Chapter 10: The Lost Ones

The great clockwork man fought relentlessly against its captors as they tried to restrain it. Every time they tried to lay their hands on it, it violently threw them across the dungeon, leaving more clouds of smoke as they died outright. Just one blow from its steel arms shattered its foes instantly.

For all of the rage it seemed to display in its actions, however, its face stayed eerily still. The cold metal plates forming its face possessed no structure to allow it to project emotions, and so it stayed still. But it cared not, for all that remained of it stayed aware of the Nutcracker's fate. The one it had lost and failed. And being separated from its charge only made it more inclined to fight with them.

Nothing could contain the clockwork man. When it found itself inside of a cage, its steel hands easily bent the thick bars until it could wrench them out and hurl them at its captors. When they attempted to chain it to a wall, it simply ripped out the chains and leapt from the wall, the loose manacles still jangling along its wrists and ankles.

The only reason it had yet to escape properly was the utter ferocity and endless numbers of mice swearing their loyalty to the Mouse Crown… and the occasional pacification of the one who'd controlled it.

It felt no fear or weariness or anger. It felt nothing as the beasts banged and pounded on its casing. It simply had orders ingrained in it since its creation, and it would follow them to the letter.

"Queen Rin, Queen Rin!"

The Mouse Queen stood at the back of the dungeon. It recognized her at once and it began to charge at her with blinding speed, its powerful leg joints propelling it forward far faster than any mortal creature.

Then all at once its shell shook as if the fiercest lightning coursed through an empty portion of its chest cavity. Though it sensed no pain, its ability to control its body stopped and the clockwork man collapsed to the floor. "Hmph… once I've handled the Nutcracker, I'll have to see how to deal with his outbursts… this is the third time I've had to wander down here and shut it off!"

On hearing the name of the one it was meant to protect, it sprang up again, its eyes upon the tiny toy heart she clutched in her paws. "How IMPERTINENT! You will stand down!"

This time it managed to take several more steps when the lightning coursed through it, and even as it collapsed it tried to pull itself forward along the floor before finally it lost all control of its arms. It saw the fear in the Mouse Queen's eyes.

"You and this miserable heart…" she murmured, "It's controlling you less and less each moment… and trying to worm its way into my soul…"

It watched her clutch the toy tightly. "I'm going to use it to destroy him. Then you'll understand why depending on him makes you so weak."

The Mouse Queen departed the dungeon, her long tail swishing behind her.

Even though her magic still interfered with its proper operation, it still continuously attempted to move its limbs and fight again. All the while the remaining mice started to drag it away, wrapping layers of chains around it. It had no thoughts or feelings, no recollection of any other individual being.

All it remembered was that final wish to preserve itself for eternity, in this metal body free of human flaws, so it would always be able to protect him.

The steady hum of the assembly kept Miku's courage steady. As long as it was working… as long as everything came together fast enough…

She sat in one of the old workbenches, an assortment of tools and gears surrounding her table… and a small gold heart-shaped case in which she inlaid them. She felt grateful that Gakupo had taken such exhaustive notes, but she'd never expected that the first toys she'd build would be intended to save lives.

The night wore on around her as she kept at her task, setting every piece together. Her lack of sleep only drove her further – if she couldn't rest, then she could keep working. Kaito had bought them time – the mice cared far more about him than anyone else, and they would leave the army and the workshop be.

"Lady Miku!"

Miku looked up from her desk as Gumi approached her and saluted. "Ah… you don't have to call me that…" Miku said to the nervous girl.

"Oh… um… I just thought, since you're Sir Drosselmeyer's goddaughter and all… and you're the boss now and…"

This was not a battle worth fighting. "Lady Miku is fine."

"The automaton's shell should be ready by sunup!" she reported cheerfully, "Um…. I don't think the place you're intending to ride on it will be very comfortable though…"

Miku looked over as she saw a thin, rounded metal tail carried outside by several of the doll workers. "It doesn't have to be comfortable," Miku said, "It just has to walk as far as their castle."

And what a surprise they were going to have when she got there.

"How's everyone holding up?" Miku asked, "You remembered to sleep, right?"

