Once upon a time there was a girl. She was beautiful, kind and intelligent, yet when she was born, a fortune taller had predicted her future, saying that she would be the main character of a story and then be killed by a team of two. Determined to prevent their daughter's death, her parents locked her away in her room and killed anyone that came near. Eventually, the parents became so bitter of their precious daughter barring them from normal lives, that they killed her themselves. But was the daughter's fate written by her slavery or by her parents' protection?


Act 30: The Disappearance

(((The Invisibility Cloak and the Library Scene)))

Night had fallen, and Fakir was still at his desk, his quill just barely touching the paper on the dark wood as he tried to continue Helios's story.

'Why can't I make myself write…?' he thought in aggravation, resting his forehead on his left hand as his left elbow rested on the desk.

He looked back at Ahiru lying on a blanket folded at the foot of his bed, and smiled slightly seeing her peacefully dreaming face.

"It is late, Fakir-san," murmured Helios from his spot on the left corner of his desk. "Maybe you should end your session and resume work in the morning."

Fakir sighed and put down his quill, biting back a yawn. "I think that might be a good idea, at this rate…"

He got up from his chair and headed toward the bed, before stopping as if he'd remembered something and looking back at Helios.

"I am not physically able to sleep," Helios answered his unspoken question. "But do not concern yourself, Fakir-san. Daydreaming can sometimes be more enthralling than actually dreaming…believe me, I have had plenty of practice."

Fakir nodded understandingly, before pulling the blankets up gently as not to disturb the sleeping Ahiru, climbing under them and turning over to fall asleep.

Helios sighed to himself as he watched Fakir and Ahiru sleep. 'But daydreams are much easier to fall out of…'

His thoughts turned to Madame Ruza's ballerina puppet, Demi; if the Nutcracker's face weren't inanimate, he likely would've blushed lightly.

'Demi-san is very kind-hearted, and very beautiful…but she is so hesitant. It is like she fears to try anything out of her normal life. Then again, I suppose we all could relate to that once and a while.'

There was a sudden scratching near the wall that made Helios's heart skip a beat, but the prince ignored it, knowing any normal noise sounded scarier at night.

'Her dancing was full of longing, as if she wishes for more than what she has…so why is she still a puppet? Madame Ruza could hold no power over her if Demi-san was determined enough…what am I saying? Of course Demi-san is not determined enough to fight back against Ruza's power…why would she fight back against something that makes everyone happy?'

There was a quick scuttle across the floor. Helios's sight went toward the spot and swore he could've seen something, but forced it from his mind.

'Stop it, Helios…don't let yourself get spooked because of some noises. You are not a little child scared of the dark.'

Another scurry came from around Fakir's desk; if Helios could move, he likely would've jumped.

'But…but that sound…' he thought fearfully. 'It sounds just like…'


Tiny furry black-brown creatures scampered around little Clara, cutting her off from the doorways. The young girl was shaking all over in terror.

'I've got to help her!' Helios thought. 'I've got to save her from the-'


'Mice,' Helios realized.

And with a scuttling sound and a crowding of mice around the left corner of the desk, the Nutcracker was gone.


The mist around the lake was so dense and dreamy that it almost cut the lake off from the rest of the world. Ahiru stepped toward the lake and looked at her reflection in its waters.

'Hmm…my true self…a duck.'

Gentle music suddenly became apparent, and Ahiru looked up to see a male figure dancing on the lake in the distance.

'Fakir?' the duck realized, noting the figure's long hair and tall frame.

Fakir's arms bent inward toward his heart, his head bowed as if in pain, as his leg circled back en dehors and then returned to the ground so his feet were in third position.

'Fakir's…in pain?' Ahiru thought in both alarm and worry.

She flapped over to him, but as soon as her webbed foot touched the water, she felt herself growing until she was tall enough to see Fakir as a human would.

A human…

Ahiru looked at her wings, to find they weren't wings at all; they were hands.

'I'm a girl again…?'

She looked at her reflection; she looked just like she had as a girl, although her long red hair was tied up in a bun and she wore a very pale yellow dress with a wide skirt. She no longer wore her Princess Tutu pendant, though; in its place was a necklace with a pendant of two extended white-feathered wings.

Ahiru tried to call out to Fakir, but her voice stuck in her throat as Fakir turned to her. His emerald orbs held a similar pain to that Ahiru had seen so many times in Mytho's eyes before his heart was returned to him.

'Fakir,' Ahiru thought, her heart aching at the look in his eyes. 'What is making you hurt so much?'

Before Ahiru knew what was happening, Fakir had moved gracefully to her side, moved behind her and wrapped his arms around her tenderly.

Ahiru blushed. 'F-Fakir?'

His arms were warm, just like they had been when Fakir had picked her up as a duck so long ago when she was crying for him; Ahiru involuntarily relaxed into his touch.

Just then a teardrop fell from above Ahiru's head, landing on the lake's surface with a very tiny splash.

Ahiru looked up in worry at Fakir, whose eyes were wet with tears of unfulfilled dreams, but whose mouth was still forced upward in a smile of normality.

'Fakir…!'


"Quack!"

