To Love A Nutcracker

Chapter 9

The Inventor's room was completely decorated in cuckoo-cuckoo clocks, pocket watches, wooden puppets, dolls, toys with wind-ups and springs, it reminded Alastor very much of the shop his uncle used to work in and it reminded Charlotte of all the wonderful toys her godfather would make for her.

"As you can see I have quite the collection here." The Inventor said, leading them over to a table with three chairs. "Have a seat, and I'll fetch you two something to eat and drink."

"Oh yes, thank you." Alastor said, feeling the hunger of his long empty belly rise up in full force. "I can't remember the last time I ate."

The Inventor laid out some spiced nuts and bread rolls for them to eat. Charlotte didn't eat much because she wasn't all that hungry, but Alastor almost cleaned the entire bowl and plate. Though she couldn't say that she was surprised by his ravenous appetite, the poor fellow had spent eight years without a meal. In fact she was surprised that he was able to come back to life period.

"Would anyone care for some peppermint tea?" The Inventor offered.

"Yes, thank you." Charlotte said.

"No thanks." Alastor said. "I don't like tea. Strange coming from someone who's half English, but I never picked up a taste for it."

"Never?" Charlotte asked.

"Never. But my aunt and uncle would drink it all the time, and for uncle it was the only non-alcoholic beverage he'd have. Even though in my opinion he was the worst tea maker ever. Everything he brewed tasted like nasty leaf juice. Ow!"

The inventor had thumped Alastor on the back of the head.

"What was that for?" He asked.

"Sorry. I thought I saw a termite crawling on your head." The Inventor said innocently, as he poured Charlotte a cup of hot tea.

She brought the tea to her lips and carefully sipped the hot liquid to where it wouldn't burn her lip. She the taste of peppermint was wonderful and the hot drink warmed her right up.

"It's delicious." Charlotte said. "We're grateful to your hospitality but would you mind, getting around to helping us with our...Transformation? If you can that is."

"Hmmm..." The Inventor looked at both of them carefully, examining each feature of their face and body, although Charlotte had the suspicion that he already knew what the problem was and that this was just for show.

"Alright I've got good news and I've got bad news. The bad news is there's nothing I can do. Absolutely nothing."

"Are you sure?" Alastor asked.

"Yep. I'm very sorry but the mouse queen's spell on you was extremely powerful. Almost impossible to break." He explained. "Almost. Good news is, I know how to break the spell on you kid."

"How?"

"A curse this evil and powerful, there's only one thing strong enough to destroy it. Love."

"Love?"

"Love. A love so true and selfless that it will overcome all evil. This means, not only will you turn back into a human, but it will destroy that hate-filled mouse king Vox and undo all the damage he's caused."

"Damage? What damage?"

"Well his majesty wasn't all too happy about you killing his mother. He wanted revenge, and that want led him to develop a desire to make all within this world suffer dearly for the demise of his mother. After the queen died, he became king of all mice and spent the next eight years learning how to use dark magic like his mother did. Once he mastered it, he took over the Kingdom of Sweets, allowing all the mice to devour everything and turning all within the kingdom into toys. Toys for him to mistreat and torment. And if that wasn't enough, he spread his evil to other lands, such the Snowy Forest and the Flower Valley."