The rubber doll clapped her hands together, causing them to bounce from the contact with the elastic "skin". "We took shifts through the night!" Gumi said cheerfully, "But I'd like you to know that I haven't had to sleep a wink because I'm way too excited!"

She started swinging her arms around like she was already back on the battlefield. "Oh, we're going to just… march right in there and drag Sir Drosselmeyer back and burn the whole place down on the way back! It's going to be WONDERFUL!"

Before Miku could worry too much more about the suddenly violent doll, her absence at her workplace drew some attention as a certain blonde doll stared over at her.

"GUMI! Stop wasting time! We need you on the paw assembly!"

On hearing Lily scolding her, Gumi shook up. "Ah… right away, Corporal Lily!" she shouted, running back to the manufacturing lines.

"It would make him so happy to see this…"

Miku looked over to see Luka leaning at the edge of a small support beam nearby, eagerly watching the dolls scurrying around the factory at full production. "Seeing the people he trained and believed in working so hard to get him back…"

Just the thought of Gakupo seemed to set her into a true smile. Luka turned to Miku and she blushed as Luka turned that glowing smile on her. "Especially you."

The pigtailed would-be toymaker really didn't know how to handle the previously stoic faerie emoting so strongly. Before she had to spend too long being embarrassed, Luka set down a small box. "The stardust, right?" Miku said as she recognized the strange runes.

"Indeed… Gakupo had a machine that he could use to forge it, but…"

Luka opened the lid of the box and Miku gasped as she saw a powdery substance, like glowing golden glitter. "The magic will be far more effective if we do it like this. And right now… we need all the magic I can summon."

The faerie tugged a glove from her hand, running her hands through the powder and grabbing a small amount in her palm. "Just put your hand over mine."

Miku rested her tools and pressed her own palm over Luka's. The faerie closed her grip over Miku's hand, the woman's light blue fingernails reminding Miku of the sky itself. "Okay… I don't know if Gakupo did anything special to make that heart work besides using the nodes to keep it ticking… so I'll have to try and come up with something to imbue the stardust with while we make it. So it acts as similar to the one he created as possible."

"And… what am I going to do?" Miku asked nervously.

Luka's grip remained steady and light. "You're the creator. Give it the command you need it to follow, and focus on nothing but that."

Miku tried to think of what she needed to say. She glanced over the plans Gakupo had left behind, and a certain series of phrases seemed out of place – hardly technical instructions. 'Maybe that's what Gakupo commanded the heart to use?'

She started with the first. Listen to the pace of my heart.

As she tried to focus on nothing but those words, she felt a tingling sensation in her hand. The dust compressed into a tight round object right under her closed palm. As the tingling ceased, Miku lifted her hand to see a small, shiny pebble resting in Luka's outstretched palm. "Luka, did you teach him to do it like… that?"

The faerie seemed confounded by Miku's curiosity. "Should I have found another way?"

Miku already could imagine her godfather with the hand of the faerie he'd fallen for clenched tightly in his… how in the world had Gakupo ever managed to pierce Luka's heart when she seemed so utterly detached from these delicate matters?

Luka rested the node on the table. "How many more do we need?" she asked.

Miku checked the notes. "Just two more… I guess because it's a pretty simple design."

"My, but that's still more than he'd need just for a perpetually ticking clockwork mechanism…" Luka remarked, grasping another handful of stardust. "All right, same as before. Focus on the command, and I'll provide the magic."

In Gakupo's neat handwriting were the words Release the spring in time with my heartbeat.

Taking a toy this seriously… Miku focused on the words, but in the back of her mind she mused on how much this simple gift had meant to Gakupo. It had no real practical purpose, and a child wouldn't get much out of it. But he'd given this to Luka, and placed so much of his emotions into it. He simply used the skills he had to express himself beyond simply words.

Someday she wanted to craft something with this much meaning… for someone she cared about…

Luka set the next pebble down. "You're doing very well," she said, "You've got a very strong will, so it should listen to you right away. Kaito's star nodes were always so chaotic… he's got a strong heart, but he never seemed comfortable trying to impose himself even on a toy."

As Luka gathered another handful of stardust, she added "You should try teaching him… he seems a lot more receptive to you."

"Ahh… r-r-really?"

Miku tried to hide her brief embarrassment for Luka's sake as she read the next phrase.

