Part two
Once upon a time in a far away kingdom lived the most exquisite princess that perhaps the world has ever seen. Her long waves of golden tresses matched her sun kissed tan skin. To match she had the most enticing emerald green eyes. Everything about her radiated the fact that she was an ethereal beauty. The only thing in the entire kingdom that surpassed her angelic beauty was that of the all encompassing inner vision of her character. She was kind to all whom she came in contact with. She was honest and true, for all of her good graces her subjects adored her. They would do anything for her. However, not all felt this way. An evil witch held the utmost contempt for the young royal. All of this hatred stemmed from the deep seed of envy and jealousy that the witch held for the princess.
So one night, the witch snuck into the castle undetected under the protection of the dark night. Once inside, the witch silently made her way to the princess's chambers. Not a sound was heard as the witch crept into the princess's bedroom. Without a second thought and a malicious grin on her face, the witch cast a terrible curse upon the princess. Grinning with the satisfaction at the product of her sinister work, the witch slipped out of the room.
"Now, no one will love you…" the witch hissed.
The next morning, the cruel effects of the curse were discovered. The princess was hideous. Warts and boils covered the girl's body and face, along with the most putrid of scents making it almost impossible not to wretch. The king and queen as well as the entire kingdom were devastated. Their beloved princess was ruined. Immediately, a search went out in order to find the vile creature that would dare pull such a stunt. It was a short while until the witch was captured. Upon her arrest, she was instantly brought in for questioning. Unless she gave some kind of an antidote, the witch would be sentenced to death. Being the selfish wench that she was, she gave a cryptic reply while revealing from her sleeve what looked like an ordinary walnut.
"The only way that the princess will be cured is if she eats of the softer nut that resides within the outer nut's shell. The outer shell of this enchanted nut can only be cracked by that of the jaw of her one true love." Without another word, the witch was thrown into the darkest and deepest dungeon.
Soon, a proclamation rang out through the kingdom calling for every eligible prince to venture to their kingdom in hopes to undue this wicked curse. Without fail, royals from miles around came in hopes of being the lucky one to undo the unfortunate enchantment and woo the princess's heart.
But alas, time after time, it all ended in the same result. After wincing from the outward appearance of the princess, the shallow prince would then haughtily take the enchanted nut boasting of how it would be he to break the terribly misfortune. Placing the nut in his mouth, the prince bit down. The agony which the prince felt when the teeth involved were shattered cannot be described. Countless times the king queen and princess watched this horrible scene. The only aspect that varied though out this whole ordeal was the reactions of the princes. They would either have to be carried out of the throne room due to the amount of pain they were in or they would try to the best of their ability to curse the poor princess and her family out, thus resulting in the fact that they would thereby be "escorted" out.
As the days passed, so did the hope of the royal family dwindle. It seemed that all faith for a cure was misplaced. So it was a complete and utter surprise, when one dark and stormy night, there happened to be visitors calling for the audience of the king and his family. The royal family entered the throne room to find two hooded figures standing in their midst, one towering over the other in means of stature.
"What is your business here at so late an hour? Can't you see that everyone else is trying to get some rest?" the king inquired wearily. It had been a long day and there was still no success in the case of his beloved daughter. The only thing he wanted to be doing was drowning away his sorrows in the warm embrace of his dreams.
The shorter of the two hooded figures stepped forward, lifting his hood from his head, so that an elderly man was revealed.
"Please forgive my lord for the intrusion, but my lord and I have traveled from a far away land to see your daughter. We have traveled without ceasing, with the exception of this very moment. Please your highness, my price wishes to see if he can break the spell. He has heard of your daughter's unfailing kindness and he wishes to break this curse," the old advisor pleaded bowing before the king. The other taller figure, who was now known to be the prince stepped forward pulling back his hood to reveal the most handsome young man the princess had ever seen.
Immediately, the princess turned away in her throne. She did not want someone as beautiful as him to have to behold her repulsive appearance, or smell her utterly putrid scent. However, the prince locked his eyes upon her, not flinching in the slightest.
"Your majesty, please allow me the honor of trying to undo this wretched thing that has befallen your daughter. It would be my greatest honor if only to try." The king nodded.
