatcher let out a soft sigh but put the cloak back on. He seemed relieved to be wearing it again. His trembling subsided just slightly.

Hat Kid swiftly crept to the other side of the room. She paused at the door, her fingers hovering just above the handle. She held her breath, and suddenly it was quiet enough to hear the ticking clock in her pocket, muffled by layers of clothing.

Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock.

I can't waste any more time.

She turned the door handle down and pushed it open.

The doors revealed a staircase. Hat Kid couldn't help but pause again. Really? Who puts a doorway at the end of a staircase? She wondered, infuriated and amused by its inconvenience.

Tick. Tock.

She shook the thought away and climbed the stairs. She moved slowly, dreading seeing a pitch-dark figure waiting for her at the top.

Hattie peeked over the top stair, squinting suspiciously. There was no one in sight. Just the dark, creepy hallway.

All her instincts were screaming at her to run. To get out. Triggering an interaction with Vanessa was the worst idea ever.

But it was the only idea she had. And if it worked and Snatcher became a ghost again, it would all be worth it!

She hated hunting for the queen, though. Hat Kid hated the idea of going to her. It felt like walking into a trap deliberately.

Hat Kid pressed her ear to the first door on her left. It was Vanessa's bedroom if she remembered correctly. She couldn't hear any activity behind it. Stealthily, she opened the door.

She took one step in and froze, spotting Queen Vanessa on the other side of the room. The woman was at her desk with her diary in her claws. She'd looked up as the door opened and was still now.

They stared at each other. Uh-oh. Hat Kid thought.

In a flash, Vanessa's chair was knocked aside, and the queen was bolting toward her. "UH-OH," Hat Kid yelled. She slammed the door shut and skidded down the stairs, hearing Vanessa's angry yells behind her. She pulled Snatcher out of the stairwell and shut the second pair of doors. To think what she'd been mocking earlier would come to save her!

She pulled Snatcher down the hall, her heart screaming in her throat. "Is she coming?" Snatcher asked, his voice a hiss in his panic.

Hat Kid nodded and stopped at the end of the hallway. "Then why are we stopping?!" Snatcher demanded. His eyes were wild but sharply focused with terror.

She turned and faced him, looking him dead in the eyes. "You have to face her," she told him, her voice low. "You know the plan."

"But I-?!" Snatcher stiffened suddenly, hearing doors slam open behind him. A red glow bathed the end of the hallway in a dreadful scarlet light.

"Good luck!" Hat Kid ducked away and dove under a table. She kept her ears strained, edging outward to glimpse the unfolding drama.

"Come back, little one!" Vanessa called. Her voice reverberated down the hallway, echoing the queen's fake sweetness. "I won't hurt you..." She trailed off suddenly, noticing Snatcher for the first time.

Snatcher gulped, wringing his hands together. He squared his shoulders and turned, trembling. Queen and prince were face-to-face again for the first time in who knew how long. And the tension couldn't have been thicker.

Both were silent for an eon. Hat Kid resisted the urge to lean out further and shove Snatcher forward.

"You got out." Vanessa took a step forward, the wood screeching menacingly beneath her weight. "Y-you were in the dungeon. You left. You left me."

Snatcher didn't respond. He twisted the crown around his wrist, his chest rising and falling rapidly.

"Why? How could you?" Vanessa lumbered continuously forward. Snatcher's foot instinctively slid back, but he stayed put. "I can't believe you would abandon me-!"

She towered over Snatcher. With her face almost pressed to his and her shadowy frame distorted by her death, it was easy to notice how fearsome she'd become. Snatcher stared her down with tear-filled eyes, an expression full of hatred and fear, and sorrow all at the same time.

She reached for him with one hand. Snatcher's eyes flickered to her sharp fingers. Her palm neared his head, and he instinctively drew away, gritting his teeth.

Hat Kid expected her to yell. She expected Vanessa to hit him, scratch him, or strangle or freeze him. She didn't expect her to reach out, gently pull him closer, and envelop him in a hug. Based on the look on Snatcher's face, he was just as shocked.

"I'm sorry," Vanessa whispered. "That was the biggest mistake of my life. I should've never gotten rid of you."

Snatcher's brow furrowed. "You're sorry?" he repeated, his voice muffled under the queen's layers of cloth and hair.

"Of course." She rested her head on his. Snatcher grimaced. He shifted in her grasp, but Vanessa was unrelenting. "Hundreds of years of solitude made me realize." Her voice quieted. "I was rash, and I didn't realize the consequences of living without you until it was too late."

Hat Kid's eyes narrowed. She wondered if Vanessa was genuinely remorseful. Had she planned this very apology in hopes of finding the right words of penance? Or was she lying? The latter seemed very likely to Hattie.