Remember my love and never cease.

"Miku, is something wrong?"

Clearly the flustered look on her face said everything. Luka glanced over at the paper. "Oh… I see… that must be a little difficult since you're not in love with me…"

At first Miku thought the concept meant nothing to the faerie, but the tender way her fingertips traced the words on the page spoke far more than her words. More and more Miku was starting to understand that Luka's methods of expressing herself consisted of these subtler cues.

"Well, I'm sure I don't have to be the focus… just think of someone you love dearly and use that emotion instead," she said in a reassuring voice, "Someone you'd want to keep by your side forever. It could be a family member, or a dear friend… I'm certain you have plenty of people you love."

As Miku tried to keep the words constant and strong, she pictured someone who meant everything in the world to her in this very moment…

With the last node forged and set upon her work table, Miku carefully set each one in its place inside of her first clockwork creation. Snapping the case shut, she wound it up with the key in its back and held her breath…

… a familiar ticking emerged from within the case…

"I did it… I really did it…" Miku whispered in awe.

She gently rested it on the table. It had passed the first test, but that still didn't mean she'd built a magical artifact capable of healing a person with no heart…

Miku saw the welcome face of Meiko walking down the assembly line, checking on every one of her soldiers. She saw her dismiss one or two of the dolls who seemed to be drooping from exhaustion along her march. "The army will do far better if you're well-rested than if you collapse from exhaustion," she assured a red haired wooden boy, "I promise, Private Fukase, you've done a great deal of service already."

Seeing the previously sharp tongued princess taken over by tenderness was a strange sight in and of itself. "She's come so far…" Luka said quietly, "I had hoped spending time amongst her people might open her eyes, but this is far more than I could have hoped."

"So you did pay attention to her before," Miku said slyly.

Luka pulled her white glove back over her fingers. "The needs of mortals are something we're not meant to be interfering with," she said calmly, "But that does not prevent me from having opinions on them."

"But aren't you interfering with them right now?"

As the dolls pounded at a tall metal leg, Luka looked pensive. "I used to think it was his influence on me…" she said quietly, "But… I was always the faerie that descended the heavens the most. I always watched and wondered how they functioned. He was just… so very different from any mortal I'd ever pulled from your world that I couldn't help but try and be braver and bolder to try and understand how it all really felt and then…"

The faerie's blue eyes met Miku's and her smile had returned to its normal neutrality. "Miku, of everyone here, you're the one I know the least aside from what I've been told. When you go home, what will you do with your life?"

Such a probing question buried in her previously whimsical musings caught the pigtailed girl off guard. Miku looked to the clockwork heart, still ticking at her desk. "I… I don't know yet… I've no idea how long its going to be when I return… or when the finishing school will start or…"

"So you'll go back to being an ordinary young lady."

Hearing it spoken with such finality didn't rest well with Miku. "No! I… well, Gakupo will be back home, and Kaito too… I think I'll try and go back to making toys. Once I can convince my family I know what I'm doing, it shouldn't be so hard to convince mother to let me pursue my own path."

She thought back to how happy Oliver was just to have his toy bird back. "Finally getting to do it, even like this… I don't want to let that fade."

If she could just get her mother to see things that way…

'But… as long as I get Gakupo home okay, he'll stick up for me! She might actually listen to him! And… Kaito…'

Kaito would be a normal human boy. She'd have to introduce him to everyone… she could already imagine how wonderful it would be to walk through her garden again and actually talk to him. To hold his hand and feel the warmth within his grasp…

As long as he defeated the Mouse King and Queen…

"Luka, is it possible that… the Mouse Royalty, the twins… that they're humans? Like me or Oliver? Or… like Gakupo?"

Luka rubbed her hands together. "It's certainly within the realm of possibility… I didn't bring them here, and none of my kin seemed aware of bringing a pair of humans like them. But humans have slipped into our world unnoticed before."

Miku traced one of her fingers along the casing of her still-ticking clockwork heart. "That's not good… Kaito already thinks they're human children, and I doubt he'll kill them… isn't there another way to defeat them that will still release him from his curse?"

The faerie never met her eyes. "Killing the mice is certainly the most efficient… the most direct… and the surest method…"

Even Miku could read more into what Luka wasn't saying. "But not the only one… is there another?"

