Once upon a time there was an artist who longed for love. He could never find a wife to meet his high standards, and the town began to scorn him, saying he would never find love. One day the artist created a flawless sculpture of a beautiful woman, and brought it to life with magic as to show he could find one to make him happy. As he spent time with the living sculpture, however, the artist fell in love with her, and the sculpture fell in love with her creator. Even when the magic wore off, their love still flowed…but the sculpture had to watch the artist as he lived his life without her, forever in pain at not being able to display his love to her.


Act 33: Fakir's Decision

(((Reminiscing with Grandmother)))

Fakir placed Ahiru on her blanket at the foot of his bed, stroking her feathers lightly as he bandaged her wing. Helios was on his desk, but Fakir had shifted him so that Helios's face was to the wall, thinking that was the best way to pretend he didn't know the prince was crying.

Ahiru shifted slightly in her sleep, a duck smile on her face.


Ahiru once again found herself at the lake. She peered at her duck reflection in the water, before looking up once again and seeing a familiar outline of a man dancing in the distance.

'Fakir!'

Ahiru ran on top of the lake over to him. Fakir looked down at her, his emerald eyes again filled with pain. The duck hated seeing such pain in her friend's eyes.

"Quack-qua quack?" she asked him in frantically worried quacks. "Quack, quack-qua quack?"

The writer bent down gracefully to sit beside her, not responding to her quacks at all and still staring at her with those lonely, sad eyes.

"Quack-qua-"

Ahiru stopped mid-sentence as Fakir picked her up. As soon as his fingers had touched her feathers, Ahiru felt herself growing until she was once again a girl wearing the yellow dress and winged pendent from her previous dream.

Fakir held Ahiru out at arm's length, his eyes sad as if he thought she was a dream that would fade when he woke up, before he leaned in close to Ahiru, pressing his lips to her forehead in the gentlest of kisses.

Ahiru's eyes were very wide, amazed both by Fakir's kiss and by the warmth that filled her heart as a result.

'Fakir…you…?'


"Quack…?" Ahiru murmured sleepily, her eyes peeking open.

Fakir smiled down at her as he put the roll of bandages back in his desk drawer. "Sleep well, baka?"

Ahiru gave a big duck yawn, before she gave Fakir a smile. "Quack-qua…"

She looked around, realizing she was back at Charon's. "Quack qua-quack qua?"

"Everything's fine," Fakir attempted to answer the question Ahiru had said but he didn't understand. "Helios is back here…Demi went back to Ruza…"

"Qua quack-quack quack quack," Ahiru argued, gesturing to Helios and then making the mime for love.

Fakir's face filled with penitence, and the duck figured out the answer to her statement: Helios hadn't been able to tell Demi how he felt for her.

Ahiru looked to Helios, her eyes sorrowful. "Quack…quack-quack qua?"

"I…I am all right, Ahiru-san," Helios assured her half-heartedly, speaking for the first time since they'd returned to Charon's. "It…it is obviously this way for a reason…a happy ending…was more than I had ever aspired to. At least Queen Nezumi's grief is put to rest…and Demi now has freedom to move as she wishes sometimes…she must be happy…if she is happy…I should be."

Fakir too looked sorry for Helios, but unlike Ahiru, austerity masked the regret. 'If I could write about Helios, I would change his story so that he broke his curse…but I can't write about anyone with a will besides Ahiru…'

Suddenly Charon's voice rang from downstairs.

"Fakir! There's someone here to see you!"

Fakir turned slightly to eye the door, both slightly curious and slightly irritated. "What on earth does the meddlesome Ruza want now?"

He sighed tiredly and then called back, "Send her up, Charon!"

'Is something wrong?' thought Ahiru. 'Maybe Ruza's here to help Helios-kun!'

Footsteps echoed up the stairs, before the door was pushed gently open.

Fakir turned to look at Madame Ruza, to find himself faced with someone else: a girl dressed in a plain dark blue dress with short chocolate hair, violet eyes and a serious-looking burn across her neck and down her left arm.

