Meanwhile...
"It's what's left of the Gingerbread Village," Nutcracker told the girls as they came to a nearly dying part of the world. "The Mouse King's work, no doubt. I didn't know things had gotten this bad."
"We just have to find the Sugarplum Princesses and they'll defeat him." Estelle said.
Clara found a doll and smiled, she decided to take it. A horse was suddenly heard as well that looked alarmed.
"Steady," Clara soothed the horse. "We won't hurt you."
There were snowballs thrown, which alarmed the Nutcracker. "It's an ambush! Take cover!"
"Wait, I don't think we need to worry." Estelle said.
The three looked up and there was a blonde boy in a gingerbread man like outfit and a girl in what looked like peppermint base.
"It's alright, they're just children," Nutcracker calmed down until one of the snowballs hit his hat off. "With very good aim."
"Clara, I think that girl wants her doll back." Estelle suggested.
"We found this," Clara showed the doll to the kids. "Is she yours?"
"Patty!" the peppermint girl ran over and hugged her doll once she had it back.
"What happened here?" Estelle asked the peppermint girl.
"We went out with Marzipan to gather candle berries." the peppermint girl started.
"We came back and everything..." the gingerbread boy added.
"...and everyone..."
"...were gone!"
"It was the Mouse King's army!"
"This is all Prince Eric's fault!" the gingerbread boy scowled.
"Prince Eric?" The girls asked, not knowing who Prince Eric was.
"The son of the King who ruled before the Mouse took over." Nutcracker explained to them.
"Yeah, but he wasn't much of a prince." the gingerbread boy pouted.
"The King left his throne and the golden scepter to his Royal Adviser." the Nutcracker continued.
"The mouse." the peppermint girl added in.
"Until the Price could prove himself worthy."
"Let me guess, the mouse decided he liked being king, but what happened to Prince Eric?" Estelle asked, she wasn't as advanced, but used her detective knowledge from her father to help this case.
"Don't know, don't care." the gingerbread boy scoffed.
"We're better off without him." the peppermint girl added.
"It's dangerous here," Nutcracker said. "We'll travel together until we can find you a safe home."
"Agreed, let's just hope the Mouse King hasn't found out that we're here yet." Estelle said.
The mice tried to get to a pink horse with golden mane as it escaped.
"There they are!" one mouse called. "Come on!"
"Come on, into the woods!" Clara called before they escaped to the forest, they couldn't get captured.
"Let's hope that those mice are too scared to go into the forest." Estelle hoped.
"They're getting closer!" the peppermint girl cried as they kept running, the mice kept chasing them with no such luck of being scared.
A rope-ladder hung down and there was a figure.
"Up here!" the figure called.
"Get them!" one of the mice yelled out.
Nutcracker let the others go first before he did and the figure put the rope-ladder away once he was with them.
"Is everyone alright?" Nutcracker asked.
Clara looked frozen once they were surrounded by armed villagers. "I'm not really sure."
"I think we have company." Estelle said, scared.
"Well, what do we have here?" one man who looked like a guard asked sharply.
"A wooden spy?" the other man, who looked like a prince, snorted. "Some new kind of Mouse King trap?"
"Kidnappers as well..." the man suggested, looking to the sweet kids.
"No, they helped us!" the peppermint girl cried.
"If you have nothing to hide, you won't mind answering a few questions." one man said firmly.
"Come children," the guard man said to the peppermint girl and gingerbread boy. "Marsha will take care of you... Let's start with who you are and what you're doing here."
"I'm Nutcracker, these are Clara and Estelle," the wooden man introduced. "We're all victims of the Mouse King's magic."
"He's telling the truth." Estelle added.
The villagers then gasped as soon as they saw the pink ballet shoes that Estelle was wearing.
"It was told to me by Prince Eric himself so we can find the Sugarplum Princesses." Nutcracker added.
"HA! Prince Eric!? He's the reason we're in this mess. If it weren't for that reckless boy, the Mouse King wouldn't be turning everyone into knick-knacks." one of the men scoffed.
"You make the Prince sound awful." Estelle frowned.
Awful? That's a compliment. He was useless, lazy, and irresponsible..." the other man laughed.
"Major Mint, you're forgetting that Prince Eric was my friend." the guard reminded the other.
"Captain Candy, you're forgetting that I am your superior," the other man retorted to him. "I had high hopes for that boy. Oh, no matter. I've got more important things to think about, like... keeping what's left of our subjects safe from the Mouse King!"
This guy seemed to think that he was better than the guard, at least that's what Estelle thought.
"Then perhaps you should be looking for the princesses as well." Clara told Mint.
"I don't have time to search for some 'Sugarpies'... Well, whatever." Mint scoffed.
"Sugarplum." the girls corrected him.
"Imaginary Princesses." Mint spat at them.
"Wait, Major!" Candy called out. "They may be telling the truth. I once overheard the King telling Prince Eric about these powerful Princesses. The King himself believed in their magic. And we've tried everything else to defeat the mouse."
"Do you know they are?" Mint asked the group, now starting to believe them.
"We've learned they're on an island, across the Sea of Storms." Nutcracker informed of what the owl told them at Clara's place.
"Oh, very well, we'll all go looking for the Sugarplum Princesses," Mint agreed, on one condition. "But I'll be in charge of the expedition!"
"Of course." Nutcracker agreed.
"Alright." Estelle said.
"Do you know what became of Prince Eric?" Candy asked.