Silence fell over Luka as she contemplated the question. "I should certainly hope not…" she said quietly, "But if Kaito chooses that path, I don't know how to help him short of ensuring they don't kill him first."

Already Miku could remember those horrible moments when the life was nearly choked out of her and her body became as fragile as one of her bisque porcelain dolls. How much she could have lost had she not had Meiko and Luka shouting at her. What would that feel like to someone who didn't understand what was happening to them?

… what would drive two children to become such powerful creatures of hate?

Kaito found himself dragged across the throne room, the manacles around his wrists and feet clattering around his hard wooden ankles. For once he was glad he couldn't feel anything given how roughly the mice were treating him, but it wasn't exactly pleasant hearing himself getting scuffed and scraped up either. His guards gripped his chains tightly as they approached a large stone pillar facing a pair of tattered thrones.

"Nutcracker goes here!" one of them hissed, gripping his hands with their paws and pulling them out behind them as they attached the chains binding his arms to the pillar.

Once he was done being roughed up, Kaito took in his surroundings with care. He'd been told this was a royal court, but he'd seen a royal court before and these shabby surroundings didn't seem fit for one. He could make out some torn banners on the walls, and a stained carpet around the worn wooden thrones. 'Perhaps this is what the King and Queen of Mice consider to be finery?' he thought to himself.

He heard the great doors creak open behind him and the mouse guards surrounding him fell to their knees at once. He pressed up against the pillar and craned his head as far as he could – which admittedly wasn't far as a Nutcracker's head wasn't built for exceptional turning. The Queen marched forward, carrying her skirts above her black shoes. In lockstep behind her was her King, who glared at Kaito over his long whiskers. Each one took their seats, staring down the few assembled in their throne room.

"Dismissed," Len said.

The command went unquestioned as the other mice scurried out of the court, closing the doors tightly. Kaito just stared up at his captors, waiting for them to make the first move – in his position, he wasn't about to rescue anyone. Slowly Queen Rin pulled the very artifact he sought out of her dress – the still ticking clockwork heart.

"Drosselmeyer yet lives, little Nutcracker," she said ominously, "But I wonder about you. From what you stated on the carriage, your existence is rather precarious, is it not?"

'AH! They were listening!'

He was still certain he hadn't given anything too important away though…

"Indeed, I wondered how you came to be so small and unsightly when we finally found you amongst the humans," Len said, "But it sounds as if you're under a far more powerful magic than we expected."

So they hadn't understood his explanation... that was good, he hoped. But then again, if they didn't understand what had really happened to him…

'Does that mean I'm wrong and they really are just monsters?'

The clockwork heart began to levitate in Rin's hands. "Drosselmeyer's treasure possesses many secrets… one of them is the way it can burrow into another's heart and see all…"

"I… I don't think it was supposed to do that…" Kaito stammered.

Of course he remembered that heart – Luka always had it with her. He'd long grown used to hearing its familiar ticking whenever she was close. Just being told that it had the power to keep his uncle alive had been a surprise, but Gakupo had used stardust nodes to power it…

The heart levitated between the two thrones. "Now Len, what should we see first?"

Kaito could have cringed at Len's dark smile. "Hmmm… this little Nutcracker is so insistent on his faith in others… I'd like to see how that worked out for him…"

Rin began to fire little bolts into the heart and -

"Get out of here, you ugly Nutcracker! I won't have you bringing any more of your misery to us!"

His vision went dark as the heavy bucket slammed into his head. He stumbled around for a moment – he hadn't actually been able to feel the impact, but clearly this strange new body could still suffer damage.

"I-I'm sorry, I just needed something for Drosselmeyer! Please, I can't let him starve!"

The old human woman stared him down in fear. Just days ago she had been "the nice baker that gives out the cookies", but she had no such kindness for a Nutcracker.

She grabbed a loaf of bread and threw it at the poor boy. "Take it and go!"

He scurried back into the shadows of the alleyways. If he were just a human, he could disguise himself, but a Nutcracker? He was just too obvious!

