Chibiusa and Duck glanced around at their classmates milling about in the courtyard. Their movements seemed less natural than before, almost as if they weren't real people. Even the people they'd been associating with the last month seemed almost robotic.
"This is kinda unsettling," Duck admitted.
"It's like they've all suddenly become dolls," Chibiusa agreed. "It really is Coppelia." She frowned a bit. "How do we even find the tanuki among all the people? He could be hiding anywhere."
"Well Fakir said that he had Miss Edel keep him busy," Duck recalled, "so maybe if we find Miss Edel, we can find the tanuki." A faint tune caught her attention. "Do you hear that? It sounds like a dying piano."
"I do," Chibiusa knit her brow in concern. "What is that?"
"It sounds like it's coming from the garden!" Duck darted off down the courtyard, rounding the dance studio. She ran passed the gardens that Freya cared for, past the fountain where Duck often found herself turning back to a girl in the previous story, and towards the gazebo where the group had celebrated Chibiusa's return to life.
There in the center of the gazebo was a pile of wood in colors of browns, reds, and greens with a pair of hands that were cranking a badly damaged barrel organ.
"Miss Edel!" Duck gasped. Dashing over to the gazebo, she knelt down at the pile of wood. Behind the pile was most of Edel's head. Chibiusa nearly jumped out of her shoes as the head turned.
"It seems I was able to guide you once again," Edel commented, unfazed that she was now mostly chopped wood.
"Miss Edel!" Duck looked like she would cry.
"Do not cry for me, Duck, for I am still just a puppet," Edel insisted.
"But you were our friend," Duck pursed her lips together.
"I have lived my purpose," Edel countered. "Now it is time to finish yours."
"Thank you, Miss Edel," Chibiusa offered the wooden head a bow. "We'll end this story right, thanks to your help."
"I am just doing as I was written to do," Edel countered with a singsong voice.
Chibiusa grinned. "I'm certain there's more to it than that." She patted Duck on the shoulder. "We should go. It's time we end this story." She was sad to speak the words again. Ending the story meant she would have to say goodbye to Duck and Fakir and everyone she'd met at the Gold Crown Academy. But she knew that she couldn't live in this story forever. It wasn't real. She had to return to her own home, and the others had to return to theirs.
Silently Duck agreed. She had to return to her true self, even if it meant missing Chibiusa, Diana, and Helios. She had to be true to herself and have one last dance.
Their classmates and fellow students began to gather around. Even some of the teachers like Mr. Cat and Miss Kitter had been pulled into the crowd. Their movements were stiff and disjointed, as if the person pulling the strings wasn't actually good at doing it. Not that Chibiusa had truly expected a tanuki to be good at puppeteering.
In a flash of feathers and light, Duck transformed into Tutu, leaping upwards on top of the gazebo. Chibiusa followed suit, transforming into Chibi Moon in a burst of glitter and ribbons.
"I can hear Fakir," Tutu closed her eyes, listening for a moment.
Chibi Moon closed her eyes for a moment. "I can hear Helios praying for us. We're not alone. We have their strength. It's time we bring this story to a close with our own hands."
This felt all too familiar. The Raven had done something similar, pulling the people of the town towards him and turning them into crows. The story had gone a bit differently then, however. She'd surrendered her heart shard to Mytho so he could become complete. This time, the power in her pendant came from Fakir's writing and her own desire to help stop the errant stories.
Carefully on the gazebo roof, she spun and spun in fouetté turns. Roses and lilies began to sprout up from the ground, ensnaring the unstable feet of the dolls.
Chibi Moon summoned her Kaleidoscope, holding it out in front of her. She'd seen Sailor Moon do amazing things with her power, so with the others giving her hope, she should be able to do something with her own. She held the Kaleidoscope out in front of her. "Please, Kaleidoscope, wake everyone up!" Rainbows burst out in arcs, covering the dollified people, but the rainbows seemed to have no effect.
"Your pathetic light won't do anything."
The sharp voice drew their attention to the school's balcony. Standing upon it was the impostor Fakir. "Coppelius, the tanuki!"
"Should've known you'd figure it out," the tanuki taunted them. "But no matter. You cannot change the ending of the story. It's already been set in motion. No matter how much you try, you still cannot change this ending. I will attain the power of the moon and be rid of the wretched moon rabbits and her friends!"