"The Mouse King destroyed him." Nutcracker replied gravely.
Clara and Estelle looked worried, but they were willing to face this Mouse King and bring him down so Parenthia won't have to live in fear anymore.
Overtime, Cherry looked and became more and more hungry, she also couldn't sense a drop of blood she could willingly feed on someone for miles. And then her door opened and someone brought her some food and also a live mouse. Cherry looked up, a little flinchy and twitchy, she nearly looked more like an animal herself than the mice who trapped her here did. She came from the cube as the plate was placed down in front of her, she didn't care what the food was, she could eat anything, she viciously devoured the platter, not even thanking whoever gave it to her.
"You're welcome, I'm sorry I can't free you yet, but don't worry, help will come soon." A voice said before leaving her and closing the door.
Cherry blinked at the friendly gesture, but she kept eating. She still felt hungry after she ate, she caught the door before it closed and overheard the Mouse King talking with his lackeys.
"So, you're telling me that the Nutcracker, a wooden utensil, managed to escape a well-armed fighting squadron unharmed? And instead of fleeing into the hills, you chose to return to me and report your incompetence..." the Mouse King taunted them for their failed assignment.
"Uh-huh..." one mouse squeaked.
The other one gulped, frightened of what he would do to them.
"Why don't you just blast 'em with your scepter, Sire?" the bat suggested.
The Mouse King turned his scepter into a sword, but before he could do anything, he saw Cherry lunge over and eat the mice, swallowing them whole after she had taken their blood, she wiped her mouth and felt better, now more full. Such violence.
"That works too." the Mouse King smirked.
The bat was more afraid of Cherry now than he used to be. Cherry wiped her mouth from the blood and picked her teeth with one of the bones. She also hoped this would make the Mouse King afraid of her and he would forget about trying to marry her.
"You shall still be my wife." The Mouse King said.
"Merde..." Cherry growled, cursing in French under her breath, snapping the bone in half with her bare hand.
"Now... I must find out about these Sugarplum Princesses..." the Mouse King went to his shelf, taking out a book.
"Who?" Cherry asked, not even looking alarmed when she plucked out a severed ear from her mouth, she tossed it over to Pimm to scare off the fruit bat.
"The Sugarplum Princesses," the Mouse King repeated. He opened the book and read about the princesses. "'The Sugarplum Princesses: Kind, clever, and brave'..." he then looked quickly disappointed. "That's it?"
"Ooh, scary..." Cherry mocked as she held her full stomach, at least she wasn't forced to sit on an ice cube anymore, at least, not now...
"Where are they!?" the Mouse King kept looking for an answer, but then dropped the book, angered with it, he then laughed as he now had an idea. "I suppose I'll just have to reduce the Nutcracker to a pile of splinters before he can find them..." he took out his scepter to make another spell to make a rock giant. "'Rock that will walk, destroy whom I seek, carnage and havoc will be yours to wreak!'"
Pimm squeaked, frightened again.
"FIND THE WOODEN MAN AND CRUSH HIM!" the Mouse King demanded.
The rock giant walked away then to do as told. Primm came out of his hiding place to see where it was going.
"Follow him, Pimmie," the Mouse King demanded sharply. "He's a bit rough around the edges and may need some guidance."
"You want me to babysit a rock?" Pimm scoffed.
The Mouse King raised his scepter threateningly.
"Alright, alright, better than being a rock..." Pimm agreed and flew off.
Cherry was about to go with him, but was caught back instantly.
"Oh no, you don't, my dear." The Mouse King said.
Cherry blinked to him, she grabbed one of his whiskers and slowly pulled on it until it plucked right out.
"OWCH!" the Mouse King held his nose, sniffling, then looked to her. "You're a feisty one, but I won't let you get away..."
Back in the village...
"What about Marzipan?" the peppermint girl asked, worried about the horse.
"I'm sure she'll be fine," Clara soothed. "And you'll be staying here with Marsha until we get back."
"Okay?" Estelle added.
"Okay..." the peppermint girl sighed.
"Good night, girls!" the peppermint girl and gingerbread boy called as it was time to set up camp for the night.
"Good night!" The girls called as they went to join Nutcracker.
"Can't sleep?" Clara asked Nutcracker.
"I'm a nutcracker," he told them. "Sleep seems kind of pointless."
Clara and Estelle however found out something about him that no one else really knew.
"You're more than a nutcracker, Prince Eric," Clara said. "Why haven't you told anyone?"
"I-I didn't want to be the price when I had the chance... Now I don't deserve to be." Nutcracker sighed sadly.
"How can you think that?" Estelle asked.
"She's right," Clara agreed. "You're risking your life to save your kingdom. Isn't that what princes do?"
Nutcracker looked at them, still having hurt feelings. "But my subjects think less of me than they do the Mouse King. My only hope is to find the Sugarplum Princesses so they can help me restore my peoples' happiness. I owe them that." he then got up and left the girls alone.
"I just know that he is a true prince, he's just being too hard on himself." Estelle said.
"He's been through so much... We still have to help him..." Clara said as she was getting tired. "Well... I'm gonna go to sleep."
"Okay, good night, Clara." Estelle soothed.
"Good night, Estelle."
"Clara?"
"Hmm?"
"Do you think we'll find the Sugarplum Princesses soon?"
"I'm sure of it..."
The girls then got some sleep until the next morning. They next morning they would continue their adventure.