He finally found his uncle again, speaking in hushed tones with a kind older gentleman. He was starting to get used to the face of shock upon being seen, but the second his uncle turned to him a smile formed anyway. 'My uncle is already so sad and lonely because of me… I have to help him…'

But even as he smiled, his heart felt tight and tense… would everyone see him like this from now on? How many more friends would turn on him?

'Pirlipat…'

Kaito shook as the memory departed. It wasn't just a memory for him – it was real. Even more real than the illusions he'd faced in the Crystalline Cavern. "Hmph. Humans are really the worst," Rin said, "Turning so quickly on their own…"

"That old lady never did like me…" Len growled, "Chased me with a broom when I helped myself to her cheesecake…"

"Gakupo and Luka never abandoned me!" Kaito shouted as he tried to banish the awful thoughts again.

"Hmph… let's see how that turned out?"

Too fast… the mice were too fast… the toymaker's blood stained his lovely violet coat with tones of red…

He'd never felt such rage before as he did in this moment. All he wanted in those seconds was for every one of those awful creatures to die…

The black smoke gave him little satisfaction though – the mice were dead, but his uncle was still wounded. He turned to him – with some relief, his uncle was still alive. The wound wasn't lethal but…

It had come so close… all because he was there… if he was gone his uncle would be safe…

Kaito tried to wrench himself back out of it as those terrible thoughts took hold of him again. 'I can't let this take me, Uncle needs me to save him now!'

But even now the mice had him in their grip… because they needed to get to him.

He looked up at his captors and saw… horror? "That was… blood…" Rin murmured.

Len was clutching at his chest. "It was like I… felt it too…"

"Of course it was blood!" Kaito shouted, "That was a human you all tried to kill!"

Rin didn't meet his eyes. 'Did they not understand?' Kaito thought to himself, 'Ah! No, everything they've tried to kill has been a doll… and we don't die… not like that anyway.'

The realization felt sickening to him. 'So they didn't even understand how serious this was… to them it's just toys…'

Before Kaito could seize on that realization and appeal to his captors, the heart lifted again. "No, something else! I want you to suffer! I want you to SLEEP!" Rin shouted out.

"Get that horrible ugly nutcracker away from me!"

Her words rattled in his head as they fled their home. This boxy wooden body of his felt so bizarre and foreign… rather, it felt nothing at all. Running and walking and touching things became guesswork because he couldn't sense them. A cold winter's wind, a hot sun, the touch of another person…

He'd done this to himself… he had such a simple set of instructions to follow and he'd failed them.

And now he'd ruined his uncle's life as well.

"I know people within the city that will help us…" the toymaker said to him as they pounded through the streets, "I'm certain they'll help us."

"YES! That's more like it! More like that!"

Kaito couldn't even prepare himself before the next memory slammed into him…

"Auntie Luka is… gone?"

The toymaker looked dazed. "She… can't help me, can she?"

"I didn't say that!" he said, trying to sound as assuring as possible, "She didn't know how to help you now. She'll come find us once we know how to break the spell."

But how long would that be?

He tried to smile anyway. After all, now his uncle was even more isolated than ever… because of him. Trying to be even more of a burden would be cruel.

"You're right!" he said cheerfully, "Auntie Luka's really smart, so I'm sure you won't have to wait that long to see her again!"

'But he did have to wait! He waited 15 years and I… I cost him his heart!'

The memories grew further and further fragmented as they rushed at him and he felt that familiar pressure building around him all over again… he was back in his room and wishing he didn't exist anymore… he was only good at causing problems… they wouldn't miss him…

"That's right… you shouldn't put your faith in anyone, you miserable doll," Rin said coldly.

"Other people… are useless."

With the unending bombardment tormenting him, he started to succumb, everything going dark… the endless dreamless sleep cried out to him once more…

The army of dolls marched through the morning snow. Miku, Meiko, and Luka rode atop the night's work – a gigantic clockwork cat. Miku maneuvered levers behind its head to keep it walking – they didn't have nearly enough stardust to make such a great creature move on its own. But Luka had forged something to use inside of it.

Slowly the great black castle rose in the distance. She could barely make out the large army outside of the castle.

"To think my father wanted these poor dolls to keep hurling themselves at that…" Meiko muttered, "When this battle is done and my kingdom is safe… I intend to have some words with him."