Chibi Moon knew the reference. Fire-crackle Mountain, a legend she wished she never read. It was a disturbingly violent story about revenge where the rabbit tricks the tanuki and sets him on fire. But that wasn't how Chibiusa was, that wasn't how any of the moon rabbits were. Perhaps there was a way to make him understand, but part of her was past 'trying to make him understand'. He'd screwed with her and her friends, and that just was unacceptable.
"That's where you're wrong, Coppelius!" Chibi Moon declared. "We're the champions of love and justice, protectors of hopes and dreams! In the name of the future Moon, we'll stop your spinning and return everyone home!"
"I've had enough of your storybook introductions!" the tanuki hissed, thrusting his hands forward. Strings shot out of his fingers, attempting to ensnare Chibi Moon and Tutu in their grasp. Both managed to leap away and off the gazebo, landing in the garden. Tutu frowned a bit as she crushed a few flowers, but right now, the flowers weren't her main concern.
"Tutu..."
The voice sounded strained. She turned, finding Femio lumbering towards her. He attempted to reach out to her, to grasp her as if pleading for her to save him. "My love..."
Tutu knit her brow in worry. Femio was still in there somewhere, pulled by invisible strings like a real life marionette. She was certain he wasn't just a storybook character, that he existed somewhere within the real world. But right now, he'd become a doll, unable to do much more than plead for his unrequited love. Coppelius was toying with people's lives here, and she had to stop him, just like they'd stopped Drosselmeyer. She wondered if Fakir were right, if the tanuki had lost control and became entangled with the story or if he'd created it to become Coppelius. It was wrong and horrible either way.
She peered back towards the balcony. Coppelius had busied himself with attempting to pull the life from Chibi Moon. The pink-haired guardian was quick on her feet, dodging the strings one by one, moving to and fro as she avoided the doll people as well. She'd spotted Momoko in the crowd, her best friend in the real world. There was part of Momoko that seemed to still be there, but her movements were forced and unnatural. The only way to free her was to end this story.
Coppelius's repeated attacks hadn't left her with much of an opportunity to gather hew power and counterattack, but there were ways to gather power and hope from an external source. She'd heard of Sailor Moon doing it before, so she had to appeal to whatever was left within the dolls. "Please, everyone! Send me your hope and love and dreams! I'll protect them for you all!"
As she turned, avoiding another string, she'd missed the one laying on the grass behind her. It snagged her foot, yanking and pulling until she'd lost her balance and collided face first with the ground. It hurt. It stung in more places she could count as she scraped her body against the pavement, the strings attempting to pull her closer to Coppelius. She fought against the strings as more wrapped themselves around her body, attempting to pull her brooch from her bow. She curled up, clasping her hands over it. "You can't have this! You can't have the power to protect their dreams!"
She knew how dangerous it was to lose her brooch. If it was stolen in a certain way, it would rip her life from her. She'd bonded with the crystal within. She knew the power it held, a power that came from her own heart. It was part of her.
"Give me the power of the White Moon!" Coppelius hissed, tugging on the strings.
"Never!" Chibi Moon shouted back. She could feel tears welling up in her eyes, her cheeks becoming puffy as she attempted to fight the tears. But that gave her an idea. She cried. She wailed and screamed and cried. The hairclips in her buns emphasized the screaming, sending supersonic waves shooting through the gardens. The waves pulsed and spread, shattering the windows in the buildings and snapping all the strings. The puppets began to move uncontrollably, placing their hands over their ears and falling to the ground.
Coppelius clamped his hands over his ears, his illusions of Fakir fading in and out, the tanuki visible underneath for a few moments. How could something so small scream so loud?! She never took the Moon as being full of crybabies. The legends really didn't describe anything like this.
Chibi Moon rubbed at her eyes, shutting the crying off like a child throwing a tantrum. That power only worked when she was truly crying, and right now with her body covered in scrapes, she'd been fighting that off for awhile. She just had to let that out. She glanced over to Tutu who seemed to survive the scream the perfectly fine. Perhaps it was because she was a magical girl too.
