Vocaloid Tales: The Nutcracker

Chapter 12: The Clever Girl and the Wooden Boy

Miku felt herself falling from an immense height, followed by a jolt...

Her eyes snapped open and she found herself lying in her own bed, clothed in her night gown with her arm wrapped in the bandage. The light of the sun shone through the window of her home.

Miku tried to leap up, yelping as she felt a sharp pain in her arm. She crawled out of bed more slowly, her eyes traveling across her room. Nothing appeared to be disturbed... save for her nutcracker, who lie upon the floor.

She carefully picked up the nutcracker, examining him carefully. "Kaito?" she whispered.

The doll didn't react to her at all. He also appeared to be in perfect condition, unlike what she remembered of him being torn up and ragged by the end of his fight with the Great Mouse Lord...

Miku stood and rested him gently on her bed. The events she'd experienced flew through her head... they were all so real... what did it mean?

A rapping at her door disturbed her thoughts. "Miku, are you ready for breakfast yet? Gakupo is going to be here any minute now!"

"I... I'll be right there, mother!" Miku called out.

She walked over to her toy castle and knelt down, examining every single inhabitant in a new light. "Meiko?" she whispered, tapping her finger to the red-garbed princess.

But the little doll princess didn't react either.

She opened up her closet, where she'd long ago stored old toys granted to her by Gakupo. All of them were in perfect condition... including the pink haired ballerina. She picked up the faerie, staring into its painted eyes. "Luka?"

The ballerina stayed as silent as everyone else.

Miku turned back to the Nutcracker on her bed, waiting for him to leap to life again... but he stayed as silent as everything else.

".... No! I know this can't be false!"

She ran to her wardrobe and threw her clothes on as quickly as possible. She was going to get to the bottom of this! She grabbed hold of her nutcracker as soon as she was clothed and marched out of her bedroom.

"Oh, Miku, good, I won't have to call you a second time!"

Her mother walked over and began to fuss over her bandaged arm. "Oh good, it's healing well... you don't need any more laudanum?"

She finally noticed Miku carrying her nutcracker tight in her arms. "Oh, you're showing Gakupo how well that little toy was fixed?"

Miku felt her nerves rising. "Mother... his name is Kaito."

At that the older woman gave a sigh. "I hope that's Gakupo's idea... honestly, I know he means well, but it's not right for a girl your age to still..."

Miku interrupted her. "Kaito is the boy I saved from the Mouse King and Queen in the living room the other night."

For just a moment, her mother's jaw hung open in surprise. "Miku, we've been through this... that was a dream! You were sleep walking!"

The girl held firm, clutching the Nutcracker tightly to her chest. "The mice came back last night too!" Miku continued, "They tried to take this poor Nutcracker away with them... and they put a spell on me when I tried to save him! We had to escape... we fled for our lives into a kingdom of dolls and sweets and fought a war... we were gone for days..."

By now Miku noticed her brother was in the room with her. "Miku, are you sure you just bumped your arm and not your head?"

But she would not be so quickly silenced... she loved her mother and brother dearly, but she had to assert herself as well!