Luka remained silent – Miku suspected at this point she was simply trying to stay focused. The giant cat was only part of their plan, and Luka herself had to provide the magic for the rest of the plan.

Even so, Miku still wished her family and friends could see what she'd made today… what she'd directed the other dolls working with her godfather's machinery to accomplish…

"We're finally close enough…" Luka whispered.

She held out her arms, spreading them like wings and holding them parallel to the earth. This time instead of the white orb appearing in front of her, a shower of pink sparkling glitter fell from her hands, drifting through the air and coating the people below her. Miku watched below as the dolls surrounding her took on a distinctly feline appearance.

"AH! A wonderful cat's life!" Miku heard Gumi shout. Miku chuckled at the doll, now covered in white fur with her green hair bouncing around as a pair of white ears emerged from inside of it. "I am graceful. Meow meow meow! I eat delicious meals and sleep on a fluffy bed! "

"Private, focus! We're about to go into battle!" she heard Lily scold, "What are you singing for?!"

"I know, I know, to save Sir Drosselmeyer, I'd take on the whole army myself! And… and he said it's okay to sing to psyche myself up before a fight!"

And so Gumi was right back to her blissful kitten's ballad. "My way of living, meow meow meow, cannot be changed so easily! Besides, I simply do not have the heart to abandon the girl who keeps me as her pet!"

After a few moments, even Gumi's superiors couldn't help but join her song…

"You're certain this is just an illusion?" Meiko asked in awe as she watched the rather strange sight of an army of marching bipedal cats.

"I don't have the power to transform them for real," Luka said quietly, "But for this plan… I don't have to. We are merely trying to gain an advantage."

Miku watched the castle ahead, waiting for the mice to notice her in the distance… she kept her hand hovering over one certain button for when they were in range…

'… why did I ever wake up?'

This endless nothingness felt so much more comforting to the Nutcracker compared to the misery he was being forced to live through right now… would an eternity as a doll be so horrible? And the longer he slumbered, the easier it would be to forget he'd ever lost anything at all…

But something had made him leave this place of comfort and safety. He tried to recall it because he felt as if that was terribly important to him.

"My Nutcracker."

He remembered the first time she picked him up and the elation he felt as she stood in amazement over him. Even when his long sleep had robbed him of his past, he still remained aware of the pangs of loneliness before he awoke. How wonderful it felt that this girl thought him a valued treasure!

And then… she sang to him… he could remember every single word, and how desperately he'd wanted to sing with her. For the first time in his long sleep, he'd desired to be alive again!

"What?! Where is this nonsense coming from?!"

He heard Rin's voice as he clawed his way back through the dark haze. "No, I showed you, you can't put so much faith in others like this!"

At once he found himself back in Pirlipat's bedroom, his good deed turning sour as he was cast out of his old life, her stinging insult ringing in his ears.

But her cruel words melted as he drew out words of kindness.

"My Nutcracker!"

"Kaito, I promise I'll never treat you like she did! You're not ugly, there's nothing wrong with you, you're my dear nutcracker!"

He could hear her panicked voice as he retreated into nothingness, begging him to return. He wanted to return, for her if not for himself.

"Kaito… I won't give up on you… so please come back… I'll never let you be that lonely again…"

"S-stop that!" Rin shouted, "How dare you invade my mind like that!"

Kaito finally became aware of his surroundings again… and the fear on the King and Queen's face. 'Wait, did they see that too?' he thought to himself.

"Rin, get ahold of that thing! What's it doing now –"

With a loud crash, she was lying right on top of him, inches away from his face as he held her with the one arm still attached. All he could think about as he looked up at her was the lovely shade of teal her eyes were, how they matched her soft hair that draped over his unfeeling hand…

He'd never thought of anyone the way he thought of Miku, and in this moment, with her so close, he didn't want to think of anyone else either. And yet… he couldn't say it. All of a sudden, his normal freedom in how he expressed himself seemed entirely inappropriate. Was he scared of speaking?

Or was he scared of her not reacting the way he wanted?

'Ah! This… this is something I need to ask Uncle about!' he thought, 'This is one of the things he's really good at!'

