Octavia did not want to wake up just yet. The little girl just felt so comfortable where she had slept. She felt as if warm, delightful bedclothes were heaped upon her and she slept so deeply and profoundly, too deeply and soundly to be disturbed by anything, the entire evening. However no one could sleep forever and eventually Octavia found her eyes slowly opening to quite an unusual sight.
This was not her bedroom. Although it was certainly a very nice bedroom, it was also quite curious. Several clocks and mechanical devices hung from the walls and the walls themselves seemed be painted to resemble some form of an illusionary design similar to the works of MC Escher. From above her head there hung something which at first she thought to be a chandelier but in actuality it was a collection of sort. An array of circular crystals that twinkled like stars. Notes that had peculiar designs drawn on them were posted here and there but most curious to her, had to be that the whole room was filled with all manner of childhood toys and artifacts.
"Where am I?" She wondered.
She slowly pulled the covers up to her chest, trying to figure out just what in the world was going on here.
"Daddy?" She started to call out. "Daddy? Charlie?"
Her calls were answered by a knock at the door.
"Hey kid, are you awake yet or what?"
"Huh?" Octavia replied.
Then the door opened and in walked a girl. She was tall, slender, she looked about the same age as Charlie, but she didn't look like any normal girls. For one thing her long hair was grey and silver-colored, instead of fingernails she had claws, she had ears like a dog or a wolf, and she had a tail too.
"Ugh!" She scoffed. "I don't know what Alastor was thinking bringing you here with us! Levana is already looking for you."
Her mannerisms and the way she talked reminded her very much of Vaggie. She only hoped that she wouldn't be as mean to her as Vaggie could be sometimes.
"Who are you?" She asked. "And where am I?"
"You ask too many questions. I'm not a morning person, so I don't really feel like doing a lot of thinking and answering right now."
"Loona!" A voice called from a distance. "We talked about this! Be nice!"
She growled under her breath and for a moment, Octavia thought she was going to bark.
"Well come on little girl, breakfast is ready."
"Breakfast?" Octavia inquired.
"Yes, beakfast. You eat, don't you?"
"Yes."
"Well then you better hurry up and get to the table before I eat everything."
Now Octavia was confused, frightened, she didn't really want to go anywhere until she got some answers first. But she was also very hungry. She could already feel her little tummy rumbling and her little nose could pick up a wonderful smell coming from the back. So despite her fear and confusion, she got out of bed and followed this peculiar looking girl down a small corridor and into the next room at the very end. Something about the way this Loona moved was like she was made of wood or something. Like she was living doll or marionette, yet at the same time her motions were natural.
In that room there was a glowing, blazing fire, a little brass kettle hissing and boiling on the hob, a thick, warm crimson rug spread on the floor, chairs with cushions on them, a small folding-table, covered with a white cloth, and upon it spread small covered dishes, a cup, a saucer, a teapot, and an oven. At the oven, taking out a tray of freshly baked muffins, there stood a short, funny, little man with white hair and pointy ears. He appeared to have skin but he moved like he was made up of gears and mechanics. However unlike most things made of such materials, he appeared to be warm and full of life. When he turned around and saw her, he smiled at her in a way that reminded her of her father.
"Well good morning sleepy head." He greeted. "I hope you like muffins."
"Um...Good morning." Octavia said cautiously.
"Oh Moxxie, isn't she adorable?"
Next thing Octavia knew, a third person had joined them. She was short and little, but very pretty with shiny, black hair and she had wings on her back. She looked like she was made of porcelain like one of those expensive dolls her mother would gift her with. But like the little man, she was just overflowing with warmth and life.
"Just precious." The man said. "One of the cutest little girls we've seen in a long time."
"Guys you might want to turn it down on the gushing and fawning right now." Loona said. "Remember, she has no idea who you two freaks are."
"Well aren't you the pot calling the kettles black." Moxxie snarked at her. "But you do propose a good point."
He sat down the tray, took off his apron, and chose to take a more professional approach.
"Allow us to introduce ourselves, I am Moxxie, this gorgeous doll is my wife Millie, and the young lady with the bad attitude is Loona. And to put it bluntly, we're toys."
"Toys?" Octavia said giving him a skeptic look. "But that's silly, toys can't walk and talk. At least not without batteries."