"Alright, but I must warn you that many others have come before you and have failed. A painful fate awaits you if you should follow in their steps." The king warned. The prince nodded in understanding. Instantly, the princess looked at him with the utmost concern. This one was kind. She did not want him to have to endure any kind of ill will because of her.
"Please, you do not have to do this. I could not bear it if you were harmed," the princess pleaded. The prince smiled reassuringly.
"Do not worry princess. This is what I want. Although, it gives me joy to hear your concern. However, it would give me the greatest joy if I could do this one small service for you." The haggard princess blushed despite her and watched as the enchanted nut was brought out before them. All held their breath as the prince picked the nut up off of its designated pillow. All eyes were fixed upon him. Slowly, the prince took a deep breath and placed the enchanted nut in his mouth. Out of habit, the king queen and princess shut their eyes tightly expecting to hear the pitiful screams of the prince before them. But as moments passed, nothing was heard except for the slight sound of something being crunched. Cautiously, the king, queen, princess, and even advisor opened their eyes to see that the prince was not writhing in pain, but was smiling holding the cracked nut n his hand, revealing the softer nut which was inside.
Everyone's faces lit, and cheers erupted from the king to even the guards. The nut had been cracked. This was indeed the prince that they had been waiting for. Tears of elated joy ran down both the queen and princess's face.
Slowly but ever surely, the prince mad his way toward the princess. Smiling, he knelt before her holding the softer nut out to her.
"I believe… that this belongs to you…" The prince whispered compassionately. Beaming, the princess gently took the nut from the kind prince and placed it into her mouth without ever losing eye contact with him. Yes, this was the prince that she wanted. Suddenly, as she ate the nut a blinding light erupted from all around her. It was so bright that everyone shrank back trying to cover their eyes. When the miraculous light subsided, the princess was revealed. Everyone who could see her gasped in awe. The princess was breath taking. All of her former beauty had returned to her, and then some she had not possessed. Shyly, she caught the prince's gaze.
It was love at first sight. There was no one else in the room. All the couple could see was each other.
"Thank you," the princess whispered. The prince merely smiled as he placed a chaste kiss on her palm.
"I'd do anything for you my princess," he whispered lovingly. Cheers erupted from all of the observers in the room. It wasn't long at all before news of the up coming wedding spread throughout the whole kingdom like wildfire. Such contagious news spread even into the bowels of the darkest of dungeons, and even farther into the hell hole in which the wicked witch now resided.
Upon hearing the wondrous news, the witch became enraged. She never actually thought that the princess would ever find her true love. It was a one in a million chance and to a prince no less! This situation had to be rectified immediately. That princess would suffer if it was the last thing she did. With a blast of her unnatural powers, the feeble iron bars that were holding her captive were blown to ashes. Furious, she stormed up to the throne room, a merciless fate coming to anyone who unknowingly crossed her in passing.
At that moment in time, the prince and princess were talking in a light hearted conversation about the brightness of their future together. The irony of their naivety was almost overwhelming. They were completely unaware of the certain doom that awaited them.
"So, I see that my little spell has been broken. What a shame, now that your envious beauty has returned to you. That perfection that you possess is almost inhuman. Like…like that of a young girl's doll." The witch's eyes lit with a malicious gleam as a sadistic grin played across her face. Immediately, the prince stood guard in front of his princess his sword drawn in defense. So this was the witch that had cursed his beloved. This time she would answer her crimes to his sword. The witch laughed at the sight of the prince and his weapon.
"How sweet, the little prince thinks that he can protect his princess. Ha! You can not keep her from me you stupid royal! Beautiful like a doll you are indeed, so a doll it is you will be!" The witched screamed in her insanity as dark bolts of energy shot from her passed directly past the prince and impacted the poor princess. Within seconds the princess was instantly transformed into precisely that of a small child's doll. The prince spun around in horror. He picked up the doll carefully and held it against his chest, his eyes belying the hysteria he felt.
"What have you done you evil wench! Turn her back this instant!" The prince screamed. The witch sneered and narrowed her gaze at him.
"And you, you must be the prince that broke my spell. What a kind heart you must have. I wonder what would happen if I were to take that away from you? Surely, you would act just like you dead princess. That does sound appealing. I seem to rather like the idea of a cold emotionless prince. It's so unbearably tragic. But, what could you possibly reign over in such a state." The witch actually looked thoughtful while the prince faced her defiantly. Her disgusting features lit as an idea popped into her mind.