And then she leapt off of him and the moment passed… but even as he felt no confidence in speaking from his heart, the realization that he just wanted to touch Miku and be able to feel that she was there began to fire him up for the grisly task he needed to accomplish… if he could just kill the Mouse King and Queen, he could move on with his life and-

"You… you were supposed to kill me to end your curse!"

Len's loud voice broke through the memory. "You had me right where you wanted me! Why didn't you just kill me then?!"

"Because he's a coward!" Rin screamed.

Whatever the clockwork heart was supposed to do, now it was working in reverse. And the King and Queen of Mice were falling apart before his eyes. "I didn't kill you because… I know you're not really a mouse, Len."

Just hearing those words made the King erupt with rage. "What nonsense are you spouting!?" he shouted, his whiskers standing on end as he bolted up, "And you'll address me as a KING!"

The King of Mice looked to Rin when she didn't speak and his anger evaporated as she clutched the heart close to her chest. "L…Len…" she whispered as the heart began to glow…

"What's it doing?! What's in my head?! Rin, what's going on?!"

He'd started to forget how he came to this strange place. Sometimes he'd remember that he and his sister had quietly stalked a purple-haired faerie with dark skin through the woods. They'd debated calling out to her, but neither of them had the strength to do so. They couldn't trust anyone.

They could only trust each other.

Until they got lost. Now the faerie was gone, and they had no sense of direction to get back to shelter. But he'd assured her this was better, even as his heart pounded with fear – they were starting a new life together, right?

Their old life was awful… one of constantly being forgotten. Working until they were exhausted. Meager meals, cold beds, and ratty clothes. Beatings when they didn't obey. Then finally threats of being torn apart forever.

This life wasn't turning out much better, but at least it was one they had some control over.

They were too proud to beg… and so they began to take what they needed from these strangers.

The dolls had nothing of use, but the humans kept all kinds of tasty candies and cakes in their homes… he'd scurry in like a clever rodent, while she would create a distraction and he'd help himself… a miserable life, one that tore at him and crushed at his spirit as he lost sight of anything else but staying alive…

He still remembered the sound of her screaming as she saw the long round ears that had sprouted up almost overnight on his head. Then another scream when he pointed out her long tail.

Now even the kindest of humans chased them away with brooms and sticks, and they took to hiding in the shadows…

Kaito blinked – now he was seeing someone else's memories entirely?! But before he could grasp what was happening, the next several memories rushed into his vision one after the other…

The first time she woke up with a mouse standing at her side, she screamed… until it told her it would do anything she asked.

As her empty stomach gnawed and growled, she asked it to bring her any food it could find.

This time it returned with two more mice… and food enough to keep the both of them from having to steal any more for a few more days.

Day after day, the twins would awaken to more mice surrounding them, and they started to grow bigger every day. But eventually she grew bored of only sending the mice out. If she couldn't trust any of the humans or their gigantic dolls… she could trust the mice. They were like her.

And every day she felt more and more power in her heart… magic swirling through her clawed fingertips.

They needed a place suitable for their growing multitudes.

She needed a title.

The cats tore up many of his mice, but their numbers grew every day. The more he hated the way they saw him, the more they seemed to arrive, summoned up from the depths of his soul.

He posted his ultimatum – that the first victim of the King and Queen of Mice would be the proud Princess who betrayed them.

If they so hated the dolls, then she would become one herself. A grotesque living example of their power.

She laughed as she skittered out of the princesses' bedroom but her screams as she saw her new body were exquisite. Now everyone would fear the mice for real!

Let the foolish human King hurl his toy armies at them if he wanted vengeance!

The King and Queen of Mice would never suffer again!

Kaito's head was spinning from the constantly shifting perspectives, of seeing two people's memories one after the other… but they made one thing perfectly clear.

"You… you came from the World Beyond… just like me…" Kaito murmured, "It swallowed you up… and you forgot everything…"

Tears flowed freely from the Queen's eyes. "I… I don't understand… we've always been mice…" she sobbed.

For once the angry King was struck silent as well, patting down his body as if just realizing what he was for the first time.

Kaito tried to grasp for the right words to explain everything. If he understood what he'd seen, neither of them even realized they'd gone to another world or understood the magic that chased them. Facing despair and hunger… it was only a matter of time before some horrible fate befell them.

