To Love A Nutcracker

Chapter 13

Charlotte and Alastor followed Anthony deeper into the forest, where the branches of snow-laden trees intertwined to create a makeshift shelter. Inside, they were met with a haunting and sorrowful sight. Human-sized dolls, wooden puppets, and toy soldiers lay scattered about, all badly broken, torn apart, or chewed beyond recognition. A wave of anguish washed over Charlotte, and she felt tears welling in her eyes.

"What happened here?" She asked, her voice trembling.

"Vox turned us all into toys." Anthony replied, his tone heavy with despair. "And the mice decided that all toys are meant to be played with—regardless of whether they are actually human beings or fairies. So they 'played' with us."

"Played," he said, but it felt more like torture. One rag doll lay in tatters, another had limbs marred by countless scars, a puppet was half-burned, and a tin soldier was completely rusted, able to do nothing but blink helplessly.

Not even Alastor was immune to the overwhelming wave of sympathy and horror that washed over him at the sight of so many people in pain. He took a step back, only to hear a soft shuddering sound behind him. Turning around, he and Charlotte spotted someone cowering in the corner. It was a delicate shepherdess doll made of fine china, dressed in a sky-blue gown and bonnet that beautifully contrasted with her rose-colored hair. Tears glistened in her eyes as she looked up at them.

"Hello." Alastor said gently.

The doll recoiled in fear, clutching a life-sized plush sheep toy protectively to her chest.

"Don't be afraid." Charlotte reassured her in the same soothing tone. "Can you come here?"

"I can't." The shepherdess replied, her voice a sad whisper.

They looked down and noticed that her legs were broken.

"That's Niffty." Anthony explained. "She was once a lady-in-waiting, and that toy sheep she's holding was her beloved pet cat, Kee-Kee."

"But the sheep toy isn't moving." Charlotte pointed out.

"That's because Vox chose to turn Kee-Kee into an inanimate toy." Anthony replied.

"You mean he can actually do that?" Alastor asked, his curiosity piqued.

"Why would he do something like that?" Charlotte wondered aloud.

"Hello, it was a cat, and he's the Mouse King." Anthony said. "Anyway, Niffty was furious about what they had done to her pet. She tried to attack them, but they overpowered her and broke both of her legs."

"Can't you just put them back together again?" Charlotte asked.

"With what?" Anthony replied. "Vox ordered the mice to keep away anything and everything that could be used as a weapon against him. That includes tools that could fix broken toys."

"But surely there must be something we can use." Alastor interjected. "And if not, maybe the Inventor's satchel has something."

Alastor opened the satchel, and it contained not just something, but everything. There were needles and spools of thread, stuffing, an oil can, tweezers, sandpaper, a small hammer, a gear puller, shears, a pivot, and a bottle of glue. Alastor grabbed the glue and carefully approached Niffty.

"It's okay." He reassured her as he crouched down. "I'm not going to hurt you; I'm just going to fix you."

Though she still seemed hesitant to trust him, her fear dissipated when she noticed the kindness in his eyes. The porcelain shepherdess held perfectly still as the nutcracker applied a few drops of glue to her legs and reattached them to their original spots.