"We're a special kind of toy sweetie." Millie chuckled. "We are toys that are alive. We can walk, talk, dance, laugh, and of course play exactly like you do."
"And we love children." Moxxie further explained. "In fact it's our goal in life to do whatever it takes to make a child safe and happy. Unless you happen to be Loona, who's life goal is to make everyone else's life hard."
"Hey it's not my fault I'm like this." Loona argued. "You got a problem with me, take it up with Alastor. He's the one who made me."
"And why he made you, I'll never understand."
"Alright you two knock it off." Millie said. "Poor little thing is scared enough as it is, don't terrify her any further with your bickering."
"I wanna go home." Octavia said.
"I know you do sweetie and we'd be happy to take you home if we could. But we can't."
"But don't worry." Moxxie said. "You won't be here long, soon someone from your family will be here to pick you up. In the meantime, you'll stay here with us and we'll take care of you."
"I'm sorry but I'm not supposed to stay with strangers. I think I should leave."
"Oh believe me honey, you don't want to do that. Not now that is. Alastor insisted that we keep you here until it's safe."
"Who's Alastor?"
"That would be me."
Alastor had entered the room suddenly and without warning, startling everyone in the room. All four of them jumped up and let out a scream.
"God I wish you wouldn't sneak up on us like that." Moxxie panted, trying to catch his breath. "You almost stopped my heart."
"Moxxie, your heart is a pocket watch. If it stops then just wind it up." Alastor said.
Octavia recognized Alastor from when he came to get her from those awful things that tried to take off her head. He was so intimidating, and he had those people or creatures or whatever they were scurrying away like a bunch of cockroaches. He even treated them like cockroaches, swatting them, squishing them, even stepping on two of them. He was so scary last night. He was scary this morning. Just being in his presence made her shudder. Alastor saw the fear and uncertainty in her eyes, and reminded himself that even with his disfigurement covered, he could still come off as frightening to a child. Especially one so small compared to him.
"Alright." He told her calmly. "Now please don't scream or run away, I'm not going to hurt you. Neither is anyone else here. You're here for your protection."
"Why?"
"Because you made the mistake of following Charlie into a world ruled by a psychotic, mad, woman who preys on children."
"What?!"
"Nice going boss." Loona snickered. "And while you're at it, why don't you tell her that the boogey man is coming to pay her a visit?"
"Quiet you! Or I'll rearrange your screws." Alastor whispered to her.
Unfortunately for Alastor, Loona was absolutely correct. The way he was explaining things right now were not in the best way for a child to hear. Poor Octavia was just getting more scared by the second.
"Okay I think I know what's going on here." Octavia said. "I'm still asleep and I'm dreaming. This is all just a bad dream so if I just pinch myself-"
She pinched her cheek as hard as she could and it hurt.
"Ow!"
But nothing changed. So she pinched herself again and again and again. Still, nothing changed.
"Ouch! Why won't I wake up?! Come on! Wake up!"
"I'm afraid you're wide awake dear." Alastor said. "And this is all very real."
"No it's not!" She insisted. "You're not real! None of this is real!"
Now she was starting to panic.
"I'm dreaming! I'm dreaming! Wake up! Wake up!"
"Now calm down." Alastor said. "Screaming will solve nothing."
"I want my daddy." She whimpered, her eyes welling up with tears. "
"Oh no, please don't cry." He pleaded, unable to bear the sight of anyone crying.
"I want my daddy! And I want my mommy! And I want Charlie!"
"There's no need to cry. I'm a friend of Charlie's. I'm going to bring her here so she can take you home."
"You're not Charlie's friend! She's never mentioned you!"
"Well I'm not at all surprised by that." He chuckled. "But I swear to you, I am her friend and all I want is to make sure that you and her both get home alright."
"Prove it! What's Charlie's favorite color?"
"Oh...Well she never actually told me that."
"What's her favorite kind of cookie?"
"I don't know. How many kinds of cookies are there?"
"Who was her first kiss?"
"Now why in the world would she tell me that?"
"What did she want to grow up to be when she was my age?"
"Oh that's easy. An actress."
"Wrong!"
"What do you mean wrong? All she ever talks about is becoming an actress someday."
"Now she does but when she was my age she wanted to be a princess."
"Oh for heaven's sake!" He groaned.