Snatcher was still in her arms. His eyes were darting, looking everywhere but Vanessa. He didn't answer.

"You're here to stay now, right?" Vanessa asked. She finally pulled away. Snatcher breathed a sigh of relief but cringed when she put her hands on his shoulders. "We- we can be together again! A prince and his q- his princess." Her red eyes bored into him earnestly. "It could go back to how it used to be. Put the past behind us. We can be happy again." Her voice was a murmur, bordering on genuinely sweet.

Snatcher choked as Vanessa's claws brushed against his cheek. Even from her obscured position, Hattie could tell how gentle the queen was. Hat Kid stared with mounting terror and confusion.

"I... Van-" Snatcher cut himself off, trembling.

"Don't you want that?"

A tear slid down his cheek, and Vanessa brushed it away with the same hand. "Let's be in love again," she purred. "Let's be together again. What do you say, my prince?"

He didn't say anything.

It was just the slightest of movements, but Hat Kid saw him briefly tilt his head into Vanessa's hand, resting for a fraction of a second against her.

Then he snapped back, pushing her away, slapping her hands off him. Without a word, he turned and bolted away, dashing past Hattie and hiding in the connecting room. She cringed and entered after him, praying that the queen wouldn't come after them.

Snatcher was pressed to the wall just to the right of the door, shaking. He pressed an arm over his eyes, roughly wiping away the tears that streamed down his face. They kept coming, overflowing and dampening the fabric of his shirt. He sank to the floor, breath hitching on hastily repressed sobs.

Hat Kid lingered awkwardly by his side, watching him. She knew she should probably offer a word of support at the very least, but nothing was coming to mind. She only searched for any sign of him returning to his ghost form and internally complained about the wasted time.

Maybe I'm just as monstrous as the queen outside.

"Are you okay?" Hat Kid finally asked. She crouched next to Snatcher.

He sent her a sarcastic look that would've said Do I LOOK okay? if he wasn't crying so hard. He tucked his knees in and buried his face in his arms.

She sat beside him, feeling out of place and useless. Trying to comfort Snatcher with touch would only freak him out more, she was sure. She couldn't find anything to say that might make him feel better. Hat Kid could only offer her company, which she knew Snatcher was annoyed by.

Then again, he'd given her his cloak earlier...

"I can't believe it," Snatcher finally groaned, his voice strangled by grief.

"Can't believe what?" Hat Kid glanced at him.

"Th-the nerve of that woman." He took a deep breath and lifted his head, rubbing his tears away. "Apologizing, w-wanting to be together again..." He clenched his jaw and exhaled sharply. "I-I hate her."

Somehow, the statement didn't seem true to Hattie. Logically, it should've, but the way Snatcher had been so hesitant to pull away... the way he rested his head in her gentle touch, if only for a moment...

Hat Kid tried to make her question as gentle as possible. "Do you still love her?"

Snatcher stiffened suddenly. His wide eyes narrowed as he considered. He lowered his gaze, his eyes catching on the crown around his wrist. Slowly, he slid it off and stared at it, rubbing one thumb over the cool metal.

His expression was unreadable. There was pain in his eyes and a clench in his fingers.

"I wish I didn't," Snatcher answered.

Before Hat Kid could ask for clarification, he put the crown on, and his body went slack.

Hattie frowned. Why was he willingly putting the crown on now? Was he that scared? There was something messed up about retreating and shoving someone else to take on trauma for you.

Then again, what didn't work with Snatcher might work with Elliot, she reminded herself.

Elliot immediately rubbed his eyes, looking puzzled. "Hold on, was I crying?" he asked, eyes wide. He glimpsed his surroundings and stood, stumbling on shaky legs. "Wait. Wait, no. Why am I back here? I was just..." He paced around the room and stopped, staring at the shattered pieces of an old piano.

Elliot swiveled around, taking in everything. "This is a dream, right? O-or a nightmare, more likely. It has to be." Elliot pressed his hands to his cheeks, squeezing his eyes shut. "It has to be." But he didn't sound convinced.

"This isn't a dream," Hat Kid confirmed, standing too.

His eyes shot open. His gaze moved toward Hattie but didn't meet hers. "I'm... not stuck in the rift again, am I?" he pleaded. His voice was small. "Please tell me I'm not back in the rift."

"You're not." Why was that his first worry? "We're in the actual manor," Hat Kid added.

Elliot dropped his hands, clasping them together with a wide-eyed look. "The actual manor...?" He repeated. "Is Vanessa here...?"

Hat Kid nodded. "She's somewhere outside this hallway." Honestly, Hat Kid wouldn't be surprised if she was listening in.