'And most of the faeries aren't like Auntie Luka… if they knew about them, they would have stayed out of it…'

Before he could say anything else to the shocked pair of mice, a loud animalistic yowling sounded from outside. Rin and Len stopped their panicked crying at once and shuddered as Kaito realized what it sounded like…

"KING LEN! QUEEN RIN!"

The doors to the throne room burst open as several frightened mice scampered inside. "Outside! An army of c-c-c-c-cats! Led by… the KING OF ALL CATS!"

At that the two mouse children stood up straight. "We… we must take to the roof!" Len declared.

"WAIT!" Kaito shouted, but the two royals fled the room as the howling outside refused to abate. Soon he was all alone again, manacled to the pillar…

"Ahhhh, I was so close!" he shouted in frustration.

He tugged uselessly at his chained up limbs. His eyes scoured the chamber for a key, but he had no such luck. "Well... I'm sure if there's a bunch of cats outside… it must mean Miku is on her way or something…"

He tried to take some heart in that, but what if the panicked mice came up here? He didn't trust their stability as Rin and Len broke down in front of him. He slumped against the pillar. "They'll probably chew me up to bits…" he muttered, "At least I won't feel anything…"

He tried to take some comfort in the happy memories he'd gotten to experience with Miku again… he had so many from such a short time! Fixing James, the sleigh ride, sharing stories, singing together, that time she pulled him loose from all that equipment and he got to hold her…

"…. AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! I am an IDIOT!"

Kaito turned his head as far as he could – his wrists were bound up incredibly tight by the chains, giving no slack. That could work in his favor. "Okay… just gotta… pull… as hard as I can…"

He tried to force his body forward as with all of his might. He was certain the manacles were digging into the wood if the scraping he heard was any sign, but a little cosmetic damage was nothing if he could just…

POP! CLACK! CLINK!

Kaito's arms came free as his hands clattered to the floor. He started to pull himself around and try to get his handless limbs connected to their correct appendages again.

"Okay… now the feet!"

He stood up to his full height, watching the chains go tight. He jumped forward across the floor, and as he slammed into the solid stone, he heard the chains hit the floor as his feet fell out of them. "You know… sometimes it's not so bad being a doll!" He said with a laugh.

As he crawled over to set his feet straight, he realized he had a few options ahead of him. He could break Gakupo loose… but he had no idea how safe his uncle was right now. "Uncle was already doing rather poorly… what if he doesn't even recognize me?"

If he wanted to save Gakupo… he needed to recover the toymaker's heart. And right now… Queen Rin had run away with it.

"Please be safe, Uncle… this time I'm going to save you for real…" Kaito whispered.

He knew in his heart after all he'd seen that he couldn't kill the mice… and he didn't know how he was supposed to free them from all the magic they'd succumbed to. But he would never live right if his own freedom came at the deaths of innocents. "I'll think of something… maybe they'll be easier to reason with… I mean, I know they won't just throw up their hands and give up, but… they were close!"

He clenched his wooden fingers together. "Okay Miku… you're working so hard …"

He stood up on his repaired legs, wincing at all the scrapes and scuffs in his lovely paint. "I know you'll be right behind me…"

And with that he ran out of the throne room, his wooden footsteps echoing in the dark stone halls…

A/N:

I hope this chapter, the memory sequences were easier to follow. I panicked a little after the last chapter's reception and tried to make it more explicit. From the perspective of the person seeing them, though, they tend to be very sudden and jarring, and I do want some of that in the text as well.

Home stretch of this extended story! Frankly, I don't know how I ever expected to cram this story into 10 chapters, or even 11 chapters. There's just too much going on and the characters needed to breath.

A lot of brand new Vocaloids released in the spawn of this story's existence! I kind of wanted to pay tribute to at least one of them (much like how I put Cyber Diva into a small part in Broken Wings). This story is a lot tighter though, so the cameo is very "blink and miss it."

It's just barely still Luka's birthday in this time zone tonight, so happy birthday Luka-chan ;)

Song Credits: Gumi sang a few of her verses of the Gumi/Len duet "Ah! It's a Wonderful Cat's Life!" You know, just in case Gumi actually saying the title of the song wasn't enough ;) I really couldn't help myself.