Vocaloid Tales: The Nutcracker

Chapter 3: The Village of Bonbon

                   

As she approached the old wooden building, she heard the familiar welcoming sounds of progress.  The sound of many gears ticking and turning, powering the machinery woven within.

Upon the door hung a simple sign – "Drosselmeyer, Toymaker and Inventor."

She pressed open the door and at once an exuberant singing voice reached her ears.

"I've come from the distant past to deliver a smile to this age.  Come, become heady with this magical singing voice!"

That voice had played in her mind a thousand times as she walked the stars and scried at the heavens.  It was not normally the place of one of her kind to descend so frequently, let alone for a single mortal.  She'd been warned of the risks.  But this particular mortal possessed some unusual quality that tempted her to continually depart her astral home for one short meeting after another.

"Everyone gets hurt at one point, although they wish for happiness... Today you are living again in search of a true smile!"

To her left stood a wall of clockwork dolls, starting from the simplest of toys and scaling up in size and complexity.  He was never happy when he finished one toy – he was already thinking of his next creation.  A thirst for knowledge and craft that she'd never seen, certainly not in any of the others from The World Beyond.  Was it that which compelled her interest?  The idea of someone making an impact with such machinery and workmanship?

"There are nights when tears overflow, there are days when you lose sight of yourself... At those times, come here, I'll sing for you!"

But she'd seen such machinery, turned for evil.  She'd seen it in The World Beyond.  Those were men who sought to control the world with their clockwork marvels.  A mere work ethic never captured her attention before.

Yet this man wore a smile on his face as he strove for ever greater and more joyful creations, every part of his being animated by his endless quest.  A clockwork cat marched across the workshop, chasing a toy mouse.  A train track weaved its way along the walls above their heads, and even the train cars were filled with smiling clockwork people.

"I've come from the distant past to deliver a smile to this world.  Come, we'll hold hands and become one!"

Finally she found the toymaker himself, the man who fashioned himself "Drosselmeyer."  A false name, but to him it was a sign of his new persona after she plucked him from the snow and brought him here.  His purple hair, tied in a luxurious ponytail, hung down his back over his long purple coat as he tightened the screws on a gigantic toy soldier, dressed in a white shirt, blue sash, and black pants.

"Now, I thought you only built machines for peace, toymaker."

He turned to face her with a radiant smile upon his face.  "Ah, Sugar Plum!  I was hoping you'd come calling today."

Of course he'd gone and given her a name as well.  From any other mortal, such an informal name might have sounded condescending.  Yet in his soft tones, it only seemed to convey the joy he felt every time he saw her.

He patted his new invention's shoulder with a white gloved hand.  "This fellow here is harmless.  I'm not building him to fight... I received a request from the Marzipan Court themselves!  They were looking for something to spice up their Christmas Parade."

Hence the soldier's uniform – an infantryman.  "Once I know he can march in the formations I want, I'm looking to see if he can play some instruments!  I'd like to have enough ready to build a nice little marching band!"