He glanced toward the door. "Right." Elliot started to lean like he was about to make his way toward it but hesitated. "...can I ask you a big favor?" he whispered.

She blinked. What could he possibly want from her? "Sure."

"I want... to talk with Vanessa again," Elliot explained. "I know it's silly, considering what I last went through, but..." he forced a smile. "You never know. It might be worth it?"

He turned slightly toward her, giving her an earnest look. "If anything goes wrong, would you please save me?" he asked. With the same strained smile: "I know it's a big thing to ask, a-and it sounds horrible when said out loud, I'm realizing." He forced a nervous laugh and looked away, rubbing the back of his neck. His smile faded.

"You saved me once before in the rift," he said softly. "I trust you, but it's okay if you say no. I-" Elliot pursed his lips and lowered his hand. A leftover tear ran down his face. "I understand."

...he trusted her? What a sad mistake.

Hat Kid could feel guilt spreading through here. The entire reason they were here was for the prince to be put through pain so he could die. And Elliot wanted her to save him from a bad situation.

She needed a bad situation this time. She needed to get lucky. The worst-case scenario would end in the prince's death, and she'd get her soul back.

Still, Hat Kid found herself saying, "I'll do my best."

Elliot gave her a smile that broke her heart. "Thank you."

Without further ado, he opened the door and entered the hallway.

Hat Kid bumped against the wall, pressing her back into it. She ignored the mumbling voices just outside, dumbfounded.

Elliot trusted her. After how rude she was to him. All she had to do was hurt him, and he trusted her.

Why? Why would he do something so inconceivably stupid?

And most importantly, if it was so stupid to her, why did it hurt so much?

She had to wipe away tears of her own. Stupid guilt getting in the way of getting her soul back. Hat Kid sighed heavily and straightened, tuning back into the muffled voices floating just outside, growing louder.

"-no?! Why not?!"

"Please let me explain! I-it was all a misunderstanding at first-"

"That old argument again! You know I'm NEVER going to believe that! You're a liar and a cheat!"

"Wh- no! Van, please! I-I never meant for anything to come between us! I only want to make things better! I-I love you, my queen, but please-"

Elliot's sentence was cut off abruptly with his own yell of pain. Hat Kid's eyes widened. What the peck is going on out there? She wondered. Do I really want to know?

She cracked the door open and poked her head out, freezing at the sight.

Elliot was pinned in place with Vanessa's claws wrapped tightly against his arms. His body was tense, like he was expecting more pain to come, the cuffs of his sleeves shredded from Vanessa's sharp nails.

"There are. No. Buts," Vanessa hissed. "When it comes to love. Do you understand me?"

"Vanessa-" he whimpered.

"DO YOU UNDERSTAND ME?!" she roared, squeezing harder.

Elliot yelled in agony. He stumbled, trying to tear himself away, but Vanessa's grip kept him in place.

"No more lies, no more cheats, no more excuses," Vanessa declared, each word coldly punctuated. "You will call me your princess, I will call you my prince, and you will be MINE. And everything will go back to normal between us!"

Hat Kid watched, horrified, as Elliot struggled in her grip. His movements were sluggish despite his efforts. His falling tears directed Hattie's attention to the ground, where she caught a glimpse of his shoes.

His boots were encased with shadow, and the darkness was reaching his legs.

She gaped, wondering if the dim hallway was playing tricks on her. But no- she could actually see the shadows moving. The darkness was crawling, slithering, climbing Elliot's leg, creeping up his body.

It's working, she realized. A tiny bloom of hope entered her chest despite the terror of the situation. No way. It's working!

The shadows were to his chest now. "Please," he whispered half-heartedly. Elliot's head lolled forward, his entire body sinking as the shadows raced the final stretch. A familiar inky blackness enveloped Elliot's head.

He fell forward. Vanessa let go of his wrists and caught him, again hugging him. Elliot leaned against her, too weak to push away.

Was that it? Was he... a ghost again? Could they leave now? Hat Kid pushed the door open further, creeping out into the hall.

The queen paid her no mind. She rested one twisted hand in Elliot's hair, running her hands through its shadowy strands. "Better now, my love?" she whispered.

Elliot responded with a content note in his voice. "Yes. Thank you, princess."

Wait-

Vanessa's smile was audible, lacing her words. "I love you."

This isn't-

"I love you too." He hadn't hesitated a moment to say it.

Vanessa finally looked up. Her gaze zeroed in on Hattie. Seeing no point in hiding, she stumbled out to the middle of the hallway, staring daggers at the darkened prince's back. "Elliot?"

He looked back at her.

This isn't right.

His gleaming red eyes matched Vanessa's.