Ahiru woke up with a start on the edge of Fakir's bed at Charon's house.

'Ah…' she thought to herself in relief. 'Just a dream…'

She looked to the head of the bed, to find Fakir was still asleep, his head underneath his covers.

'Good thing he's such a hard sleeper!' Ahiru thought with a smile.

The duck looked up at the window to find sunlight pouring through it.

'It's already morning,' she thought. 'I'm surprised he hasn't woken me up already! I guess he worked late last night on Helios-kun's story…'

"Fakir!" Charon's voice called from downstairs. "Ahiru! Time for breakfast!"

Ahiru jumped off the bed, ready to go downstairs, but noticed Fakir hadn't responded to Charon's voice at all.

The duck climbed up onto the edge of the bed and found the edge of the blankets before ducking under them to find Fakir underneath.

"Quack," she told her friend quietly as she scurried around his arm and toward his face. "Quack."

Fakir moaned in his sleep, turning over so that his back was facing her. Ahiru snorted in slight irritation.

"Quack," she scolded as she climbed over his shoulder so she was facing him again. "Quack-quack…QUACK!"

Fakir had shoved her off the bed, pulling the covers around him more tightly and growling in annoyance.

"Quack-quack!" Ahiru snapped, flapping back up onto the bed and starting to peck at his head underneath the covers. "Quack, quack, quack, quack, quack-"

"Alright!" retorted Fakir as he pulled the covers off of himself and glared at her. "I'm up! You happy?"

"Quack…" Ahiru answered in an irked fashion.

"C'mon you two!" called Charon from downstairs. "Breakfast!"

Fakir eyed the door in confusion, before he rubbed his eye and looked at Ahiru in slight regret. "Ah…I see. You were calling me for breakfast?"

"Quack."

"Sorry."

Fakir climbed out of from under the blankets, stretching slightly.

"I guess I just worked too late last night…threw me off schedule."

"Quack quack-quack quack?" inquired Ahiru.

"I was working on Helios's story," Fakir replied, guessing her meaning.

Ahiru nodded with a quack, and Fakir assumed she had figured as much.

"It's harder than I thought it would be," he commented. "I suppose it's because I've never been able to write a story about someone I knew personally…except for you, obviously."

"Quack…"

'That's understandable,' Ahiru thought to herself. 'Fakir wasn't even able to write about Mytho during the Prince and the Raven, even if he wanted to…'

Fakir stood up, smiling at Ahiru before turning his head to look toward his desk. "I suppose you can't eat either, H-?"

He stared. Helios wasn't in the place he'd left him last night.

Ahiru's eyes widened, realizing something was wrong. The writer rushed over to the desk, looking behind it and around it, trying to find the Nutcracker.

"Helios! Where are you?"

"Quack?" Ahiru called, flapping around other parts of the room. "Quack-quack!"

At finding no trace of him, Fakir jerked down the stairs, Ahiru behind him, to find the middle-aged antique seller that was Fakir's guardian, Charon, putting breakfast on the table.

"Charon!" Fakir said, his voice coarse. "Did you do anything with the Nutcracker I brought in here yesterday?"

Charon blinked. "No…Fakir, what is this a-?"

"No time to explain!" Fakir interrupted him, brushing past him and running out the door as if he was in a marathon.

"Quack!" cried Ahiru, taking off after him. "Quack quack-quack qua?"

"We're going to Madame Ruza's," Fakir growled his answer, not slowing his running pace.

"Quack?" asked Ahiru.

"Either she did something, or she's such a show-off she already knows what's going on!" Fakir answered crossly.

The writer paid no mind to the stares the townspeople were giving them as he and Ahiru ran in the direction of Madame Ruza's caravan. Of course, to be fair, a teenager running through town in only a nightshirt and shorts and being followed by a duck would look strange to anybody.

When they reached Madame Ruza's caravan door, Fakir didn't even knock; he just threw the door open.

"Out with it, Ruza!" he snapped at the middle-aged witch. "Where is he?"

Madame Ruza looked up at Fakir from her spot at the table in the main room. She was holding Demi in her hands, obviously trying to untangle some of her puppet strings.

"You think just because I'm a witch and I know you're coming, I don't deserve courtesy, Fakir-chan?" Madame Ruza inquired lightly.

"Don't play games with me, Ruza," Fakir snapped, his eyes flashing. "Where is Helios? I know you know."

"I do," Madame Ruza admitted. "I knew this would happen, I admit it."

"Quack?" Ahiru quacked in surprise.

"And you didn't say anything," Fakir hissed vehemently, his eyes narrowing to slits. "I knew you couldn't be trusted."

"I told you, Fakir-chan, I am no villain," Madame Ruza stated calmly. "You wanted the story to progress, didn't you? If so, your protection of Helios had to be lifted. You couldn't hope to do anything while he was trapped in your house, just as Helios couldn't have escaped his fate at the end of 'The Nutcracker,' if Fritz hadn't knocked him out the window."

There was a slight silence in which Fakir and Madame Ruza held eye contact, Ahiru looking worriedly from Fakir glaring with nothing less than contempt, to Madame Ruza eyeing him in a mildly reproachful way.