"I know…you will be the prince of the toys, until that miserable heart of yours is returned. You cracked a nut to save your pitiful excuse for a princess, and you will do so for eternity until your heart beats with love for someone else. Fare well, nutcracker…" she whispered as more dark lightning shot forth and struck the poor prince. He writhed in agony as a shining pink orb of light came forth from his chest. In the process, the glass doll which was once the princess dropped from his careful arms, and fell to the floor shattering into a thousand pieces. Like the princess before him, he was transformed into that of a humble nutcracker. Because he was made of wood, the nutcracker prince survived the fall making a pathetic thud as it landed on the cold floor.
The witch cackled in delight. Her work was done.
"Now, no one can oppose me now! I will be queen and rule over this kingdom with an iron fist." A figure emerged from out of the shadows.
"The only queen you will be is the queen of the rats," the male voice commanded as golden energies encircled her transforming her into the hideous small beast. Once completed, the rat scurried away. Out from the shadows stepped the old advisor of the prince. As well as being the prince's advisor, the old man served as his kingdom's sorcerer.
Slowly, he approached the nutcracker, grieving over the gruesome death of the kind princess and the terrible curse that was placed on his prince. With his own magic, he was able to ease the curse, but was unable to break it.
"I am, so sorry my prince. I could not protect you," he whispered as he picked up the nutcracker.
Over the centuries, the sorcerer waited, searching for the true love of the prince. With his magic, he was able to create a small world for the prince to live in for the time being. However, it was not enough, and as the magic of the magician decreased so did the number of nights that the prince was able to come alive…
"So, what did you think?" Drosselmier inquired hesitantly. Sakura took one look at the nutcracker on the table and had to restrain herself from crying out.
"That was the most horrible thing I have ever heard! The princess died! How could the witch be so cruel and…and…the prince… He…he lost the love of his life. He lost everything and he was cursed…" Tears threatened to spill from Sakura's shining eyes. The tale rivaled the tragic lovers like Romeo and Juliet. It made her wonder why the tale was even told.
Seeing how the tale had made her so overwhelmed, Drosselmier took pity on the emotionally drained young woman, and wiped away the tears that couldn't seem to defy gravity.
"There there, it's alright." Drosselmier soothed. Taking a step back from him and mentally berating herself for becoming so stressed over a stupid fairytale, Sakura hastily wiped away the remainder of her tears. She forced a smile.
"I'm sorry for being so emotional. It's just I sometimes forget that all stories don't have a happy ending. This just happens to be one of them, and…I'm sorry for yelling at you like that," her voiced trailed off. Drosselmier gave a compassionate smile.
"No, don't apologize to me child that just tells me your heart is soft. One should never apologize for such a special gift. And about the story, I see it more as…unfinished. Someday, the prince will regain his heart, don't you worry."
There was a gleam in Drosselmier's eye that seemed to promise this ludicrous result. When her eyes questioned him, he simply shrugged and pulled something out of his coat pocket.
Sakura gasped. It was a beautiful golden locket in the shape of a heart. With deft hands, Drosselmier placed the locket around Sakura's stunned form.
"There you go my dear. I believe that should make up for the turmoil your poor heart has gone through this night." Sakura backed away from him trying to take the necklace off shaking her head violently.
"Oh no Mr. Drosselmier, I could never accept something so extravagant!" Sakura protested. But Drosslemier stilled her hands, and gave her a reassuring grin, the amber in his eyes almost hypnotizing her.
"I must insist that you keep this. I believe that this should belong to you. I know it will be kept safe that way." For the weirdest reason, Sakura would've sworn that he was talking about something else entirely. Before she could utter another word, Drosselmier was leading her towards the door.
"Now my dear, if there if anything else, here is my address. I believe it is time that I should be closing up." Sakura nodded and walked to the shop's mahogany door, stopping as she turned the handle. She glanced over at Drosselmier with a longing gaze.
"I'm really sorry about the nutcracker. I just…wish…that there was something that I could do to help. Goodnight Drosselmier." She ended stepping out into the frigid cold before shutting the door gently behind her. Drosselmier smirked as he glanced back at his precious nutcracker.
"Yes, my dear, I believe indeed you will…"