Vocaloid Tales: The Nutcracker

Chapter 8: The Clockwork Man

The battlefield swarmed with hundreds of soldiers, dolls trying valiantly to stand up to their sudden ambush, and mice utterly overwhelming them. Miku tried to keep a steady eye on Kaito, trying to ignore the chaos around her. She could hear the carbine fire from the doll soldiers, but the mice appeared to favor melee weaponry. Their sheer numbers tended to mean bullets alone weren't holding back their waves.

"How are we supposed to keep up with them in this ruckus?!" Meiko shouted, her sword drawn, "We need to reach the king if Kaito's to deliver the killing blow!"

If Kaito had any reservations about his task, Miku didn't see any remaining. His hand slipped from hers and to his weapon.

"We cut a path to him!" Gakupo replied, "Kaito has to be the one to defeat them, but we can still help keep him alive!"

Miku steadied her shaking hand. She'd made a promise to herself to see the battle through – she was no longer allowing herself to be scared. She watched the small contingent of Gakupo's clockwork soldiers move away from them to join the dolls. He'd warned them ahead of time that the simple commands he could give them wouldn't be much use against the crafty Mouse Royals, so he'd dispatched them to try and thin out the army itself. Anything to peal some of the King's guards from his side.

"Gakupo, I don't see the Queen!" Luka cried out, "Just the King!"

"The Queen is the one we really need to worry about," Meiko warned, "You've never seen sorcery like hers... no offense, Luka..."

"None taken," Luka replied, "I shall do my best to provide a worthy counter-balance."

"Meiko, Gumi, help me protect Luka and she'll cut us a path!" Gakupo ordered, "Kaito, take the advantage when you get it!"

'Wait... what about me!?' Miku thought in a panic.

Gumi looked surprised. "You... you think I can, Sir Drosselmeyer?" she said nervously.

He shot her a wink and a smile. "After hearing your brave ballad, I know you can!"

Miku watched as suddenly the doll's rubber face grew more and more excited, the eyelids opening all the way and the mouth curling into a goofy smile. "YES SIR! I'll kill a HUNDRED mice for us!"

The three of them began to surround Luka and Miku wondered what she was about to do. She was a faerie... she must had some kind of powers she could wield in their favor...

Luka began to move around as though she were dancing – she recognized the initial foot positions from her most basic ballet lessons. The faerie raised her arms above her head, her arms moving delicately as she summoned an orb of white light between her hands. 'Wait... is she such a good ballerina because she's a magic user?!'

Several small light orbs flew from the orb in the faerie's hands, shooting straight up into the sky before crashing into the ground again. A serious of explosions sounded out around them, as if stars were falling out of the sky themselves. "BY THE HEAVENS!" Meiko shouted.

Puffs of smoke surrounded her as the mice vanished at once. Luka leapt through the snow, tracing her hands through the air as she kept the orb steady and this time Miku could see white traces of light where she swept her arms around rhythmically.

"Just stay close to me!" Luka called out, "I'll protect you as long as I can!"

"Does she even need our help!?" Meiko cried out.

"She can't keep this up forever," Gakupo explained.

"AhhhhHHHHH! I know that I can! Down you miserable rodents, stabbity stabbity stab!"