"Demi!" Helios choked in disbelief.

Ahiru quacked excitedly to see her friend, flapping to stand despite her wounds.

Demi bent down by the bed so she could give Ahiru a gentle hug, smiling warmly. "I'm very glad to see you too, Ahiru-chan."

"You're human again?" Fakir inquired, still a bit overwhelmed by this news.

Demi smiled at him, nodding eagerly. "Yes…"


Demi pushed hard against the caravan door until she finally succeeded in making it creak open. Madame Ruza was sitting in her spot at the table, her back to Demi. Her face was blank, almost as if Ruza wasn't sure how to feel.

Demi stepped up to the witch hesitantly, not knowing quite what to say.

"I never thought I'd see a puppet dancing by itself," Ruza finally stated, giving Demi a small smile. "Here was I, thinking I would have to tie strings to your limbs again upon your return…but no…you surprised me, Demi-chan."

Demi hesitated, and then said, "I had to; Fakir-sama had to write the story…"

"Yes," agreed Madame Ruza, "but only a puppet with real heart could've done what you did. I thought it was impossible for a puppet to feel such feelings."

Demi looked at the floor. "Well…I guess that's because I'm not a puppet at all."

Madame Ruza looked at Demi as if asking her to explain herself.

"I-I mean…I look like a puppet…and I move like a puppet…but I've been human all along. If I were really a puppet, I wouldn't have emotions…so if I were really a puppet, I couldn't have done what I did. I only did it because…I was so determined to rescue Prince Helios…because in my heart, I wanted nothing more than to help him, Ahiru-chan and Fakir-sama. I guess…though I may have called myself a puppet for so long…my heart is still a human's heart."

Madame Ruza stared at Demi for a long time, before her face broke into a smile.

"Cinderella was still Cinderella, even as a princess dancing with the prince," she murmured absently. "But she couldn't have lived happily with the prince if he only saw her as a princess…he had to love her for who she truly was."

And without a further explanation, Madame Ruza brandished her hand at Demi.

Demi felt herself being spun in a pirouette, faster and faster, feeling as if she was being stretched in an extra-gentle taffy machine as she danced, until finally she made herself stop and she looked at Madame Ruza in confusion.

Then Demi realized…she didn't have to look up at Ruza…for she was now taller than she was.

Demi gaped, looking down at her flesh hands in disbelief. "I…I'm…"

"You're human," Madame Ruza finished for her with a wry smile. "Now inside and out. After all, it's not like I can control you with you being so willful now."

Demi looked at her once-puppeteer, her eyes filling up with tears of joy. "Thank you, Madame Ruza…thank you so much."

"Nonsense," scorned Ruza lightly. "Now go…the prince will want to see you."

Demi's cheeks went pink, before she gave Ruza a nod and left the caravan.


"…Madame Ruza changed me back," Demi finished, her eyes shining.

Fakir smiled slightly. "Congratulations."

"Thank you, Fakir-sama," the once-puppet replied gratefully.

She then turned to look at Helios on Fakir's desk, her violet eyes becoming more serious. Demi stood up from the floor and walked over to him, before picking the him up and holding the Nutcracker close to her chest in a hug.

"W-what?" Helios stammered, both shocked and bashful by the movement.

Demi of course couldn't hear him. Her eyes were teary and mournful, reminding Ahiru of Rue's eyes when Mytho had been turned into a raven and Rue danced a sad pas de deux with him to convey to him how much he meant to her.

"I can't hear you," she murmured. "I have a feeling I won't be able to hear you again, even if Madame Ruza brings you to life, since I'm no longer a subject of her magic," she smiled through her tears, "But…at least…I can thank you."

Ahiru was ready to speak, but Fakir shot her a look, telling her not to interrupt.

