Hey guys! I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving! My brother just got grounded… again. So I have total control over the computer and the TV! So, I actually started this early. I want to get this story done as soon as I can so that lots of people can get in the holiday spirit and I can get back to my other three stories. Plus I go back to school in 3 days so I need to post as much as I can till then. I might actually post a new chapter of one of my other stories up there if I feel I'm going to fast with this… Or I'm bored. Either one works.
Anyways, I hope you all enjoy this new chapter!
The bat flew towards the dark and dreary castle as fast as he could. He couldn't wait to tell his masters what he had found out. Flying into the throne room, he found his masters, the Delancey brother kings, sitting in twin thrones. In between the thrones was a plate filled with fruit and the most delicious looking food. The bats mouth started watering at the sight. Seeing the bat, the two brothers stood up from their thrones. "Primm," Morris called to the bat, "What did you find?"
Primm landed on the floor in front of the thrones and started purposely wobbling on his feet. "I wish I could remember, but I'm so hungry. I feel weak, so faint." With that, Primm slapped a hand over his heart and fell to the ground, faking a faint. He opened one eye to see if it was working. All he saw were the lips of the kings pulled back into snarls.
"Ungrateful bastard." Oscar muttered, "I should turn you into a ceiling fan."
Primm flipped himself to stand on his feet. "Well that would be a shame." He mused to himself, "Then I wouldn't be able to tell you the bit of gossip I overheard." Oscar let out a growl. Morris rolled his eyes and threw down the fruit plate. "Thank you, your majesties." Within seconds, Primm had devoured all of the food on the plate, leaving only a few crumbs. "May I say you're both looking especially regal this evening." Oscar let out another growl and Primm shrunk back. "Er… right. Well, for starters the nutcracker's back."
"He's here?" Morris asked. Primm nodded. "He's more idiotic then we expected, Oscar." Oscar nodded.
"And he's got some girl with him." Primm continued, "Don't know where she came from."
Morris reached up and grazed the bump left by Katherine's slipper on his head. "I do." He grumbled, flinching at his own touch.
"Now, here's the really good part." Primm said excitedly, "They're looking for some Sugarplum Princess who can… supposedly defeat… uh… you." He cowered, expecting a spell or punishment, "According to the nutcracker."
"Sugarplum Princess?" The brothers repeated in unison. Primm nodded, still fearful of a punishment.
"We've never heard of the Sugarplum Princess." Oscar pointed out. He turned to the guards, "Bring the royal registry."
Morris' eyes turned stony, "And bring us the nutcracker."
When Katherine and Jack reached the end of the path, she gasped. Surrounding her was what seemed to be the remains of a once quaint village. There was rubble lying everywhere. Some buried in the snow, some out in the open for everyone to see. But surprisingly, the rubble looked like they were made out of… gingerbread and candy? "It's what's left of the Gingerbread Village." Jack explained, as if reading her thoughts, "No doubt the works of the ever so delightful Delancies." He let out a small laugh and so did she. He sighed, "I had no idea it had gotten so bad."
Suddenly, something caught Katherine's eye. Dusting the snow off of it, she found it was a small teddy bear. One of the eyes was falling out and stuffing was coming out of it in a few places where the fur was torn. The thought that children had to go through something like this absolutely shattered her heart. A horse's whine could be heard behind them. Katherine turned to see a magnificent snow white horse with an ice blue mane tied to a candy cane carriage. The horse was obviously scared of them. Katherine rushed up to it and started petting its mane. "Don't worry. We're not going to hurt you." Katherine soothed.
Jack took notice of how gentle she was with the horse. It was one more thing to add to her list of amazing qualities. "You're very good with animals." He complimented.
She turned and smiled, but he could see the slight pink tint forming on her cheeks. "Thank you." She said, "It's just something I've been able to do since I was very young. I've always loved animals." Jack smiled at her and reached out to pet the horse as well.
All of a sudden, Katherine and Jack were hit by something. The objects kept flying towards them and Jack yelled, "Ambush! Take cover!" Grabbing Katherine by the hand, they dove behind a snow drift. Jack looked up to see their 'attackers' were just two gingerbread boys throwing snowballs. He laughed at the sight. "They're just children." Suddenly, the part of his head that was sticking up above the snow drift was hit by a snowball. "With very good aim."
Katherine let out a giggle before realizing something. "Wait!" She called to the two boys. They paused in their ambush. She held the teddy bear up in the air for them to see. "We found this. Is he yours?"
"Bear-bear!" One of the boys, who seemed to be the youngest, shouted in glee. He dashed through the snow as Katherine stood up and handed him the bear. He hugged the bear close to his chest.
"Bear-bear?" The other boy repeated, "Really? That's what you picked?" He walked up to the boy who Katherine guessed was his brother.
"You're just jealous you don't have one." The younger boy shot back. Katherine let out another giggle as Jack came to stand beside her. "Thank you so much. I'm Romeo. This jerk is my older brother Race."
"Nice to meet you both." Jack waved. "Now, can you tell us what happened here?" The two brothers started finishing each other's story.
"We went out with Marzipan," Romeo gestured to the horse, "to gather candle berries."
"Then when we came back and everything…"
"And everyone…"
"Were gone!"
"It was the Delancies' army!"
Racer crossed his arms over his chest. "This is all Prince Kelly's fault." Katherine noted how Jack seemed to stiffen at the name.
"Who's Prince Kelly?" She questioned.
"The son of the king who ruled before the Delancies took over." Jack explained in a tight voice. Katherine wondered why he was acting so strange at the simple mention of the prince.
"Yeah but he wasn't much of a prince." Romeo grumbled.