"You can't be a friend of Charlie's! You don't know anything about her!"
"That's not true! I do know some things about her."
"Like what?"
"I know her favorite toys are a music box her mother gave her and two stuffed goats her father gave her. And I also know that she's told you a hundred times not to touch them but you have a habit of sneaking into her room and playing with them when she's not around."
For a split second Octavia looked like she had just been caught with her hand in the cookie jar.
"And I know that she lets you sleep with her when you're afraid. And that you like to play tea party with her and I know something about her that you probably don't know at all."
"What's that?"
"That when she finally gets her chance to put on a real performance and on a real stage, she wants you and your father sitting in the audience. She wants her family there to see her shine."
Octavia started to ease up. Everything he had just said, she knew to be true and he didn't come off like he was lying. He could look her in the eyes when he spoke, his voice was shaking or getting higher like her father's could get when he lied. Still she wasn't entirely sure if she could trust him. Alastor recognized this and realized that he needed to do something to take her mind off of her fears. Something to keep her amused until Charlie came.
"You know Octavia, when I was your age and I would get scared, my mother would sing to me." He told her. "Would you like for me to do the same for you?"
"I guess." She said, still uncertain of things. "That's what Daddy would do for me."
"Splendid."
Then with a snap of his fingers, strange and funny-looking shadows with instruments filled the room.
"Oh God, not again." Loona said rolling her eyes.
"Ooo, I love it when he goes into theatrical mode." Moxxie clapped excitedly.
Right before Octavia's eyes, Alastor and the shadows put on a simple but entertaining dance number driven electric basses and drums.
"You remind of the babe." He sang to one shadow.
"What babe?" The shadow sang back.
"The babe with the power."
"What power?"
"The power of voodoo."
"Who do?"
"You do."
"Do what?"
"Remind me of the babe."
And just like that, the room had now become a stage and Alastor was the star of the show.
"I saw my baby,
Crying hard as babe could cry.
What could I do?
My baby's love had gone,
And left my baby blue.
Nobody knew.
What kind of magic spell to use?"
"Slime and snails?" Another shadow sang.
"Or puppy dog tails?" Chimed in a third shadow.
"Thunder or lighting?" Added by a fourth shadow.
"Then baby said...
Dance, magic dance.
Dance, magic dance.
Put that baby's spell on me
Jump, magic jump.
Jump, magic jump.
Put that magic jump on me."
"Slap that baby, make her free!" Echoed the shadow chorus.
Octavia's fear began to transform into amazement as she watched so many of these peculiar beings dance and sing all round her. Moxxie and Millie were dancing the Charleston together, the shadows were doing the jive, conga, and a kick-line, and Alastor wasn't doing any dance in particular, he was just moving to the music however he wanted. Only one not dancing was Loona who just sat there scowled.
"I saw my baby,
Trying hard as babe could try.
What could I do?
My baby's fun had gone,
And left my baby blue.
Nobody knew.
What kind of magic spell to use?"
"Slime and snails? Or puppy dog tails? Thunder or lighting?" Sang the shadows again.
"And baby said..." Alastor harmonized again.
"Dance, magic dance.
Dance, magic dance.
Put that baby's spell on me
Jump, magic jump.
Jump, magic jump.
Put that magic jump on me."
"Slap that baby, make her free!" Echoed the shadow chorus.
At this point, Octavia was no longer afraid. Now she was just laughing and clapping, dancing and bouncing along with this funny musical number. This pleased Alastor very much. He loved to put on shows and to entertain someone with his talents in the arts. He loved it cause it made people smile and bringing a smile to someone's face was his greatest pleasure.
"Dance, magic dance.
Dance, magic dance .
Jump, magic jump.
Jump, magic jump
Dance, magic dance.
Dance, magic dance.
Dance, magic dance."
Octavia was so happy. Normally she didn't really like musical performers, due to her father making the mistake of hiring the Loo-Loo Land band to play at one of her birthday parties and thus making her believe all stage musical stage productions were about evil, robotic, clowns. But this show was completely different. It was whimsical, free, and full of real tricks that could impress her. Not scary clowns and robots telling awful jokes and making innuendos, or hitting on her mother and her father. Instead it was flashing colors, shifting-shapes, and the most incredible dancing she had ever seen.
Maybe waiting around here wouldn't be so bad after all.