"Without you, I wouldn't have found the drive to stand on my own. You helped me find my determination again after I lost all my confidence and strength when people criticized my dancing. You were kind to me when everyone else only saw me a puppet being controlled by Madame Ruza. Ahiru-chan, Fakir-sama and you are probably the only real friends I've ever had. I only wish I could give you the devotion and care you deserve, prince…I'd do anything if I could set you free too. You can't be happy until you're free to find happiness as the human you truly are…even if you look like a Nutcracker, you are a human at heart."

"Demi…" Helios's voice cracked, but only Fakir and Ahiru heard him.

"The truth is, my prince," Demi confessed quietly, looking both shy and sad, "after all that we've been through, Prince Helios, you've come to mean so much to me. You're brave and good-hearted and righteous and true…everything that makes you who you are…has become so precious to me. The truth is, Prince Helios…the truth is that I…I…I love you."

There was a forlorn silence. Then without warning, a burst of light shot from the wooden Helios. Demi, Fakir and Ahiru all shielded their eyes, the duck quacking in confused surprise and the puppet-turned-human dropping Helios in alarm.

The light raised Helios up into the air, covering him with wings like those of the robin that created Komadori. Amongst the light, the toy grew, his legs becoming muscled, his hands becoming mobile, until even his face was that of a human.

When the light finally died away, a man stood in the Nutcracker's place: a man dressed in a red and gold uniform and gold crown with semi-long light brown hair, gentle silver-gray eyes and four claw marks across his cheek.

Helios, now human once more, held his head in his hand as if it were in pain. Demi almost moved toward him, but quavered when Helios lifted his head, as if afraid to touch him. The prince, however, looked up at her and smiled.

"Thank you, Demi."

Demi's violet eyes were very wide. "…Prince Helios?"

Helios took her hand. "Yes…I needed one to love me as the Nutcracker as I was."

"You needed someone…to love you?" Demi repeated.

Helios nodded. "I believed it to be impossible…but you did it! You set me free."

"I set you free?" said Demi, her mind unable to grasp what had just happened.

"Yes, Demi," assented Helios, amused by her disbelief. "It seems your romantic monologue was enough to break my curse."

Demi stared at him for a long time, before she burst out laughing, so overwhelmed by it all.


Fakir sat on the ladder propped up on a bookcase at the library, skimming the pages of a book he had read many times before.

Helios had invited Demi to accompany him back to his kingdom as his princess, and she had accepted by practically tackling him and kissing him. The two had driven back toward Theia in a carriage led by white horses, waving goodbye to Ahiru and Fakir and promising to write to them.

Ahiru very visibly missed her friends after their departure the previous week, and Fakir did as well; however, the writer found himself more troubled about Demi ending her and Helios's story than in her and Helios leaving.

'I titled Helios's and Demi's story "The Will of a Puppet,"' Fakir thought to himself. 'Everything in the story changed because of Demi's will…she was supposed to be helpless, unable to influence the story at all…'

Ahiru's voice echoed through his memory.

"If I could help Mytho, I wouldn't be asking this of you, Fakir…but right now I can't do anything!"

'Yet…Demi still fought for Helios…despite all odds and accepting the fact she would make mistakes and get hurt...'

Again Ahiru's voice replied to his thoughts.

"I will not just stand by and decide I can't do anything!"

'And with her human will, she was able to fight, and eventually Madame Ruza turned her back so she could live her human life.'

This time Demi's words to Helios rose to the top of his memory.

"You can't be happy until you're free to find happiness as the human you truly are…even if you look like a Nutcracker, you are a human at heart."

'A human at heart…'

Fakir turned the page in the book in his hands, just as he had many times before, both as a child and as a knight struggling to protect the prince the book depicted. The Prince and the Raven had many detailed illustrations that ran alongside the detailed story; one that Fakir had observed often was that of Lohengrin, the prince's knight and his past self, being slashed in half by a raven's claw. The illustration Fakir had turned to, however, was instead of a blond boy sitting on the floor and listening to the tale of a white-haired man: a tale that brought the heroine, Princess Tutu, to life in the boy's imagination.

'Tutu…Ahiru…'

Fakir visualized the petite girl with a long red braid and ocean-blue eyes that the yellow duck had become when he first knew her: the girl that he would never admit to anyone that he loved.