Tutu leapt across the gardens, standing next to Chibi Moon unharmed. Coppelius wasn't as untouchable as he'd thought. Even his illusions were jarred by whatever magic Chibi Moon had just used. Fortunately as she glanced around, the doll people were generally unharmed aside from likely massive, pounding headaches.
"You see, in Coppelia, the workshop was destroyed in the end," Chibi Moon informed him matter-of-factly. "And Coppelius was left without any dolls."
"Damn you both!" Coppelius hissed. "The power of the duck and the rabbit will be mine! Dolls be damned!" He pulled paper and a quill from his pocket. "I'll claim your power without them! I'll write the true end to the story!"
"I think we need to finally end this story, Chibi Moon," Tutu suggested. She didn't want to subject anyone else to the power of his writing. It was time they unspun this tale. "Let's combine the power of the duck and the rabbit and protect everyone's hopes and dreams."
Chibi Moon nodded with a bit of sadness. This was the last act they would do as Chibi Moon and Tutu together. They would go their separate ways after this. Part of her didn't want the story to end, but all stories needed a conclusion. This storybook world couldn't exist forever, especially with someone like Coppelius trying to run the show.
She summoned the Kaleidoscope to her hand. Tutu wrapped a hand around the hilt as well, linking the two together in a combined effort. They could both feel Fakir and Helios supporting them from nearby. They both arabesqued, though Tutu's was much more graceful than Chibi Moon's. That wasn't the point, they were in unison. Shifting their weight, they both pulled the extended leg forward into a plie, drawing their linked hands back.
"Kaleidoscope! Hear our prayers, hear our dreams! End this story and protect everyone! Moon Ballet Dream Meditation!"
Rainbows, feathers, sparkles, and ribbons burst forth, powered by the hopes and dreams of Chibi Moon, Tutu, Fakir, Helios, and all those who had been turned to dolls. The skies brightened, the flowers sprang to life, the people were freed of the strings that Coppelius had wound around them.
"No NO NO!" Coppelius screeched. "I had everything so well planned!"
"You made a mistake in involving us," Fakir stated sharply, emerging from the nearby shadows with Autor and Helios. He placed a hand on Tutu's shoulder. Autor followed suit, and Helios placed a hand on Chibi Moon's shoulder.
"Your days of twisting people into your sadistic storylines are over," Autor added.
Coppelius's illusions fell off, the tanuki panicking underneath. He'd lost. His plans were completely ruined and being torn apart in front of him. The world was tearing like pages in a book, the people torn away from each other.
"Tutu!" Chibi Moon reached out for her, barely brushing her fingers against the ballerina's before the two were separated. "Tutu! Fakir! Autor! I'm so glad I met you all!"
"We'll never forget you!" Tutu called back to her.
And the world fell blank.
The light ringing of the Crystal Carillon filled her ears. Chibiusa stirred, feeling the books and the bookshelf of the library poke her into the back. The world came back into view. Dozens upon dozens of books lined the shelves. They were all legends from around the world, translated into Japanese. The Carillon had fallen from her pocket at some point. It was as if she'd fallen asleep in the library with Drosselmeyer's book in her lap.
She stared at the book. Had it all been a dream?
She flipped through the book quickly. It couldn't have been a dream. Duck, Fakir, Autor, even Femio. They all had to be real. The pages of text went on and on, some were accompanied by drawings and sketches. The more pages she turned, the more she was worried that it really had been a dream. As she turned the last page, something fell from the pages, clinking on the ground. Setting the book aside, she picked up the orange gem shaped like a carp.
She smiled. It was real, and even though they were worlds apart, she had something to remember them.
...
Author's notes
The final battle! I thought long about how to conclude this story. Coppelia seemed like a great way to "tie" everything together. It's unclear if the tanuki created this illusion for himself or if he got caught in a story for himself. I'll leave that for you all to decide.
Fire-crackle mountain is the driving force behind the entire story. It's a particularly awful legend (as half of the ancient Japanese legends seem to be) that involved a rabbit tricking a tanuki and lighting him on fire while he goes up the mountain thus the name. I had to throw in information from other tales like "The Tanuki and the Teapot" and "Society of Tanuki" for inspiration of the leaves and the teapots. Tanuki are tricksters. Makes sense for one to be a spinner, right?
Please stay tuned for a cute epilogue!