"The king left his throne and golden scepters to his Royal Advisors." Jack continued, "The Delancies. Until the prince could prove himself worthy."
"Let me guess." Katherine interjected, "The Delancies decided they liked being king." The three boys nodded, "But what happened to Prince Kelly?"
"Don't know, don't care." Racer retorted. "We're better off without him." Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Jack's grip on his sword tighten. What was going on with him?
Changing the subject, Jack said, "It's dangerous here. We'll travel together until we can find a safe home for you two." The boys nodded and Jack and Katherine helped them into Marzipan's carriage. Taking the front to seats with Jack taking the reins, Marzipan carried them out of the destroyed village and into the forest. Hearing clanking metal, Jack stopped Marzipan and helped Katherine and the two boys out. They climbed up the hill in front of them and saw mice on the ledge below. They were carrying mine carts full of rubble from the village. "The Delancies' army."
"Carrying what's left of our village." Romeo pointed out. Suddenly, they heard Marzipan's whine from behind them. They turned to see the horse struggling to escape two of the mice soldiers. She got free and dashed off in another direction.
The mice looked up and saw the group. "There they are! Get 'em!" One shouted. The group turned and darted into the forest. They were running as fast as they could, but the mouse army was getting closer.
Suddenly, a rope ladder dropped down in front of them. They looked up to see a boy no more than ten years old. "Up here!" He called. Katherine helped Romeo and Racer up the ladder before climbing up herself. Jack was the last one up, being pulled up with the ladder. The mouse army ran right under them, not noticing the escape.
"Is everyone alright?" Jack asked. Then looked to see Katherine, clutching Romeo and Racer close to her, surrounded by armed villagers. "Bad question. Got it."
The boy that threw the ladder down approached them. "A wooden spy. Some new Delancey trap?" Then he noticed Romeo and Racer, "And kidnappers as well?"
Racer immediately came to their defense. "They helped us!"
Then a boy around the same age as Jack came up to them, standing behind the boy. "Well, if they have nothing to hide, they won't mind answering a few questions." Jack and Katherine both nodded. "Come boys, Medda will take care of you." Romeo and Racer seemed uncomfortable to be separated from Katherine and Jack, but went with the woman all the same. The two boys led Katherine and Jack into a tree house and introduced themselves as Davey and Les earning their introductions as well. Though Jack called himself Nutcracker to them. Katherine couldn't understand what was going on with him. "Now what are you two doing here."
"We're both victims of the Delancies' magic." Jack explained. "We're trying to find the one who can defeat him, the Sugarplum Princess."
Davey scoffed. "Sugarplum Princess?" He repeated, "I've never heard such a ridiculous story."
"Actually," Les started, "I've heard stories of the powerful princess told to me from Prince Kelly himself."
Davey narrowed his eyes at his younger brother. "Prince Kelly? He's the reason we're in this mess. If he had taken his duties seriously, the Delancies wouldn't be in power and we wouldn't have to protect what's left of our subjects!"
Jack's eyes locked with his boots. "You make the prince sound pretty awful."
"Awful?" Davey laughed a little, "That's a compliment!"
"You're forgetting that Prince Kelly was my friend." Les pointed out. "And I believe they're telling the truth. I remember the king himself telling Prince Kelly he believed in the princess magic. And we've tried everything else to defeat the Delancies."
Davey sighed. "Where would we even find this Sugarplum Princess?" Jack told him what the owl had told him and Katherine. "Fine. We'll all go looking for her. But I'll be in charge of the expedition."
"Of course." Jack answered. He and Katherine started towards the door when Les stopped him.
"Do you know what became of Prince Kelly?" He asked.
Jack sighed and refused to meet the boy's eyes as he said, "The Delancies destroyed him." But something in his voice told Katherine he wasn't telling the truth.
A little while later, the full moon was high in the sky as Katherine tucked Romeo and Racer into bed. She assured them that she and Jack would be back as soon as possible and that Medda, a motherly soul from the village would be taking care of them. She stepped outside the tree house to find Jack sitting on the ledge, looking up at the stars and moon. Katherine couldn't help but notice how the moonlight made him that much more handsome. "Can't sleep?" She asked, bringing his attention on her.
"I'm a nutcracker." He responded as she sat next to him, "Sleep seems kinda pointless."
"You're more than just a nutcracker… Prince Kelly." Jack looked at her in shock. "Your real name is Prince Jack Kelly." He nodded with a hint of sadness. "Why haven't you told anyone?"
Jack sighed and looked her dead in the eye as he explained, "I didn't want to be the prince when I had the chance. Now, I don't deserve to be."
"That's not true!" Katherine argued, "You're risking your life for the sake of your people! Isn't that what princes do?"
"My subjects think less of me than they do the Delancies!" Jack exclaimed, "Didn't you hear the way Romeo, Racer and Davey talked about me? They don't care if I was dead! My only hope is to find the Sugarplum Princess so she can restore some of my people's happiness. I owe them that much." Without another word, he stood up and left Katherine alone to figure out her thoughts on this nutcracker. Her aunt was right. There was a prince living inside him and that prince was noble and worthy of the crown. If only the nutcracker could see that.
Okay. How was that? Cause, honestly, I'm really loving writing this story! I love the entire plot of it and mixing it with Newsies just makes it so much fun! AH! I love it and only 4 months until I get to go see the tour cast! AH! I can't wait! PS does anyone know where the LA Pantages' stage door is? If you do leave a review or PM me. I want to meet Dan DeLuca and Stephanie Styles!
Anyways, R&R please!
Quote of the Day: A man wrapped up in himself always suffocates. But his loved ones will forever hold in their hearts the memory of that Christmas –Bauvard
Song Suggestion: Beautiful Christmas –Big Time Rush