'I can't continue Ahiru's story…I've tried everything…she's a duck…but…'

Dancing with Ahiru in the Lake of Despair was still fresh in Fakir's mind.

'…Her heart is human.'

Making up his mind, Fakir closed The Prince and the Raven and put it back on the shelf, before heading out of the bookstore.

As he walked out, however, Fakir found himself walking straight into Madame Ruza, who had been waiting for him outside. Her face was grim.

"So…you've decided to write her a story with your own power, Fakir-chan?"

Fakir glared at her as if to dare her to question his decision. "Yes. I have."

Madame Ruza did not attempt to scold him, and instead nodded too. Nonetheless, she reminded him in a warning sort of tone, "Remember, young writer…Drosslemeyer lost everything when he wrote stories with only his power…and stories, although one, Fakir-chan, often repeat-"

"I am not Drosslemeyer," Fakir interrupted gruffly, brushing past her. "I have a reason not to let myself become him."

Madame Ruza looked slightly sorry for the writer. "I know your parents' deaths have hurt you, Fakir-chan…but memories sometimes aren't enough."

"Then it's a good thing my reason is not their deaths," Fakir answered quietly. "My reason is to protect those I care about."

And with that, the writer started back toward Charon's.

Madame Ruza watched him leave, at first looking sad; then she smiled slightly.

"Good luck to you, young writer."


"My, my!" Drosslemeyer cried as he turned from the gear image of Ruza to the one of the determined Fakir. "So the knight has decided to experiment with his own power to try and give Ahiru-chan a happy ending! There was one twist I hadn't expected…then again, all stories happen for a reason…I see, the reason for Helios-baka's happy ending was to give the knight motivation to change Ahiru-chan's story! I suppose I can accept that happy ending, then, if it prompts the misfortune the knight will end up bringing about! Ha, ha, ha…"


Rue looked out of the royal carriage at the place she and Mytho were approaching, to have her eyes meet the sight of white marble ruins overridden with vines and splattered with red liquid that must have been blood.


"Prince Siegfried," the royal attendant stated Mytho's real name stiffly.

"You've prepared everything, Gachou?" Mytho asked in response.

"Yes, Your Majesty."

"Very well then…Rue and I must go and see what's left."


Rue turned to Mytho, her scarlet eyes full of slight concern. "Ouji…is this…?"

Mytho nodded grimly, eyeing the castle ruins out the window sadly. "Welcome to Cygnus…the kingdom of my mother and father."


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


Name Notes:

Gachou - "goose" in Japanese

Cygnus - name of a northern constellation; Latin for "swan"

Music Notes:

"Father Christmas": starts when Demi's footsteps echo up the stairs toward Fakir's room, with Helios realizing "Demi!" at 0:19. Demi's flashback starts at 0:33, with the music pausing as Ruza starts to talk at 0:44. The music starts again when Demi recurs that Ruza changed her back; she turns to Helios at 0:52 and embraces him at 1:02. Demi starts her "I can't hear you" chain of speech at 1:11, Ahiru tries to speak at 1:32, and Demi continues at 1:35. Demi finishes her love confession at 2:49, the light shoots out from Helios at 2:56 and Helios is revealed human once more as the piece ends.

"Reminiscing with Grandmother": starts as "Father Christmas" ends as Helios holds his head. The speech between Helios and Demi is very slow, with Helios's last statement ending at 0:50 and Demi laughing at 1:06, and then the piece moves to Fakir at the library. The music pauses at 1:30 as Fakir thinks about 'The Will of a Puppet', before coming back as Fakir turns the page in 'The Prince and the Raven.' Fakir closes the book at 2:08 and faces Ruza at 2:25. Fakir says his reason is to protect at 2:55, and Ruza whispers her wish of luck to Fakir before 3:05.

The piece "Father Christmas" is from "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe" soundtrack.

The piece "Reminiscing with Grandmother" is from the "Anastasia" soundtrack.