Chapter 4
Cold. It was cold. Frigid even. Looking around, Eric saw only white. Both the sky and ground were white. There were no signs of inhabitance anywhere, no trees, buildings, or people. Just this blinding white and bitter chill. He looked down and saw that he up to knee height in he what he could only guess was snow. It was hard to move in, much less walk. Much different than the snow in Parthinia. As he slowly made his way through the blank void, he saw something move ahead of him. Carefully, he reached for his sword, only to grab nothing. Though tempted to look where he might have dropped it, his instincts told him not to take his eyes off this mysterious figure. With little options, he used whatever confidence he had left to address them.
"W-who are you? What is this place?" The figure merely stood there, staring at him. Warily, he approached them, only for them to turn and start walking away.
"Are you leading me somewhere? Where are we going? There's nothing here!" he called out as the wind picked up. The figure seemingly ignored him and kept walking. "Wait, please, can you help me find Clara?!" As it halted, it turned its gaze back to Eric. Its shadow grew in length towards him, parting the snow as it approached. Even if Eric could run, there was no place to go. No means of escape. As the shadow was closing in, he braced for impact. None came.
When he opened his eyes, he saw the whiteness of his surroundings diminish. While there was still plenty of it on the ground, it was pulled back and revealed rooftops, trees, and signposts. Steadily, the form of town grew around him. As the snow continued to retreat, the finer details of the buildings appeared, being etched in real time.
The sound of footprints caught Eric's attention. He turned to see the figure standing a few feet away from him, causing him to jump back and slip on the still slick road. While trying to pick himself up, he saw the figure stand above him, extending their hand. In taking it, their form began to take a more refined shape along with a splash of color. The form was that of a woman with a long red, winter dress and brown hair being held up on the top of her head as a bun. Her eyes were bright green, and she had rich, red lipstick that strongly contrasted the white snow.
"I was hoping you'd show." She said welcomingly, snapping Eric back into focus. Her voice felt oddly familiar.
"Who…are you?" She then made an overly exaggerated hurt expression.
"Don't tell me you don't recognize me. Your father never mentioned me or shared a picture. Shame on him" she teased.
"You knew my father?!"
"Oh yes, I remember all the pranks and games we played around the house. Your father made it so much fun too, knowing all the best places to hide." She giggled then stretched out her hand, "I'm Marie Drosselmeyer, and it's a pleasure to meet you, Eric." He received her hand and awkwardly kissed it, as he was taught in edicate.
"The pleasure is mine" he said straightening up. "Could please tell me more about my father? Or about you? Where are we exactly? Everything was pure white a moment ago." His rush of questions left her amused.
"Please, please, be patient. I promise I will explain more at dinner if you'd be willing to join us."
"Us?"
"My family and I plan to have dinner at my brother's place this evening. You would be most welcome. I'm sure Clara would love to have someone her be there" she said motioning him to walk with her. He thought about declining, after all he was on a mission. He had to find…someone. It was a person, right? The picture was just out of focus. With the thought of learning more about his father, perhaps he's looking for him.
"Eric are you coming?" he heard her ask. Eric then realized had standing there awkwardly. Her face covered in worry, he replied, "I'd…love to. If it's not too much trouble." With her smile returning, she beckoned, "Of course not. Come, come."
When they had arrived at the Drosselmeyer residence, there seemed to be a party going on. Guests were filling up the parlor as servants took their coats. Music could be heard from down the hallway with everyone migrating towards it. The walls were high with pillars touching the ceiling along with large rugs hiding almost the entire floor. As Eric was taking in the decor, Aunt Marie tapped his shoulder.
"You mind staying here a moment? I'm going to look for Clara. You absolutely must meet her." She said with an odd amount of sincerity in her voice.
"Sure, I don't mind." He replied still eyeing the structure and items of the room. This place, as extravagant as it was, did have this lived in feel to it. Worn down paths in the rugs, ever so faint stains on the walls, and a toy soldier's gun on the floor missed in all the commotion. Slight tugging at his coat made him jump. He turned to see who caused the unfamiliar touch but saw no one.
"Down here, mister." Said a voice. When Eric looked down, he was met with a child staring at him. The youngster was dressed in a royal blue coat, black pants, and had short brown hair.
"Hello there. Do you need something?" asked Eric.
"No, not really. Just needed to say hello to everyone so that I can enjoy the spoils."
"I'm sorry, spoils?"
"Yeah, from the sweets table." He said pointing to table behind them. It was laid out with sugar cookies, little cakes, candies, and fruit cover in powdered sugar. The lad started to grab them by the handful as he ate them. "Conquest had been achieved" He proclaimed proudly. Eric couldn't help but smile.
"You know, part of greeting someone is to tell them your name. Seems to me that you're celebrating prematurely." It was only meant to tease, but the look on the young boy's face nearly caused him laugh aloud. The boy, now blushing, then said, "I'm Fritz".
"Well Fritz, I'm Eric. And don't worry about having reintroduce to everyone. We can keep it between us" Eric said winking. With a look of relief, Fritz continued indulging the table's goods. Glancing around the room, Eric didn't see Ms. Drosselmeyer. He had begun to wonder if she forgot about him. Seeming to notice his searching, Fritz told Eric about Clara.
Clara. Clara. Why did that name sound so familiar? Perhaps he heard it in passing from one of the guests? But Eric couldn't shake the feeling of it being more.
"Who's Clara?"
"Mah sifer. Shi's *gulp* about the same age as you, so you might like her if you want someone to talk to." Fritz answered, stuffing his face with cookies.
"Oh, really?"
"Yeah, but I'll warn you: she woke up acting all weird. Talking about scary mice and her nutcracker. Who knows maybe you'll get a funny story out of it" He then pointed towards the stairs leading to the second floor.
"T-thank you." Eric said as Fritz walked away with his treasured sweets. This Clara sounded like a good direction to take. It wouldn't hurt to meet her, right?
By this point most of the guests had moved throughout the first floor, enjoying themselves. Leaving Eric to make his way up the stairs. When he reached the top, turning a corner, he saw someone. A young lady, standing just out of sight from the guest on the indoor balcony. As he approached her, the more and more familiar she appeared. Her long blond hair, pink dress, and curious posture all pointed to something in Eric's mind, but the pieces refused to fall into place.
If I could just talk to her.
He tapped her shoulder which made her jump for a moment, but then turned towards him with surprise and confusion covering her face. Her very familiar face. Eric felt as if he was overwhelmed with puzzle pieces and yet none of them were able to complete the picture. One thing was for certain though.
"I…know you…somehow."