"Where is he?" Fakir demanded once again, but in a quieter voice.

"He has been taken by Queen Nezumi's army into the Kingdom of Mice," Madame Ruza replied mildly.

"Quack?" asked Ahiru, sounding confused.

"The Kingdom of Mice?" Fakir repeated, echoing her question.

Madame Ruza nodded. "It lies far below Kinkan Town, in the dirtiest of sewers…and, obviously, is inhabited by mice."

"Qua quack?" Ahiru inquired.

Obviously knowing enough of the future to know the duck was asking why, Madame Ruza explained, "Queen Nezumi is consumed by the grief of losing her husband, the Mouse King Anatole."

Fakir's eyes widened. "The Mouse King…"


"When Clara was threatened by the horrible Mouse King, the Nutcracker prince defended her and killed the menace…"


The writer's eyes narrowed. "Helios, that baka! Why did he have to kill him in the first place? Making things difficult…"

"Because Drosslemeyer wanted him to," Madame Ruza pointed out. "Drosslemeyer makes everything appear less complicated than it really is. Drosslemeyer made Prince Helios see King Anatole as an evil mouse trying to kill the innocent Clara, while King Anatole saw something else entirely."

"Quack-quack!" Ahiru told Fakir determinedly, miming writing and then herself. "Quack quack quack, quack quack!"

Fakir stared at her, looking uncertain. "You want me to write about you again to save Helios? Are you sure?"

Ahiru nodded with another resolute "Quack."

Fakir smiled and gave her a single, supportive nod. "All right, Ahiru. We'll combine our power again, then."

"Quack," agreed Ahiru, giving a duck's smile.

Madame Ruza's head shot up right then as if she had heard something, and turned in the direction of Demi.

"What's that, Demi-chan?"

She listened for a moment before scolding, "What? Demi-chan, what nonsense you're spewing this morning! It's much too dangerous, you're too-" she stopped as she had been interrupted. "You're a ballerina, Demi-chan, not a soldier!" she paused as if listening again, before heaving a great sigh and muttering, "Oh very well, Demi-chan…if you're so determined to go off and be a heroine…"

The witch reached into a pouch on her belt and sprinkled a large handful of magic dust on the ballerina puppet, and Demi twitched and stretched, smiling at being able to move again.

"Thank you, Madame Ruza," she murmured, giving her classic curtsy-like plié.

Madame Ruza scoffed gently, taking a pair of scissors and cutting off her strings so Demi wouldn't continue to trip on them. "Nonsense, dear…it's what I do."

She then took the bag of magic dust off her belt and tied the strings around Demi's arms so the bag could rest comfortably on her back like a backpack.

"Sprinkle the rest of that on the prince when you find him," Madame Ruza told her. "But remember, my magic only lasts so long…I think you will only have an hour, judging by how much dust I put on you."

Demi nodded, before turning to Ahiru.

"Should we go then, Ahiru-chan?" she asked hesitantly.

The small duck quacked positively in response.

The ballerina puppet leaped from the table in an imperfect sauté. Ahiru leapt after her onto the floor, before the two raced outside to find an entrance to the sewers. Meanwhile Madame Ruza placed a quill and some paper on the table, and Fakir sat down and started to write.


"So the duck and the puppet start off to rescue the prince from the Mouse Queen!" Drosslemeyer crowed. "And the knight sits around writing…seems useless at first glance, but no! The useless knight never can seem to fulfill his role, can he?"

His eyes traveled from the gear image of Fakir, to the gear image of Ahiru and Demi climbing down a wire ladder into the murky sewers and finally to the gear image of Nezumi glaring heartlessly at a rope-bound Helios.

"Oh, the story unwinding! What action! What adventure! What foolishness! Can you rescue Helios-baka from Nezumi, Ahiru-chan? Or, more importantly, can you rescue Nezumi from herself? Heh, heh, heh…"


I'm afraid that is all for today. Is a fun story awaiting us? A sad story? Or maybe…?


Music Notes:

"The Invisibility Cloak and the Library Scene": starts as Fakir falls asleep. The mice's first scuttle is at 0:41. Helios is taken at 1:04, and the scene moves to Ahiru's dream. Ahiru notices Fakir at 1:17. Fakir's tear falls at 2:30; Ahiru looks at him, and the dream ends at 2:36, where the music pauses, and then picks up again when Fakir turns to look at his desk and sees Helios is missing. The music ends after Fakir bursts into Madame Ruza's caravan.

"Platform Nine-and-Three-Quarters/The Journey to Hogwarts": starts when Charon calls Ahiru and Fakir down for breakfast. Fakir pulls covers off himself at 0:39, and the music ends as Fakir apologizes at 0:52.

"Diagon Alley/Gringotts Vault": starts when Madame Ruza sprinkles the magic dust on Demi. Madame Ruza warns her of the lack of time at 0:25, Demi jumps off the table with Ahiru at 0:32 and the music stops at 0:36 as the two run out the caravan door.

The pieces "The Invisibility Cloak and the Library Scene,""Platform Nine-and-Three-Quarters/The Journey to Hogwarts," and "Diagon Alley/Gringotts Vault," are from the "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" soundtrack.